Sepultura · Roots · song 2
Attitude tuning.
Attitude (Sepultura, 1996) is in B Standard, about 15 cents flat (A ≈ 436), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
B Standard −15 ¢
About 15 cents flat (A ≈ 436).
Bass: 5-string bass B Standard −15 ¢ Tune bass
Measured by TuneLit
15 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −15 ¢.
Sepultura · Roots · 1996
About Attitude
The second track of Roots (1996), Attitude is in B Standard, two and a half steps down (B E A D F♯ B), like Roots Bloody Roots before it. Max Cavalera often played his rhythm parts on a guitar strung with only four strings, and TuneLit's album entry gives Paulo Jr. a 5-string bass, from a community tab, whose low B matches the guitars.
TuneLit measured the Roots CD about 15 ¢ flat (A ≈ 436), with low confidence, and Tune uses that album value. Attitude alone reads lower, about 26 ¢ flat, but with very low confidence, and the whole album scatters across almost a semitone on the original CD and on a 2017 remaster alike. Treat the setting as a starting point and fine-tune by ear.
One Ultimate Guitar tab puts Attitude in B♭ Standard, a half step lower. The main tab says B, and TuneLit's semitone check from the audio hears the open low B and agrees, so B is the one to use. Five half steps down is slack on a normal set; heavier strings keep the low B steady.
Unlike the album's opener, where the first fret does most of the work, Attitude sits on the open low B itself, so that string is where to start. Tuned this low, the open strings you are not playing tend to ring along and blur the part. Practise the riff with the side of your picking hand resting lightly next to the open B, letting it speak while the others stay quiet, and only then bring in the fretted notes above it.
Tip: If the record still sounds a little low against Tune's setting, lower the reference a few more cents before you reach for the B♭ tab: this song reads flatter than the rest of Roots.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to B Standard, every string −15 ¢, the notes Attitude was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down 5 half steps. No tuner that knows B Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 5, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to B Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- String 6 sits 5 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 55 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .062 string, or a baritone guitar.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Attitude sits 15 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Attitude along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 6 should ring together without a wobble.
Or the other way round
Move the record into your tuning
Rather keep your guitar as it is? Let Play along move Attitude instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in B Standard −15 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Attitude moves up 5 half steps and 15 cents, at its own speed. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is Attitude in?
B Standard −15 ¢: B E A D F♯ B, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.