Sepultura · Roots · song 1
Roots Bloody Roots tuning.
Roots Bloody Roots (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 Roots Bloody Roots
The opening track of Roots (1996), Sepultura's lowest album and Max Cavalera's last with the band, produced by Ross Robinson. It is in B Standard, every string two and a half steps down (B E A D F♯ B). Max often played his rhythm parts on a guitar with only four strings, and the community tab gives Paulo Jr. a 5-string bass in standard tuning, whose low B matches the guitars.
TuneLit measured the CD about 15 ¢ flat (A ≈ 436), and this song reads the same as the album, so Tune sets the tuner 15 ¢ down. Roots is the hardest Sepultura record to read, though: the mix is dense and low, the confidence is low, and its songs scatter from about 42 ¢ flat to 31 ¢ sharp, on the original CD and on a 2017 remaster alike. Treat the setting as a starting point and fine-tune by ear.
The riff leans on the first fret (C) more than on the open B, so TuneLit's semitone check from the audio cannot confirm the low string by itself; the tabs agree on B. Five half steps down makes a normal set very slack, and a heavier set keeps the low B from flapping and going sharp when you dig in.
Roots Bloody Roots was the lead single from Roots, and it shows how far the band had moved from its thrash years: a heavy mid-tempo groove instead of speed. For a guitarist, the work is in the picking hand. Practise the move between the open B and the C at the first fret until it is tight and in time, since that half step is where the riff spends most of its time. Everything the rhythm part needs lies on the four lowest strings.
Tip: Tune String 6 down to B, then play the riff's first-fret C against the record and nudge the reference until the two stop beating.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to B Standard, every string −15 ¢, the notes Roots Bloody Roots 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. Roots Bloody Roots 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 Roots Bloody Roots 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 Roots Bloody Roots 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 Roots Bloody Roots 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 Roots Bloody Roots in?
B Standard −15 ¢: B E A D F♯ B, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.