TUNELIT

Slipknot · 2001 · Studio album

Iowa tuning.

Drop B, about 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured on the CD. 6 of 14 songs are tuned differently.

Iowa album cover

Album tuning

Drop B +9 ¢

About 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured on the CD.

MeasuredDisputed

Tune like thisPlay alongAll 14 songs

Bass: Bass Drop B +9 ¢ Tune bass

Measured by TuneLit

9 ¢ sharp

SourceOffsetEquivalent ASongsSpreadConfidence
CD, Roadrunner Japan RRCY-11146 (2001)+8.7 ¢A 442.214+2.7 to +13.4 ¢Very low
 Offset from concert pitch (A 440). Spread: the middle half of the songs, when four or more share the album's pitch. Confidence: how well the notes agree with one grid.

Before we measured, sources said: Drop B, with no pitch given (disputed).

Mick Thomson remembered in 2008 that every Iowa song was in Drop A, but the tabs split the album and the audio agrees with them: in Disasterpiece, Left Behind, The Shape, I Am Hated and Metabolic the bass's lowest note is B and the A under it never sounds, while My Plague, Everything Ends, The Heretic Anthem, Skin Ticket and New Abortion sit on a low A. The CD reads about 9 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 442), consistently but with low confidence; the 10th-anniversary edition and a later reissue read the same.

14 songs · 6 tuned differently

Every song, ready to tune

Tune opens the tuner in that song's tuning, pitch included. Play along opens the song player set to that tuning, so the track plays in yours. What the labels mean

  1. 1. (515)

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    A noise piece by Craig Jones with Sid Wilson’s screams; there is no guitar riff to tune to.

  2. 2. People = Shit

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    The main tab is in Drop B; a smaller Songsterr version re-tabs it in Drop A after Thomson’s account of the album. TuneLit could not read this song’s pitch, so check it by ear.

  3. 3. Disasterpiece

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Tabbed in Drop B, and the audio agrees: the bass sits on a low B and the A under it never sounds.

  4. 4. My Plague

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    All three Songsterr transcriptions put both guitars in Drop A (A E A D F♯ B), a whole step below the album’s Drop B songs, as Thomson described the album.

    Bass: Bass Drop A +9 ¢ Tune bass

  5. 5. Everything Ends

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    Tabbed in Drop A, a whole step below the album’s Drop B songs, as Thomson described the album.

    Bass: Bass Drop A +9 ¢ Tune bass

  6. 6. The Heretic Anthem

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    Tabbed in Drop A on both guitars, with the bass at A E A D, as Thomson described the album.

    Bass: Bass Drop A +9 ¢ Tune bass

  7. 7. Gently

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Re-recorded from the band’s earlier days; the Iowa version is tabbed in Drop B, the 1996 version in Drop C.

  8. 8. Left Behind

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    The main tab (one of Songsterr’s most-viewed Slipknot tabs) is in Drop B, and the audio agrees: the bass sits on a low B and the A under it never sounds. A smaller version re-tabs it in Drop A.

  9. 9. The Shape

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Tabbed in Drop B, and the audio agrees: the bass sits on a low B and the A under it never sounds.

  10. 10. I Am Hated

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Tabbed in Drop B, and the audio agrees: the bass sits on a low B and the A under it never sounds.

  11. 11. Skin Ticket

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    Tabbed in Drop A on both guitars, with the bass at A E A D, as Thomson described the album.

    Bass: Bass Drop A +9 ¢ Tune bass

  12. 12. New Abortion

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    Tabbed in Drop A on both guitars, with the bass at A E A D, as Thomson described the album.

    Bass: Bass Drop A +9 ¢ Tune bass

  13. 13. Metabolic

    Drop B +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    Tabbed in Drop B, and the audio agrees: the bass sits on a low B and the A under it never sounds.

  14. 14. Iowa

    Different tuning

    Drop A +9 ¢Measured

    Tune Play along
    Notes

    How to get there from the album's Drop B: Every string down a whole step.

    String 6 sits 7 half steps below its standard E2. On a normal set (.046) it keeps only about 45 % of its usual tension and feels loose. For the usual feel use about a .069 string, or a baritone guitar.

    The fifteen-minute closer. Its tab has the guitars in Drop A but the bass in B with a low F♯, and TuneLit's comparison of the lowest notes leans towards B, so check it by ear.

    The only tab puts the guitars in Drop A, as Thomson described the album, but gives the bass B with a low F♯ (F♯ F♯ B E), so the bottom end of this long, slow closer is not settled.

What the labels mean

Measured
TuneLit measured the pitch on an original CD or LP. The tuning name still comes from the sources.
Official
The band, a member, their producer or their guitar tech said it.
Widely reported
Trusted outlets, guides and tabs agree, but the band did not say it directly.
From tabs
From community tabs, or from players who tune along with the record.
Disputed
Sources disagree. The likeliest setting is shown; the notes name the other one.

Each song shows one label, the strongest it has, in this order. How we measure recordings →

Questions

What tuning is Iowa in?

Slipknot recorded Iowa (2001) in Drop B, about 9 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit on the CD. My Plague, Everything Ends, The Heretic Anthem, Skin Ticket, New Abortion and Iowa use Drop A +9 ¢.