Sonic Youth · EVOL · song 9
Expressway to Yr. Skull tuning.
Expressway to Yr. Skull (Sonic Youth, 1986) is in E2 G♯2 E3 G♯3 E3 G♯3 at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Sonic Youth · EVOL · 1986
About Expressway to Yr. Skull
The seven-minute closer of EVOL (1986), also known as Madonna, Sean and Me. Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo both play in E G♯ E G♯ E G♯: three E strings and three G♯ strings, so every open strum and every straight barre is a bare major third. Lee plays slide on his part, as Guitar Player reported.
The 1994 DGC CD sits at concert pitch, and this song reads within a cent of it, so a guitar tuned at A 440 matches the record as it is. The long, quiet ending is the two guitars ringing in this tuning, the easiest part of the song to tune against.
To get there from standard, the low E stays, the A string drops a half step to G♯, the D string rises to E, the G string rises to G♯, and the top two strings come down to E and G♯. Guitar Player printed the tuning in 1991, and the band used it again on Pacific Coast Highway and, years later, Paper Cup Exit.
Tip: Check your tuning with a slide at the 12th fret across all six strings: it should ring as one clean E major chord.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E2 G♯2 E3 G♯3 E3 G♯3, the notes Expressway to Yr. Skull was recorded in.
- From the album's F♯2 F♯2 F♯3 F♯3 E3 B3: String 6 down a whole step (F♯ → E), String 5 up a whole step (F♯ → G♯), String 4 down a whole step (F♯ → E), String 3 up a whole step (F♯ → G♯), String 1 down 3 half steps (B → G♯); the other strings stay.
- String 1 sits 8 half steps below its standard E4. On a normal set (.010) it keeps only about 40 % of its usual tension and flaps. For the usual feel use about a .016 string, or a baritone guitar.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Expressway to Yr. Skull sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Expressway to Yr. Skull 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 Expressway to Yr. Skull instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E2 G♯2 E3 G♯3 E3 G♯3. Choose E2 G♯2 E3 G♯3 E3 G♯3 at A 440 and Expressway to Yr. Skull moves down 1 cent, 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 Expressway to Yr. Skull in?
E2 G♯2 E3 G♯3 E3 G♯3: E G♯ E G♯ E G♯, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.