Soundgarden · Down on the Upside · song 7
Burden in My Hand tuning.
Burden in My Hand (Soundgarden, 1996) is in C2 G2 C3 G3 G3 E4 at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
Soundgarden · Down on the Upside · 1996
About Burden in My Hand
A strummed, country-tinged single from Down on the Upside (1996), written by Chris Cornell, who played it on a National resonator. Its tuning is C G C G G E from string 6 to string 1, the open tuning Ben Shepherd brought in with Head Down. From E Standard, string 6 drops a major third to C, strings 5 and 4 drop a whole step to G and C, string 2 drops a major third to G to ring with string 3, and string 1 stays E.
TuneLit measured the album at concert pitch, and this song sits within a few cents of it, so Tune uses A 440. The audio check confirms the low C.
Kim Thayil has said that lighter strings bend out of tune more in this tuning, and the resonator part is strummed hard, so strings 6 and 2 are the ones to watch: both sit far below their normal pitch. The C chord in the verse gets a raised fourth, an F♯, which sounds wrong if string 2 is slightly off. Tune strings 3 and 2 as a unison and listen for beating before you start.
Tip: Tune strings 3 and 2 to the same G until they stop beating, then check the open C chord against the record's first strum.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to C2 G2 C3 G3 G3 E4, the notes Burden in My Hand was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 6 down 4 half steps (E → C), String 5 down a whole step (A → G), String 4 down a whole step (D → C), String 2 down 4 half steps (B → G); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Burden in My Hand sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Burden in My Hand 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 Burden in My Hand instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in C2 G2 C3 G3 G3 E4. Choose C2 G2 C3 G3 G3 E4 at A 440 and Burden in My Hand moves down 3 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 Burden in My Hand in?
C2 G2 C3 G3 G3 E4: C G C G G E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.