Soundgarden · Superunknown · song 3
Fell on Black Days tuning.
Fell on Black Days (Soundgarden, 1994) is in E Standard, about 15 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
15 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +15 ¢.
Soundgarden · Superunknown · 1994
About Fell on Black Days
A mid-tempo song about dread from Superunknown (1994), written by Chris Cornell. It is one of the few songs on that album in plain E Standard: no dropped strings, no unisons, just the six standard notes. The riff loops in six beats over a straight drum part, which is why it feels so even. Kim Thayil remembers Cornell possibly tracking it on his Gretsch, and the song has an Eastern-sounding break in the middle that Cornell wrote.
TuneLit measured it about 15 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443.8), roughly 9 ¢ above the album's Drop D songs, enough to give it its own value. A guitar at A 440 will sound slightly flat against the CD, most clearly on the sustained chords of the chorus. Tune sets E Standard 15 ¢ up so your open strings sit right on the record.
Some acoustic covers and tabs move it down a half step to E♭ to suit a singer; the record is E Standard. If the chorus bend on the B string still sounds off after tuning, check your intonation rather than the tuning, because the song lingers on long notes that expose it.
Tip: After setting E Standard 15 ¢ sharp, test it on the long ringing chord at the end of the first chorus.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +15 ¢, the notes Fell on Black Days was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Fell on Black Days sits 15 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Fell on Black Days 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 Fell on Black Days instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E Standard +15 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Fell on Black Days moves down 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 Fell on Black Days in?
E Standard +15 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.