Soundgarden · Superunknown · song 2
My Wave tuning.
My Wave (Soundgarden, 1994) is in E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4, about 14 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4 +14 ¢
About 14 cents sharp (A ≈ 444).
Measured by TuneLit
14 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +14 ¢.
Soundgarden · Superunknown · 1994
About My Wave
An upbeat Superunknown single (1994) with music by Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil, shifting between bars of five and bars of four. Cornell came up with the riff while the band was rehearsing Ben Shepherd's Somewhere, so it shares that song's tuning: E E B B B E from string 6 to string 1. Thayil wrote his colour parts in the same tuning and says the top string stays on E, although most tabs end the tuning on B.
TuneLit measured My Wave about 14 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443.5), some 8 ¢ above Superunknown's Drop D songs. That is enough to hear on the droning open strings this tuning is built for, so Tune sets the E and B tuning 14 ¢ up.
Strings 3 and 2 are both B, a unison, and strings 6 and 5 are both the low E, another unison. Tune each pair against each other after reaching the rough pitch; a beating sound means they are not quite matched. If you use a tab ending in B, you can still follow it by just not playing string 1, but the band's own top E rings through the chords.
Tip: Match the two B strings by ear until the beating stops, then match the open E strings to the record's first chord.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4, every string +14 ¢, the notes My Wave was recorded in.
- From E Standard: String 5 down 5 half steps (A → E), String 4 down 3 half steps (D → B), String 3 up 4 half steps (G → B); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. My Wave sits 14 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play My Wave 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 My Wave instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4 +14 ¢. Choose E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4 at A 440 and My Wave moves down 14 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 My Wave in?
E2 E2 B2 B3 B3 E4 +14 ¢: E E B B B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.