Soundgarden · Superunknown · song 8
Spoonman tuning.
Spoonman (Soundgarden, 1994) is in Drop D, about 6 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
6 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +6 ¢.
Soundgarden · Superunknown · 1994
About Spoonman
Superunknown's lead single (1994), written by Chris Cornell and named after Artis the Spoonman, the Seattle street player whose spoons you hear in the bridge, next to Matt Cameron banging on pots and pans. It is plain Drop D, as the band itself told Guitar Player in 1994: string 6 down a whole step to D, everything else standard. The main riff switches between bars of seven and bars of four, and the low D drives every one of them.
TuneLit measured the Japanese CD at about 6 ¢ sharp for the album's Drop D songs, and Spoonman itself reads about 5 ¢ sharp, the same within a cent or two. That is far too small to hear in a heavy mix, so Drop D at A 440 works fine; Tune adds the few cents for a perfect match.
The trouble with Spoonman is counting, not tuning. Players who tab the riff in 4/4 end up with an extra beat and blame their tuning when the record pulls away. Count the seven, accent where the drums do, and keep the open D ringing under the chord stabs. Some tabs drop the whole guitar a half step to Drop C♯; the record does not need that.
Tip: Tune string 6 to D by matching its 12th-fret harmonic to the open D string, then check the pair against the riff's first low note.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Drop D, every string +6 ¢, the notes Spoonman was recorded in.
- From E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Spoonman sits 6 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Spoonman 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 Spoonman instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Drop D +6 ¢. Choose Drop D at A 440 and Spoonman moves down 6 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 Spoonman in?
Drop D +6 ¢: D A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.