Stevie Ray Vaughan · Texas Flood · song 2
Pride and Joy tuning.
Pride and Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1983) is in E♭ Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD.
Stevie Ray Vaughan · Texas Flood · 1983
About Pride and Joy
The Texas shuffle that put Stevie Ray Vaughan on the radio in 1983, from Texas Flood. The guitar plays the bass line and the chord chops at the same time, so the open low string does a lot of the work. Vaughan tuned every string a half step down, E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, and the tab names the shapes as if the guitar were in standard: you play an E shuffle, the record sounds in E♭.
TuneLit measured a late-1980s Epic CD of the album at concert pitch (about 1 ¢ sharp, shown as A 440), and Pride and Joy reads about 2 ¢ sharp, so nothing to adjust beyond the half step. TuneLit's audio check hears E♭ as the lowest open string, which settles the semitone. Tommy Shannon's bass is tuned down with the guitar.
The classic trap is a guitar left in E Standard: every fret is right and the whole song sounds a half step sharp. Tabs labelled E Standard exist, and they only work if you play along with a re-pitched copy. Heavy right-hand muting matters as much as the tuning, and light strings tuned down feel slack under that attack, so a heavier set helps the shuffle stay in tune.
Tip: After tuning down, check the open low string against the first beat of the shuffle: it should match the record's root note exactly.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E♭ Standard, the notes Pride and Joy was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down a half step. No tuner that knows E♭ Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 1, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to E♭ Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Pride and Joy sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Pride and Joy 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 Pride and Joy 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. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Pride and Joy moves up 99 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 Pride and Joy in?
E♭ Standard: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.