System of a Down · Toxicity · song 1
Prison Song tuning.
Prison Song (System of a Down, 2001) is in Drop C at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
Drop C
At concert pitch (A 440).
Tune like thisPlay alongToxicity
Bass: Bass Drop C Tune bass
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD.
System of a Down · Toxicity · 2001
About Prison Song
Prison Song opens Toxicity (2001) at full speed, with a riff that grinds between two neighbouring notes. Malakian plays it in Drop C on an Ibanez Iceman, according to the main tab, and the riffing keeps returning to the open low C and the first fret, C♯, palm-muted for most of the song. The bass doubles the same rub an octave lower, and the tab adds a short acoustic overdub, also in Drop C.
TuneLit measured the Toxicity CD about 4 ¢ flat overall, which counts as concert pitch, and Prison Song itself reads within 2 ¢ of A 440. The Tune button therefore sets plain Drop C at A 440, and the check from the audio confirms the low C.
The half-step grind is unforgiving: if String 6 is even slightly off, the C and C♯ stop sounding like a deliberate clash and start sounding out of tune. Fast tempo and heavy palm muting also pull the open string sharp when you dig in, so a light right hand helps. Tabs of this song do not argue about the tuning; every version we found on Songsterr is in Drop C.
Tip: Tune String 6 to C, then play the open string and fret 1 back and forth slowly against the record before you try it at speed.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Drop C, the notes Prison Song was recorded in.
- From 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 3 down a whole step (G → F), String 2 down a whole step (B → A), String 1 down a whole step (E → D).
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Prison Song sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Prison Song 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 Prison Song instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Drop C. Choose Drop D at A 440 and Prison Song moves up 2 half steps and 4 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 Prison Song in?
Drop C: C G C F A D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.