The Beatles · Help! · song 7
Ticket to Ride tuning.
Ticket to Ride (The Beatles, 1965) is in E Standard, about 39 cents flat (A ≈ 430), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
39 ¢ flat
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string −38 ¢.
The Beatles · Help! · 1965
About Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride, from Help! (1965), rides on Harrison's ringing riff in A, played on his Rickenbacker 12-string in standard tuning and built around an open A chord. Lennon strums a six-string Rickenbacker, Harrison adds a Stratocaster over the verses, and McCartney plays the guitar fills at the end of the bridges and the lead over the fade.
TuneLit measured the 1987 CD, George Martin's stereo remix of Help!. The album sits about 19 ¢ flat, and this song lower still: about 38 ¢ flat (A ≈ 430.3). Both vinyl copies TuneLit checked agree within 4 ¢, so the pitch is on the master tape. Tune opens the 12-string tuner at E Standard −38 ¢; on a six-string, set the same offset in the guitar tuner.
38 ¢ is more than a third of a half step. An A 440 tuner still names your strings E, A, D and so on, but the riff against the record sounds sour until you lower them, and the sustained 12-string makes every cent audible. If you play the album through, move the reference between songs: Act Naturally, right after this one, sits 31 ¢ higher.
Tip: Lower the whole guitar to −38 ¢ before you start, then check String 5 against the A chord of the intro riff.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −38 ¢, the notes Ticket to Ride was recorded in.
- Turn String 12 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Ticket to Ride sits 39 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Ticket to Ride along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 12 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 Ticket to Ride 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 −38 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Ticket to Ride moves up 39 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 Ticket to Ride in?
E Standard −38 ¢: E E A A D D G G B B E E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.