The Beatles · Let It Be · song 3
Across the Universe tuning.
Across the Universe (The Beatles, 1970) is in E♭ Standard, about 25 cents sharp (A ≈ 446), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
25 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +25 ¢.
The Beatles · Let It Be · 1970
About Across the Universe
Lennon's song, recorded in February 1968 and released on Let It Be (1970) in Phil Spector's production. The guitar part is a gently strummed acoustic in D shapes, with Harrison's tambura droning underneath. The main Songsterr tab tunes the guitar a half step down, E♭ Standard, and keeps the D shapes, which puts the song in D♭; another tab gets the same notes with a capo at the 1st fret and C shapes.
The reason is the tape: Spector slowed the 1968 recording down for this album, lowering it from D to about D♭. TuneLit measured the 1987 CD at E♭ Standard +25 ¢, a quarter of a half step above D♭, the same notes as E Standard at A 421. The album around it sits about 6 ¢ sharp, so the song has its own setting, and both vinyl copies TuneLit checked read it within 5 ¢ of the CD.
Use this setting for the Let It Be album only. The 1969 charity-album version was sped up, not slowed, so it sits much higher, and a tab in plain standard tuning with D shapes at A 440 matches neither record. TuneLit's audio check could not settle the semitone on its own here; the tabs and the documented slowdown are what put it in D♭.
Tip: Tune to E♭ Standard, raise it 25 ¢, and check the open D-shape chord against the first strummed bars.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E♭ Standard, every string +25 ¢, the notes Across the Universe was recorded in.
- From the album's 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. Across the Universe sits 25 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Across the Universe 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 Across the Universe 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 +25 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Across the Universe moves up 75 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 Across the Universe in?
E♭ Standard +25 ¢: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.