The Beatles · White Album · song 11
Blackbird tuning.
Blackbird (The Beatles, 1968) is in E Standard, about 7 cents flat (A ≈ 438), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
7 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −7 ¢.
The Beatles · White Album · 1968
About Blackbird
McCartney alone with his acoustic on the White Album (1968), in G, in standard tuning without a capo. The guitar part grew out of a Bach bourrée that he and Harrison learned as teenagers: melody and bass are played together on strings far apart, with the open G string ringing between them, picked with the fingers rather than a pick.
TuneLit measured the 1987 two-CD set. The album sits about 7 ¢ flat (A ≈ 438.3); Blackbird reads about 14 ¢ flat, 7 ¢ lower, just under the 8 ¢ that would give it its own value, so Tune opens E Standard 7 ¢ down. The vinyl copies TuneLit checked read it 9 to 10 ¢ flat.
With one guitar and one voice, small differences are easy to hear, so finish by ear: if the open G sounds sharp against the record, lower the reference a few cents. The song leans on open strings ringing under fretted notes, and those open strings are the drones you hear all the way through, so tune String 3 and the strings next to it carefully before you start.
Tip: Tune with the button, then compare the open G string with the opening phrase and lower a few cents if you sound sharp.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −7 ¢, the notes Blackbird was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Blackbird sits 7 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Blackbird 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 Blackbird 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 −7 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Blackbird moves up 7 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 Blackbird in?
E Standard −7 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.