The Beatles · White Album · song 2
Dear Prudence tuning.
Dear Prudence (The Beatles, 1968) is in Drop D, about 16 cents flat (A ≈ 436), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
16 ¢ flat
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string −16 ¢.
The Beatles · White Album · 1968
About Dear Prudence
Dear Prudence opens the White Album (1968) with Lennon's picked guitar pattern in D. He drops String 6 to D, D A D G B E, so the low D rings under the arpeggios; he learned the finger-picking from Donovan during the band's stay in India that spring. Four of the five guitar parts in the Songsterr tab use Drop D, and the song builds from that single guitar to the full band.
TuneLit measured the 1987 two-CD set. The album sits about 7 ¢ flat, and Dear Prudence lower, about 16 ¢ flat (A ≈ 435.8), so it has its own setting: Tune opens Drop D 16 ¢ down. Both vinyl copies TuneLit checked read it 11 to 20 ¢ flat, below the album's other songs too.
The low D does most of the work: the pattern keeps returning to the open String 6 while the chord shapes above it move down the neck. That makes the drone the first thing to sound wrong when the tuning is off. Using the album's −7 ¢ instead leaves you about 9 ¢ sharp against the record, enough to hear against a ringing open string.
Tip: Drop String 6 to D at −16 ¢, then match it to the low D that opens the song before checking the other strings.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Drop D, every string −16 ¢, the notes Dear Prudence was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Dear Prudence sits 16 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Dear Prudence 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 Dear Prudence instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Drop D −16 ¢. Choose Drop D at A 440 and Dear Prudence moves up 16 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 Dear Prudence in?
Drop D −16 ¢: D A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.