The Offspring · Smash · song 8
Self Esteem tuning.
Self Esteem (The Offspring, 1994) is in E Standard at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
The album's value, measured on the CD.
The Offspring · Smash · 1994
About Self Esteem
Self Esteem, from Smash (1994), is one of the most-viewed Offspring tabs of all, and every tab of it is in plain E Standard. Dexter Holland plays rhythm guitar and sings, Noodles plays lead, and the tabs never leave standard tuning.
TuneLit measured the Smash CD at −0.2 cents and Self Esteem about 1 cent flat: this is concert pitch, and Tune opens E Standard at A 440. TuneLit's audio check confirms the open low E on the record, so the tabs, the measurement and the audio all agree. A guitar set with any normal tuner will match the album version.
The trap is live footage. On the live recordings TuneLit measured, the band plays a half step down, and community transcriptions of a live Self Esteem are written in E♭ Standard. If you are playing along with a concert video and every chord sounds a semitone off, tune all six strings down a half step to E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭; for the studio version on Smash, stay in E.
Tip: For the Smash recording use plain E Standard at A 440; for a live video, try E♭ Standard first.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, the notes Self Esteem was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Self Esteem sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Self Esteem 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 Self Esteem 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. Self Esteem is already in E Standard at A 440, so nothing moves. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is Self Esteem in?
E Standard: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.