The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet · song 6
Street Fighting Man tuning.
Street Fighting Man (The Rolling Stones, 1968) is in Open D, about 36 cents flat (A ≈ 431), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
36 ¢ flat
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string −36 ¢.
The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet · 1968
About Street Fighting Man
Released in 1968 on Beggars Banquet, Street Fighting Man is one of the first songs Keith Richards built on an open tuning. He named open D for it (D A D F♯ A D), and described a six-string and a five-string acoustic, both open-tuned, played with plenty of capo work and recorded through an overdriven cassette recorder, which is why the acoustics sound like electric guitars. Brian Jones adds sitar and tanpura.
TuneLit measured the song about 36 ¢ flat (A ≈ 431), well below the album's 9 ¢ flat, so it has its own value. TuneLit's check of the record's low notes agrees that the lowest open string is a D. With the reference at A 431 your open strings line up with the record; at A 440 they are about a third of a semitone sharp.
Keith said himself that he tried many guitars and could not say which ones made the final mix, and the most-viewed tab has its main acoustic in open D without a capo, plus standard-tuned acoustic parts, one with a capo at the 5th fret. Start with the open D part: strum the open strings and barre one finger for the other chords, and add the capo parts once the main rhythm feels right.
Tip: Tune to open D at A 431 and check the open D chord against the opening strums before adding anything else.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Open D, every string −36 ¢, the notes Street Fighting Man was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D), String 3 down a half step (G → F♯), String 2 down a whole step (B → A), String 1 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Street Fighting Man sits 36 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Street Fighting Man 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 Street Fighting Man instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Open D −36 ¢. Choose Open D at A 440 and Street Fighting Man moves up 36 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 Street Fighting Man in?
Open D −36 ¢: D A D F♯ A D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.