The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet · song 1
Sympathy for the Devil tuning.
Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones, 1968) is in E Standard, about 9 cents flat (A ≈ 438), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
9 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −9 ¢.
The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet · 1968
About Sympathy for the Devil
The opening track of Beggars Banquet (1968), which grew from a folk song into a samba driven by congas, piano and maracas. Keith Richards plays bass and the stinging lead guitar, Brian Jones an acoustic, and the tabs keep everything in standard tuning. The song turns on a loop of E, D and A chords, so the rhythm part is easy; the challenge is the solo's attack and the groove.
The percussion and piano mask the guitars, and the song gave TuneLit no clear reading of its own, so it uses the album's value: about 9 ¢ flat (A ≈ 437.7). The CD we measured has the track times of ABKCO's 2002 remaster, which corrected a mastering error that had made the album run slightly slow for decades. An older pressing or an LP may sit a little lower.
If you play along with the solo and it sounds slightly sharp, lower the reference a touch: a few cents matter on long bent notes. The rest of Beggars Banquet changes tunings song by song (open D and open E on several tracks), but this one stays in standard.
Tip: Tune against the sustained guitar notes of the solo, where the pitch is clearest over the percussion.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −9 ¢, the notes Sympathy for the Devil was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Sympathy for the Devil sits 9 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Sympathy for the Devil 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 Sympathy for the Devil 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 −9 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Sympathy for the Devil moves up 9 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 Sympathy for the Devil in?
E Standard −9 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.