The Rolling Stones · Let It Bleed · song 9
You Can't Always Get What You Want tuning.
You Can't Always Get What You Want (The Rolling Stones, 1969) is in Open E at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
The Rolling Stones · Let It Bleed · 1969
About You Can't Always Get What You Want
The closing track of Let It Bleed (1969), in C major, built up from an acoustic guitar to the London Bach Choir, horns and a full band. Keith Richards plays the acoustic and electric guitars. Which tuning the acoustic uses is disputed: MusicRadar names open E, the same tuning as Gimme Shelter, while the most-viewed community tab plays it in open G (D G D G B D) with a capo at the 5th fret. Both put the song in C.
TuneLit measured Let It Bleed at concert pitch, and this song's reading, about 7 ¢ flat, is within the range that shares the album value, so Tune uses A 440. The button sets open E, as MusicRadar says; the song notes keep the open G version as the alternative. TuneLit's check of the record's low notes cannot settle it, because a song in C rarely sounds the open low string of either tuning.
If you learn from the open G tab, retune and set the capo at the 5th fret; if you follow open E, the C and F chords sit as one-finger barres at the 8th and 1st frets. Try both against the intro and keep the one whose open strings ring the way the record does.
Tip: Compare both tunings against the first acoustic bars and keep the one whose open strings ring like the record.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Open E, the notes You Can't Always Get What You Want was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 5 up a whole step (A → B), String 4 up a whole step (D → E), String 3 up a half step (G → G♯); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. You Can't Always Get What You Want sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play You Can't Always Get What You Want 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 You Can't Always Get What You Want instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Open E. Choose Open E at A 440 and You Can't Always Get What You Want moves up 1 cent, 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 You Can't Always Get What You Want in?
Open E: E B E G♯ B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.