The Rolling Stones · Tattoo You · song 1
Start Me Up tuning.
Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones, 1981) is in G2 D3 G3 B3 D4, about 7 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
7 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +7 ¢.
The Rolling Stones · Tattoo You · 1981
About Start Me Up
The opening track of Tattoo You (1981), first tried as a reggae tune in 1978 and finished years later from a rock take the band had almost forgotten. The riff is Keith Richards's five-string open G (G D G B D) at its plainest: a one-finger major chord alternating with the suspended shape he forms with two more fingers. Ronnie Wood's lead guitar is tabbed in standard tuning.
TuneLit measured the Tattoo You CD about 7 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 441.7), and Start Me Up sits close to that, so Tune sets the five strings 7 ¢ up. TuneLit's check of the record's low notes agrees that the lowest guitar string is the G.
The riff is the reason to retune: in standard tuning the same chords need awkward stretches, while in open G one barre and two fingers do it. If you keep a sixth string, tune it to D and avoid it, because the riff's power comes from the open G on String 5. For Wood's lead lines, use a second guitar in standard tuning at the same reference.
Tip: Set the five strings, then check the first barre chord of the riff against the record before you play the full pattern.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to G2 D3 G3 B3 D4, every string +7 ¢, the notes Start Me Up was recorded in.
- Turn String 5 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Start Me Up sits 7 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Start Me Up along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 5 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 Start Me Up instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in G2 D3 G3 B3 D4 +7 ¢. Choose G2 D3 G3 B3 D4 at A 440 and Start Me Up moves down 6 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 Start Me Up in?
G2 D3 G3 B3 D4 +7 ¢: G D G B D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.