Van Halen · 5150 · song 2
Why Can't This Be Love tuning.
Why Can't This Be Love (Van Halen, 1986) is in E Standard, about 5 cents flat (A ≈ 439), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
5 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −5 ¢.
Van Halen · 5150 · 1986
About Why Can't This Be Love
Why Can't This Be Love was the first single with Sammy Hagar, from 5150 (1986), and its famous riff is a keyboard part that Eddie played himself; on tour, Hagar took over the guitar parts while Eddie played keys. The guitars are in E Standard at concert pitch, the new normal of the Hagar years.
TuneLit's reading of this song was uncertain, so its Tune button uses the album value: E Standard about 5 cents flat (A ≈ 438.7). That is close enough to A 440 that you will hardly hear the difference, so a guitar already tuned to standard pitch is fine.
TuneLit's audio check leaned toward F as the lowest string. That is a known mistake on songs that never play their open low E: this one sits around F and C, with keyboards on top. Nothing else points to a tuning above standard, and the tab is in E Standard, so stay there. If you want to play the keyboard riff on guitar, any standard-tuned guitar works.
Tip: Tune with the album button and check your guitar against the sustained keyboard chords rather than the bass, since the song never rests on the open low E.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −5 ¢, the notes Why Can't This Be Love was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Why Can't This Be Love sits 5 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Why Can't This Be Love 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 Why Can't This Be Love 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 −5 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Why Can't This Be Love moves up 5 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 Why Can't This Be Love in?
E Standard −5 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.