ZZ Top · Fandango! · song 9
Tush tuning.
Tush (ZZ Top, 1975) is in Open G at concert pitch (A 440), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
At concert pitch
Measured on this song itself.
ZZ Top · Fandango! · 1975
About Tush
Tush closes the studio side of Fandango! (1975), a two-minute twelve-bar shuffle in G that became one of the band's biggest songs. Billy Gibbons recorded it on Pearly Gates, his Les Paul, through a Marshall Super Lead, and he recalled that the band used the G tuning for the slide part. So the database lists open G: D G D G B D, low to high, with the slide falling naturally on the open strings and the 12th fret.
TuneLit measured two versions. The 1987 CD remix, the version on the early CDs, reads about 10 ¢ flat, while the original 1975 mix on the 2006 remaster reads about 1 ¢ sharp, as does the single version on the Goin' 50 box. Tush is the only song on the album the remix moved. The Tune button uses concert pitch, which fits the original mix you hear on streaming services and remasters; with an old remix CD, lower the reference to about A 437.5.
Most tabs, including the most-viewed one, play both the riff and the slide in E Standard, and the boogie riff does sit well there. If you want one guitar for the whole song, open G covers both, as long as you work out the shuffle on its low strings.
Tip: Tune to open G at A 440 and check the open G string against the slide figure; with a 1987-remix CD, drop the reference to about A 437.5.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to Open G, the notes Tush was recorded in.
- From the album's E Standard: String 6 down a whole step (E → D), String 5 down a whole step (A → G), String 1 down a whole step (E → D); the other strings stay.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Tush sits at concert pitch on the record, so the tuner stays at A 440.
- Then play Tush 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 Tush instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in Open G. Choose Open G at A 440 and Tush moves up 2 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 Tush in?
Open G: D G D G B D, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.