Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm prepping to learn one of my favorite Beatles songs: "Ticket to Ride." The tab transcription I'm working from designates that the guitars be tuned down a quarter-step from concert pitch. The smallest intervals my chromatic tuner will tune in are half-steps. Is there some secret to tuning down a quarter-step? Recalibrating the pitch of my tuner to something other than 440Hz perhaps? I would really like to play along with the CD when I learn this song.

I believe it's something like 330-335Hz. It's not a semitone lower, but not quite in pitch. I usually play along with the BBC version, which is closer to in pitch than the original recording and uses the Ricky 12.

Copy the song to your computer and adjust the pitch to match you guitar.

JakeK wrote:I believe it's something like 330-335Hz. It's not a semitone lower, but not quite in pitch. I usually play along with the BBC version, which is closer to in pitch than the original recording and uses the Ricky 12.

Jake,

My chromatic tuner will only go as low as 435Hz, which is nowhere near the range you mentioned. Do you know of a tuner that will nail the 330-335Hz range?

Robert

jps wrote:Copy the song to your computer and adjust the pitch to match you guitar.

Jeff,

Thanks much for the suggestion. I'm not very computer-savvy. How would one adjust the pitch of a recording?

Robert

I use a program called Transcribe! that is inexpensive to purchase and is a great for learning songs as you have lots of control over pitch and speed adjustments along with looping capabilities. I have not really learned much of what's available with Transcribe!, I am just playing around with it some, so far.

Right now I am listening to No Doubt's version of It's My Life at 5% normal speed and 6 semitones down from normal pitch; the result is very wild, to say the least.

The amazing slow downer is excellent as well!

Audacity works quite well for changing the tempo of a song without changing the pitch (or you can change the pitch, or do just about any other sort of audio editing tasks you might want). And it's totally free. works on Macs, Windows, and Linux:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Thanks, CJ, for the link to Audacity. It's just what I was looking for.

Sorry, Robert, I meant 430-435Hz

JakeK wrote:Sorry, Robert, I meant 430-435Hz

Thanks for the correction, Jake. I'll try to tune up for "Ticket to Ride" at 435Hz.

My guess is the song is at 430Hz, because I was still a little sharp when I tuned to 435Hz. Well, it looks like I'll either download Audacity, or I'll learn the song without referencing the CD. Shouldn't be too tough to get it without playing along with the recording. Thanks everyone for your input.

Jake,

Is that closer-to-pitch version of "Ticket to Ride" on "Beatles: Live at the BBC," or would I have to spring for "The Complete BBC Sessions"?

Robert

Live At The BBC, but it's the same version.