Grateful Dead Music Forum

Someone just sent me this and I thought folks here might be interested....

What's the opening chord in "Hard Day's Night"?

It's sometimes called "the most famous chord in rock n' roll." I have wondered about this question for thirty-four years (all this time I'd been thinking it is an odd hybrid G7/9/13). Here is a history of thought (http://everything2.com/e2node/The%2520% ... %2520Grail) on the controversy, including a list of nominated chords.
It now turns out there is an answer.
(http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/11/bea ... rd-solved/)
A mathematician applied Fourier transforms to break the sound into its constituent parts. Here's the bottom line:

The Beatles producer [George Martin] added a piano chord that included an F note, impossible to play with the other notes on the guitar. The resulting chord was completely different than anything found in songbooks and scores for the song, which is one reason why Dr. Brown’s findings garnered international attention. He laughs that he may be the only mathematician ever to be published in Guitar Player magazine.

Here is a pdf (http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~brown/n-oct04-harddayjib.pdf) of the researcher's findings. I thank Eric H. for the pointer.

G7sus4. Always sounded right to me.

I always thought the most famous chord in rock n roll was the one after James Brown says "Papa's got a brand new bag".

Nah, the most famous chord in rock and roll is this one:

---------------
----------8---
----------7---
----------6---
----------7---
--------------

aka, the Hendrix Chord

PS. Use it wisely, my friends

amyjared wrote:Nah, the most famous chord in rock and roll is this one:

---------------
----------8---
----------7---
----------6---
----------7---
--------------

aka, the Hendrix Chord

PS. Use it wisely, my friends

wow! Isn't that the exact same chord that Nolan plays on Papa's Got A Brand New Bag? Back in the day, no one could figure it out because the recording was sped up so everyone just faked a E9 which obviously wasn't right.

I thought it was an Em.

To me it's the D that kicks off Dew

Shuxter wrote:

amyjared wrote:Nah, the most famous chord in rock and roll is this one:

---------------
----------8---
----------7---
----------6---
----------7---
--------------

aka, the Hendrix Chord

PS. Use it wisely, my friends

wow! Isn't that the exact same chord that Nolan plays on Papa's Got A Brand New Bag? Back in the day, no one could figure it out because the recording was sped up so everyone just faked a E9 which obviously wasn't right.

aka "sharp 9" or 7#9, and nowhere near as uniquely voiced or instantly universally recognizable as the HDN chord. Besides, HDN was that iconic "moment in rock history" for so many rock pioneers... like the Dead.

Gotta try this with the band, sucks we wont have the keys at prac tonight. According to the Foussier,

Harrison: D7sus4/A (A,D,G,C)
McCartney: middle D
Lennon: single high C note?
and Martin : ...what is that, a D minor 11? (D,F,D,G,E)

Dear Tigerstrat-----its a enharmonic equavalant tetrachord-----so lets all apperciate the fact that words of understanding are struggling to keep up with define what it is we say-do - and play---ummmm-the most famous chord in rock is the one that makes you feel good to hear ---P

tigerstrat wrote: aka "sharp 9" or 7#9, and nowhere near as uniquely voiced or instantly universally recognizable as the HDN chord. Besides, HDN was that iconic "moment in rock history" for so many rock pioneers... like the Dead.

I beg to differ. No one over the age of 14 was influenced by HDN while Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, Gibbons, and uncountable others all made the 7#9 a critical part of their signature sounds and didn't need a producer overdubbing the wrong chord on a piano to get the effect.

Shuxter wrote:

tigerstrat wrote: aka "sharp 9" or 7#9, and nowhere near as uniquely voiced or instantly universally recognizable as the HDN chord. Besides, HDN was that iconic "moment in rock history" for so many rock pioneers... like the Dead.

I beg to differ. No one over the age of 14 was influenced by HDN while Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, Gibbons, and uncountable others all made the 7#9 a critical part of their signature sounds and didn't need a producer overdubbing the wrong chord on a piano to get the effect.

I think you meant to say "under the age of 14"? Otherwise you have so totally lost me. "Wrong chord"? that's one hell of an OOPS! Hey it's fine if you don't like the Beatles, but to assert that they had no effect on anyone but pre-teens is laughable. This is the Beatles, not the Monkees. I love all those guitarists and use the 7#9 all the time, but none of them are anywhere near as famous as this song and it's never-before-or-since opening ensemble chord.

The math here looks easy enough. Is it feasible to use this to transcribe... everything?

confusions_prince wrote:The math here looks easy enough. Is it feasible to use this to transcribe... everything?

I would assume the answer is yes it is feasible---but, probably not practical given that using your ear is a lot quicker, unless the chord in question is as complex as HDH's opener.

BTW, for the record, I'm not the one that called it "the most famous chord in rock and roll".
That was te doing of the author of the piece.

As for the Beatle's, my two cents says they were the most influential rock band of all time--
even moreso than Elvis, Buddy Holly, GD, Stones, Zep, etc.

Besides that, did they ever write a "bad" song?

famous chord in R & R----the last thing you hear on the beatles tune strawberry fields forever------maybe the opening blast of the Ramones Rock and Roll high school----Phil Spector produced ---however nothin ever played by anybody beats the Greatful Dead album --ANTHEM of the SUN--there is an intensity to the Band that just erupts during the performance that pulls pulverizes and in effect takes a musical concept and turns it into effects not unlike imagining what colliding planets sound like ----just love that album and what the Dead influenced by such a collective effort ---to me its a Wagnerian sort of delivery of a metaphysical concept --in a sense delivering through modern means [amplified sound and instruments] a voyage to the psychadelic state with out any warning to the listener. ANTHEM OF THE SUN----you want to hear somethin a bit provocative ---what are all those groupie girls doing behind the stage amps ? wow--they were bracing the corners of the bass amp with their BOOTIES --hello -now thats some massage therapy --Canned Heat at the Carosel ballroom on Market st--68/69? I was there---only for entertainment purposes---P

Yep

I remember very similar images from my first trip hearing that album... went on that night to first "altered" hearing of Live Dead, and then Europe '72... Wow, it was a totally great and life changing evening