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The "Jangliest" Chord in Rock...
Posted at 8:25 AM on December 29, 2008
by Steve Seel
(6 Comments)
For some 40 years, guitarists have wondered how on Earth the Beatles created it: that first chord at the beginning of "A Hard Day's Night." Does it involve an alternate guitar tuning? If so, what? Well, someone has now devised an answer, and it's not a musician, but a mathematician.
Jason Brown's theory, arrived at using something called the "Fourier calculation": Beatles producer George Martin provided some "extra" notes on the piano - played simultaneously to George Harrison's 12-string Rickenbacker guitar - that fatten the chord, and give it that sweetly anticipatory "hovering" quality.
My suspicion is that this will not end the debate. Brown might have identified the notes in the chord, but his theory about Martin playing some of them on a piano, tucked-in there behind those reverberant guitar strings, remains his own speculation. Let the guitarists commense with the rebuttal!
Comments (6)
I think that Martin played a chord on a Steinway GRand that was overdubbed is pretty well established. Here's a significantly in-depth study of the possible chord voicings of the Beatles' mystery chord:
I had to consult my stack of Beatles books to make sure, but according to "Beatlesongs" by William Dowlding, which is a track by track listing of who played on what, corroborated by EMI recording records, George Martin did play piano on AHDN. However, it doesn't say if he "added" anything to the opening chord. I would speculate that it's possible, but may remain one of the great unknown mysteries.
On the way home from work, my iPod kicked up "Here Comes Your Man' by the Pixies. It made me laugh because it uses a similar chord opening. Perhaps Black Francis' homage?
I almost forgot. My vote for the jangliest chord in rock is F# with the open B and high E. Check it out.
Frick -- the chord you're describing is one of my favorites too; it's the second chord of "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman (and also the second chord of "Sometime In The Morning" by The Monkees). Good stuff!
oops - duh, I'm describing the f# *minor* chord with the open B and high E. Of course, I like yours too. Perhaps we should take this geekfest offline somewhere?
I've never heard of Martin overdubbing anything over "THE CHORD", a Gsus4. And it's played in standard tuning, though on an electric 12 string, which makes it even more jangly.
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