Jhang!

The opening chord of A Hard Days Night. I always played a Gsus4 or a couple 
other variations in the first position. The Complete Beatles score actually 
notates two guitars and McCartney’s bass: my aforementioned Gsus4 as guitar one 
and guitar two is Gsus4 (III), full barre. Paul plays a D bass counterpoint.

There's an article on the internet that shows how it was deconstructed 
accurately [see below]. There are many iterations out there that are 
wrong or incomplete. For example: One or two notes of the chord are 
provided by a piano [and no other instrument]. That is missing from your 
example.

It was definitively solved by Jason Brown of Dalhousie’s Department of 
Mathematics. He decided to try and see if he could apply a mathematical 
calculation known as Fourier transform 
<http://www.science20.com/search/node/Fourier>. That, along with some 
fine detective work gave the result. Here's a link to the story [but 
there's another one in quite a bit greater depth but I don't have the 
link now]:
.
.
<http://www.science20.com/news_releases/beatles_unknown_hard_days_night_chord_mystery_solved_using_fourier_transform>
.
.
Here's another link that mentions the piano chord, although I don't know 
it it's right:
.
<http://everything2.com/title/The%2520%2522A%2520Hard%2520Day%2527s%2520Night%2522%2520Chord%2520-%2520Rock%2527s%2520Holy%2520Grail>
.
.
And here's a bit of info from Wikipedia:


   Opening chord

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_2.png> 

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_2.png>
"A Hard Day's Night" opening chord option: G7sus4.
One may quickly and easily compare the presence or absence of notes, 
and their range <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_%28music%29>, even 
without the ability to read music.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_5.png> 

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_5.png>
"A Hard Day's Night" opening chord option: Dm7sus4.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_7.png> 

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord_7.png>
"A Hard Day's Night" opening chord option: Prof. Brown's analysis.

"A Hard Day's Night" is immediately identifiable before the vocals 
even begin, thanks to George Harrison 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Harrison>'s unmistakable 
Rickenbacker <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickenbacker> 360/12 
12-string guitar <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar>'s "mighty 
opening chord".^[12] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJackson2005112-11>
 
According to George Martin 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Martin>, "We knew it would open 
both the film and the soundtrack LP, so we wanted a particularly 
strong and effective beginning. The strident guitar chord 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_chord> was the perfect 
launch,"^[10] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTELewisohn198843-9>
 
having what Ian MacDonald <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_MacDonald> 
calls, "a significance in Beatles lore matched only by the concluding 
E major <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_chord> of "A Day in the 
Life <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_in_the_Life>", the two 
opening and closing the group's middle period of peak 
creativity".^[13] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMacDonald2005115-12>
 
"That sound you just associate with those early 1960s Beatles 
records".^[14] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBacon200011-13>
 


About this sound 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord.ogg> 
Listen to the opening chord 
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord.ogg>(help
 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help>·info 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_opening_chord.ogg>)

Analysis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_analysis> of the chord 
has been debated,^[15] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHook2005-14>
 
it having been described as G7add9sus4 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_chord#Fourth>,^[16] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGlynn200433.2C_68-15>
 
G7sus4 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended_chord>,^[17] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTERooksby200461-16>
 
^[18] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTELeonard2003126-17>
 
or G11sus4^[12] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJackson2005112-11>
 
and others below.

The exact chord <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_%28music%29> is an 
Fadd9 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_chord#Second> confirmed by 
Harrison during an online chat on 15 February 2001:^[19] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPedler2003478.E2.80.93479-18>
 


   Q: Mr Harrison, what is the opening chord you used for "A Hard
   Day's Night"?
   A: It is F with a G on top, but you'll have to ask Paul about the
   bass note <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_note> to get the
   proper story.

According to Walter Everett 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Everett_%28musicologist%29> the 
opening chord has an introductory dominant 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_%28music%29> function because 
McCartney plays D in the bass: Harrison and Martin play F A C G, over 
the bass D, on twelve-string guitar 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-string_guitar> and piano, giving 
the chord a mixture-coloured neighbour, F; two diatonic neighbours, A 
and C; plus an anticipation 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonchord_tone#Unaccented> of the tonic, 
G — the major subtonic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtonic> as 
played on guitar being a borrowed chord 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrowed_chord#Borrowed_chords> commonly 
used by The Beatles, first in "P.S. I Love You 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.S._I_Love_You_%28The_Beatles_song%29>" 
(see mode mixture <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_mixture>), and 
later in "Every Little Thing 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Little_Thing_%28song%29>", 
"Tomorrow Never Knows 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Never_Knows>" and "Got to Get 
You into My Life 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_to_Get_You_into_My_Life>" (in the 
latter two against a tonic pedal 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedal_point>).^[20] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEverett2001236.E2.80.93237-19>
 


Alan W. Pollack <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_W._Pollack> also 
interprets the chord as a surrogate dominant, the G being an 
anticipation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonchord_tone#Unaccented> 
that resolves on the G major chord that opens the verse. He suggests 
it is a mixture of d minor, F major, and G major (missing the B).^[21] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPollack-20>
 
Tony Bacon calls it a Dm7sus4 (D F G A C),^[22] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBacon20005-21>
 
which is the minor seventh chord 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_seventh_chord> (plus the fourth, 
G). /(For more information regarding chord functions see diatonic 
function <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_function>.)/

Everett points out that the chord relates to The Beatles' interest in 
pandiatonic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandiatonic> harmony 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony>.^[23] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEverett2001109-22>
 


Dominic Pedler has also provided an interpretation of the famous 
chord,^[24] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPedler2003511.E2.80.9312-23>
 
with The Beatles and George Martin playing the following:

 * *George Harrison:* Fadd9 in 1st position on Rickenbacker 360/12
   12-string electric guitar
 * *John Lennon:* Fadd9 in 1st position on a Gibson J-160E 6-string
   acoustic guitar
 * *Paul McCartney:* high D played on the D-string, 12th fret on
   Hofner 500/1 electric bass
 * *George Martin:* D2-G2-D3 played on a Steinway Grand Piano
 * *Ringo Starr:* Subtle snare drum and ride cymbal

This gives the notes: *G-B-D-F-A-C* (the B is a harmonic). One of the 
interesting things about this chord (as described by Pedler) is how 
McCartney's high bass note reverberates inside the soundbox of 
Lennon's acoustic guitar and begins to be picked up on Lennon's 
microphone <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone> or pick-up 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_up_%28music_technology%29> during 
the sounding of the chord. This gives the chord its special "wavy" and 
unstable quality. Pedler describes the effect as a "virtual pull-off 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull-off>".^[19] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPedler2003478.E2.80.93479-18>
 


Jason Brown, Professor for the Faculty of Computer Science 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Science> at Dalhousie 
University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalhousie_University> in 
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Urban_Area>, whose research 
interests include graph theory 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory>, combinatorics 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combinatorics>, and combinatorial 
algorithms <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm>, announced in 
October 2004 that after six months of research he succeeded in 
analysing the opening chord by de-composing the sound into original 
frequencies using a mathematical technique known as the Fourier 
transform <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform>.^[25] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBrown2004-24>
 
According to Brown, the Rickenbacker guitar wasn't the only instrument 
used. "It wasn't just George Harrison playing it and it wasn't just 
The Beatles playing on it... There was a piano in the mix." 
Specifically, he claims that Harrison was playing the following notes 
on his 12 string guitar: a2, a3, d3, d4, g3, g4, c4, and another c4; 
McCartney played a d3 on his bass; producer George Martin was playing 
d3, f3, d5, g5, and e6 on the piano, while Lennon played a loud c5 on 
his six-string guitar.^[26] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTECBC_Radio2004-25>
 


In November 2009, /Wired/ published an article where Celemony 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celemony>'s Melodyne Editor with Direct 
Note Access 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celemony#Melodyne_Direct_Note_Access> 
technology was used to analyse the opening chord.^[27] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-26> 


Randy Bachman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Bachman> claims to 
have heard the original masters of the recordings and could hear the 
12-string guitar playing "an F chord, but you put a G on top, and you 
put a G on the bottom, and you put a C next to that G", "a D on the 
bass", and "rhythm guitar was a D chord with a sus 4".^[28] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-27> 


A repeated arpeggio <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpeggio> outlining 
the notes of the opening chord ends the song in a circular fashion, 
fading out with the sound of helicopter blades. This provides, "a 
sonic confirmation that the thirty-six hours we have just seen [in the 
movie] will go on and on and on".^[16] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGlynn200433.2C_68-15>
 
The song contains 12 other chords.^[12] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_%28song%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJackson2005112-11>
 

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