Various thoughts on this very subject from the Steve Hoffman forum (if this
doesn't give you nightmares nothing will...;-) :
"Paul's playing a D on the bass (probably in octaves). George is playing
an
Fmaj9 chord on the top four pairs of strings on his 12 string, John is
playing an open G chord on 6 string acoustic and someone is on piano,
playing something like an F major chord. It all adds up to a G11 (or G9sus
-
same thing) chord (with D in the bass).
The chord probably sounds so rich because the soundboard of John's
acoustic
is picking up the sound of the other instruments and generating extra
harmonics.
==
TAB:
--3--
--1--
--2--
--0--
--x--
--3--
==
Harrison and Lennon play an F add 9: Forth string, third fret - third
string, second fret - second string, first fret - first string, third
fret.
The same chord he arpegiates at the end of the song.
==
With that, Paul plays an open D, and the piano slams on a D as well, thus
making the complete chord a Dm7sus4.
The orthodox guitar-shape Gsus4 and Dm7+4 are basically chord subs, based
on
whether you root D or G. Same thing, really.
==
No single guitar chord really does the trick without the complementary
piano
part; when I was "George" in a Fab band I used something more akin to the
Dm7+4, IIRC. My point was, either way you spank that basic tonality out on
a
guitar, people go "A Hard Day's Night"!
==
I'll concede the necessity of the A (second fret on the G string) if
you'll
concede the necessity of the F (third fret, fourth string), which is
missing
from your chord. That really has to be a part of this for it to sound
right,
which is one reason 353533 sounds close (though it's missing your A).
Here's a whacky, if impractical idea: play 0x3213, but tune the low E
string
down a step to D. This adds in the exact D note that Paul is playing on
his
bass, albeit without the bass's characteristic tone.
==
The "busker's choice", a G7sus4, has been proved to be incorrect by none
other than The Beatles' lead guitarist George Harrison himself. He has
actually revealed what he played on his famous Rickenbacker 360/12
12-string
electric guitar in an online chat on the 15th February, 2001:
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 (on the 12-string), but you'll have to ask Paul
about the bass note to get the proper story.
Surprisingly simple really! This is a pretty easy guitar chord to play -
even I can play it, and I'm hardly George Harrison standard! An Fadd9:
E ----3----
B ----1----
G ----2----
D ----3----
A ----x----
E ----x----
==
I think there IS a G note in the bass, BUT it is in the piano chord, not
Paul's bass (in other words, the lowest note played by George Martin). And
I
may be wrong, but I think George Harrison is playing the chord George had
mentioned, the F9, but with no F note, so he I think that he played it
E-x
A-O
D-O
G-3
B-2
E-3 (referring to the fret positions on each string).
They didn't double the chord on the other guitar, so if George is playing
that, I think John IS playing a Dmaj7aug3 (open A string, open D string, G
string is playing an A on the second fret, B string is on the C the first
fret, the seventh note in the chord, and the top E string is on the third
fret, the G). Paul is playing both a D and the A note above it on the
bass'
G string, second fret."
==
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=164511
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