Comments on: I heard there was a secret chord

I heard there was a secret chord

twoleftfeet — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:29:31 -0800

Mathematician Cracks Mystery Beatles Chord. Not to be confused with the Hendrix chord or the sacred chord.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:40:10 -0800

Satan's chord. And remember, kids, 666!

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:42:24 -0800

Short version: George hid a piano inside his guitar.

By: marsha56

marsha56 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:43:41 -0800

Hard Day's Night

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:44:20 -0800

All this time I just thought it was a Gsus4. Guess I wasn't paying close attention.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:45:32 -0800

I was kind of disappointed that the first and third links didn't have an audio example. Still, pretty cool!

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:51:49 -0800

What did they play live?

By: marsha56

marsha56 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:53:24 -0800

And A Lost Chord.

By: Mental Wimp

Mental Wimp — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:56:04 -0800

And A Lost Chord. I love that. When I was in grade school,we had a chorus and we sang a song with those lyrics. It started out soft and mysterious and built to a wonderful crescendo. We all couldn't wait to sing the song, and the music teacher used it to motivate us to do everything else.

By: Mental Wimp

Mental Wimp — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:57:51 -0800

Oh, and Jimmy Durante found it!

By: Paid In Full

Paid In Full — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:07:27 -0800

The analysis has been going on for ages, and the piano has been ID'd as a likely culprit for a long time.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:10:12 -0800

Man, string instruments sure are cool. I mean, all kinds of instruments are cool. But this is why I love fuzz guitar so much. Two notes can sound like twenty and then like twenty other notes the next time you play it. It's like having a whole string section at your fingertips.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:30:59 -0800

All this time I just thought it was a Gsus4. Guess I wasn't paying close attention. Gsus4/D, ZenMaster This. That being said, I found when I used to play a Ricky 12-string betimes that adding an F down on the low E string, thus: E --3-- B --1-- G --0-- D --0-- A --0-- E --1-- worked a treat. Of course, I did not have George Martin playing piano.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:37:45 -0800

E --1-- B --1-- G --0-- D --0-- A --0-- E --0-- ...is how I've always played it.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:43:04 -0800

Video of story

By: entropone

entropone — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:44:08 -0800

i can't believe that article didn't provide a bit more insight on the makeup of the chord. just that there was also an F in it. Come on. This is an article for music nerds and we want to know!

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:53:02 -0800

The Beatles Secret Chord is now Green, Yellow, Blue.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:57:51 -0800

Here's the opening chord for A Hard Day's Night. Shoulda found this sooner.

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:57:53 -0800

To think of all the years the Moody Blues spent In Search of the Lost Chord. I guess Timothy Leary really is dead.

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:01:36 -0800

So.... this has been a Big Important Mystery for 40 years, and nobody has thought to run an FFT on it until now?? Huh.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:05:16 -0800

Correction: this was found in 2004, and the new discovery was from the same song, but from the guitar solo (which was actually a duet with the piano). This was noted over on Slashdot, so I can take no credit for this info.

By: poppo

poppo — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:05:26 -0800

This article is pointless without a soundclip of him recreating it. As Paid In Full says, this has been going on forever, but if you think you've truly NAILED IT, where's the clip?

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:08:55 -0800

Elektra chord Tristan chord Mystic chord

By: The Bellman

The Bellman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:15:04 -0800

I love that. When I was in grade school, we had a chorus and we sang a song with those lyrics. It started out soft and mysterious and built to a wonderful crescendo. We all couldn't wait to sing the song, and the music teacher used it to motivate us to do everything else. Mental: You sang the version composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert & Sullivan) at the deathbed of his brother Fred. There's a animated "music video" of it here. There's also a lovely scene in Mike Leigh's (awesome) Topsey Turvey in which Sullivan performs the piece at a recital. It's an incredibly moving piece -- thanks for reminding me of it.

By: papercrane

papercrane — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:19:55 -0800

Dr. Brown's website can be found here., along with a link to his original paper.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:21:10 -0800

Just what is the mysterious Steely Dan mu (µ) major chord?

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:24:34 -0800

E --1-- B --1-- G --0-- D --0-- A --0-- E --0-- ...is how I've always played it. Yeah, that looks about right as well; pretty much the same as mine, but with a different inversion and swapping out the (redundant) high G for a low E. Hey, on a tangentially related note, is there a site anywhere that will let you plug in a chord spelling and give you the chord name? That is to say, there seem to be any number of sites that will tell you that Cdim is C/Eb/Gb, but a few idle minutes of poking about this morning revealed nothing of the reverse: the place where you can feed it C, Eb and Gb and the magic internet machine tells you that this is a Cdim.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:28:03 -0800

And don't forget the Space Chord!

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:31:42 -0800

Pumpkin chord

By: dnash

dnash — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:32:02 -0800

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere - but didn't anyone ever think to just ask George (when he was alive) and/or Paul how it was done? I mean, we know from interviews about other studio techniques that were used on other songs, like the pianos in "Day in the Life."

By: mexican

mexican — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:34:13 -0800

I'd call it a G7sus4/D. E --3-- B --3-- G --5-- D --3-- A --5-- E --mute--

By: droplet

droplet — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:36:16 -0800

So it wasn't David! It was George. And the other George. If there were any two guys who could play something to please the Big Guy, it would be them.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:42:44 -0800

So wait, am I missing something? The big mystery solved is the chord and not the fact that this mathematician proved there was a fifth Beatle?!?

By: Paid In Full

Paid In Full — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:43:00 -0800

Maybe I'm missing it somewhere - but didn't anyone ever think to just ask George (when he was alive) and/or Paul how it was done? 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.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:54:55 -0800

Personally, I feel if it's not on the Esteban chord chart it is not a chord I need to know about.

By: kozad

kozad — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:37:23 -0800

Although the linked article doesn't even answer the question (!), the above links sure do. The genius part was working on what is basically a strangely voiced Gsus7 chord and then whamming it out to resound for a couple of seconds before starting in with an a cappella lead in to a good song with cool elements like the two chromatic harmonies on "and when I get home to you/it's just the things that you do," and the comfortingly contrasting eight-bar bridge with a quick dynamic buildup back into the body of the song.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:11:24 -0800

Roll up, roll up for the Mystery Chord! Roll up, roll up for the Mystery Chord! The magical mystery chord Has George Martin on piano!

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:24:07 -0800

It doesn't really matter what chords I play, what words I say, or time of day it is...

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:00:16 -0800

Ah, the Hendrix chord. It fits the fingers so naturally; once you learn it it's tough not to hit it every once in a while.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:06:55 -0800

Wait, so people didn't know there was a piano being played in the track A Hard Day's Night? Even though it sounds like there's a piano being played? I guess the Beatles being somewhat coy about the issue didn't help, but even as a kid I always heard the piano. If only I had known there was some sort of controversy, I could have been hailed as a musical genius, or something. I guess I suck at being a true Beatles nerd. I've grown up with the Mono US (record) release; now that I no longer have a record player, the MP3 I have is the from the same recording. I wonder if the other versions/digital sound significantly different? Still, many, many people must have the same album. Bizarre.

By: fiercecupcake

fiercecupcake — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:04:12 -0800

The "sacred chord" link was pretty disappointing. Anyone with basic music theory knowledge can figure that much out from the song itself. Google is failing me. What chord did David play, after all?

By: cj_

cj_ — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:03:12 -0800

> Wait, so people didn't know there was a piano being played in the track A Hard Day's Night? Even though it sounds like there's a piano being played? This was my reaction too -- I can hear the piano clearly. I always just thought it was a piano note and open strings, hardly a big deal (although it makes a cool intro). I'm pretty sure I don't have any amazing powers of hearing or perfect pitch, so I'm a little confused by this.

By: Restless Day

Restless Day — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:15:05 -0800

Ah, Jimi

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:26:25 -0800

but didn't anyone ever think to just ask George (when he was alive) and/or Paul how it was done? Well, what with only Ringo still alive, of course. And now it's too late to ask him.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:57:40 -0800

I asked earlier: Hey, on a tangentially related note, is there a site anywhere that will let you plug in a chord spelling and give you the chord name? That is to say, there seem to be any number of sites that will tell you that Cdim is C/Eb/Gb, but a few idle minutes of poking about this morning revealed nothing of the reverse: the place where you can feed it C, Eb and Gb and the magic internet machine tells you that this is a Cdim. I thought people might want to know it's been done. And not badly, either. The graphics could be prettier, but it is pretty good: it even includes alternate tunings, which is the think I kind of love. The only thing I would do differently (and this would be massive programming headache) would be to give the user to vary the number of strings, so you could do mandolin/banjo/oud/what-have-you chords more elegantly.