The Beatles were responsible for two of the most famous single chords in music - the opening to ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and the final chord on ‘A Day in the Life.’
Are there any other examples of famous single chords?
.
How should we classify the opening chord to the Kink’s Do It Again, then?
The opening chord of Lola.
Yardbirds - For Your Love
Opening three chords (one repeated) are iconic.
Hmm. Would the average person know which song it was from hearing only the opening to ‘Do It Again?’ I’d know it but I’m guessing it’s not as famous as the Beatles chords.
Don’t take me alive, Steely Dan.
Heh, we went from Do It Again by another band, to Steely Dan, which reminds me that I’d always be about to pick out the beginning to Hey 19 even without the long drawn out note after the first chord.
Re: Steely Dan, isn’t there a “Steely Dan chord”? That’s gotta count for something.
I see from Wikipedia it’s properly called the “mu chord,” but gets enough searching under “Steely Dan chord,” that there’s a redirect in place.
Yeah, it’s just a type of add9 (or add2) chord.
There’s also the “Jimi Hendrix chord,” which is a 7#9 chord. When the verse kicks in (“Purple Haze was in my brain…”) it’s that first chord in that progression.
Roundabout, Yes.
Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies starts out with a very “Hard Day’s Night”-esque chord.
To the actual point of the thread, if I understand it correctly, I’d nominate two from the same album, the opening chords on “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Purple Rain.”
“The story goes that when James Brown interviewed the guitarist Jimmy Nolan, Jimmy was asked, ‘Can you play an E9 chord?’. ‘Of course!’. replied Jimmy. James Brown then grinned and asked, ‘Yes, but can you play it all night?!’”
Can I have the same chord played twice please?
In which case I’ll take Bowie’s Moonage Daydream.
Another Beatles tune with a long/unique opening chord: It’s All Too Much
I don’t know how famous it is if you haven’t listened to the Rutles, but there’s the chord at the end of Cheese and Onions. It certainly riffs off the chord at the end of A Day In the Life.
I know it’s not rock but the opening blast chord of the Star Wars theme is certainly instantly recognizable.
The Ramones Rock And Roll High School. This one pissed Johnny Ramone right off because Phil Spector kept making him play it over and over again (the same chord, now) until it was juuust right.
(The ringing bell- that’s not the beginning of the song, imo)Here is a pretty cool Youtube clip of Randy Bachman breaking down the famous A Hard Days Night opening chord.
This is great. I always thought I heard a piano in there somewhere, but I guess not