Musicians: What piano chord is played at 2:59 on "Let It Be"?

Cafe Society
61

Can someone please help me on the Original Single Let It Be Intro i have found that not one person on Youtube plays the Intro 100% like Paul played it,2 people do come close Pianojohn113 and Beatles Vocal Harmony but they are still not 100% correct i mean for the A minor Chord and F major 7 and F major 6,i have even tried for the F major 7 Chord = C+E+F+A and for F major 6 = C+D+F+A with a C bass note I’ve also tried out for A minor Chord C+E+A played with each Bass notes AAGF ,i don’t think the Intro uses the Root position A minor Chord A+C+E but i could be wrong i would love to play it 100% the way Paul played it, its a real Mystery to me.Hope someone can advise me on the Let It Be Intro.

62

Yep, it drives me crazy. I’ve never been able to, and never heard anyone else able to play the song anything like McCartney did. Personally I don’t think it’s that he was such a virtuoso, I think think it’s largely the space it was recorded in as well as the amazing and mysterious overtones of the Blüthner piano, ringing like bells. I have never heard a piano that sounded like that one.

I think also there may be sostenuto pedal in some places and that can sustain notes and tone combos in ways that are not often heard.

Oh and as for you ideas on playing it:

I’ve also tried out for A minor Chord C+E+A played with each Bass notes AAGF ,i don’t think the Intro uses the Root position A minor Chord A+C+E but i could be wrong

I use the E-A-C inversion with each of the same bass notes as you-- AAGF.

63

In the video below at 2:59 the musician plays the note ‘A’ with the left hand and the chord ‘G7’ with the right hand, which would technically make it a G7 with an A bass, written as G7/A. Whether it was intentional or a mistake is anybody’s guess, but it should be noted that G7 is one tone to the right of Am, meaning Paul might have moved his hand too far to the right and then corrected it on the next beat. Also, he never plays this chord live, which leads me to think it was a beautiful mistake he left in the recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Papf4SlZ4

64

Looks like he first hits B–D–G, then B–D–F?

65

Thanks for your comment. If you slow down the video, he plays B-D-F, A-C-E and G-C-E, with his right hand, which is G7, Am and C, which sounds identical to Paul. I guess we’ll never know if it was a mistake or not. Cheers.