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I am looking at "Eight days a week" by the Beatles and here in the B section of the verse there is this "2x and 4x with the chorus" above the vocal melody and I don't know what it means. Can anyone else make sense of it? Also, in the recording I have of this song that top line really is not audible to me. I hear the main melody as the one starting on F# not A (ie: alto voice) and that top line when I play it sounds wrong so I don't know if it is just very soft in the recording. Can anyone else hear it?

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  • Maybe "chorus" doesn't mean a part of the song, but a choir? Maybe this is an arrangement?
    – Andy Bonner
    Sep 26, 2022 at 13:08
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    While phoog solved the riddle, I'd like to point that the question bases on an assumption that the music notation is very well formalized and there is a well defined way to write everything. This is not true. There are various notations used by various communities, editors, or individual musicians. Many musicians have no or very little formal education. In case of a popular song like this there is no better way than to listen to the original. The score is there only to help to figure out how to perform (or "fake") the tune.
    – user1079505
    Sep 26, 2022 at 17:42
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    @Laurence got this right, +1. It has the upper harmony (sung by Paul) the second and fourth time. Both voices are double tracked which was very common on Beatles recordings. The problem is this is a very poorly written instruction. It should read “2nd and 4th time with upper harmony”. The harmony is written with parentheses around it. It was not unusual for the Beatles to harmonize above the melody, it is actually a common practice in pop music.
    – John Belzaguy
    Sep 27, 2022 at 6:15

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It means "second time, fourth time with chorus." This agrees with the fact that the second and fourth times these measures are sung, there is harmony, but if that's really what it means, it's a bit of an odd way to say it, because, while the first and third renditions don't have harmony, they do have multiple voices—singing in unison.

The idea that this indicates when must go on to the chorus isn't borne out by this video, at least, where the bridge follows instances 2 and 3, while 4 is followed by the coda and the end of the song.

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  • If the 2nd and 4th verses did have "harmony" then I would totally understand but the 1st verse is exactly the same as the second, there is no A sung above the F#, at least not to my ears... maybe somebody hears something I don't but at least listen to the recording to confirm that is in fact what it is saying.
    – user35708
    Sep 26, 2022 at 14:07
  • Ah, OK, the 'chorus'/break [whatever you want to call it] is after 'verses' 2 & 3, but this section happens 4 times, harmonies on 2nd & 4th - at least we all agree on that ;) It's exactly the same as the version I was listening to… I just can't count ;)) This makes the 'with chorus' more mysterious.
    – Tetsujin
    Sep 26, 2022 at 14:12
  • @armani I did listen to the recording, the one linked in this answer, probably 5 or 6 times as I was confirming the roadmap and trying to ignore my amazement at the screaming fans, and the harmony is very clearly and distinctly present in the second and fourth appearances of that bit while being absent from the first and third. Have you tried a different set of speakers, a different headset, or something like that? Sometimes specific frequency ranges can be difficult to hear through specific hardware.
    – phoog
    Sep 26, 2022 at 14:14
  • @phoog I have a very professional sounding set up with proper studio monitors in an acoustically treated room. I honestly can't hear that A note sung in the second verse. I hear a unison with F# in both verses... I tried, I really did :( Also, not sure if this means anything but Allan Pollack says in his notes about the song "· When Paul is not harmonizing with John's lead vocal he's singing it with him in unison. The specific content of the backing vocals and their exact placement is different from the official version."
    – user35708
    Sep 26, 2022 at 14:43
  • @armani just to be clear, the first time (in unison) is at 21 seconds or so. The second time (harmony) is at 50 seconds.
    – phoog
    Sep 26, 2022 at 15:01
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Not at all clear. Nothing to do with repeating those bars, though. As in repeating them 2x or 4x. It actually means there's harmony at that part of the song the 2nd and 4th times it comes round. As opposed to single voice (possibly double tracked, more likely unison) 1st and 3rd times. 'To chorus'? 1st and 3rd times will go into another verse, so probably that's what 2x/4x is supposed to signify.

I've also a niggle about the G♭ , maybe G6 after the Bm(?).

Yep, the bracketed notes are those sung in harmony only on 2nd and 4th times. Solved!

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  • Yup, unison 1 & 3, harmony 2 & 4. I think it's Paul on the DT/hrm right the way through, rather than John DT. I think 'with chorus' is just the 2 & 4 are before a chorus, 1 & 3 go round another verse. Maybe the score splits again where we can't see it from the snippet.
    – Tetsujin
    Sep 26, 2022 at 11:26
  • @Tetsujin - was listening to the track as you wrote! Edited accordingly.
    – Tim
    Sep 26, 2022 at 11:31
  • Yeah - I dragged it out for a quick listen too. They were a bit good, weren't they, even just with a 'live band' setup.
    – Tetsujin
    Sep 26, 2022 at 11:32
  • @Tetsujin - I remember singing this in groups in the '60s, but never picked up on the unison/harmony. Must listen more carefully...
    – Tim
    Sep 26, 2022 at 11:36
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    armani - the harmonies definitely happen on the 2nd & 4th times this section is sung, not on the 1st & 3rd. If you've got a stereo version [which the linked YouTube version is], the harmony is on the right.
    – Tetsujin
    Sep 26, 2022 at 14:15
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Something happens when that section is played the 2nd and 4th time through. That's clear enough. It's also pretty clear that what happens are the extra upper notes.

The only unclear point is what is meant by 'chorus'. Does a choir join in? Luckily we can listen to the record and confirm that it simply means one of the Beatles sings harmony. Is it quite as clear-cut as the music copy (from 'The Beatles - Complete Scores' I think?) says? Possibly not. That book occasionally notates what they think the boys SHOULD have played rather than what they actually did!

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