Help learning intro to 'The Boxer' Paul Simon

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by bsman

This thread is precisely why I never attempt to 100% duplicate what an artist does on a studio recording. I remember a friend and I were attempting to recreate the first chord of "Hard Day's Night" and spent about two hours down that rabbit hole!

Only 2 hours??? snowflakes!

You should read chapter 13 of this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Songwriting.../dp/0711981671
He spends 42 pages examining the legend of that chord, the various anecdotes and theories.
You certainly can't create it with one guitar, even the 12-string George Harrison used. You need two guitars, a bass guitar and a piano. And - for real authenticity - the bass needs to be slightly out of tune (noticeably sharp, through being picked too hard).

Randy Bachman did a quite convincing job without a piano here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwfH9oAiPH0 - but only by playing a finger-twisting chord on one of the guitars (and probably getting the other one wrong). If he'd known there was a piano it would have been a whole lot easier.