"A Hard Day's Night" is immediately identifiable due to the unmistakable Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string guitar's "mighty opening chord" played by George Harrison. According to George Martin, "We knew it would open both the film and the soundtrack LP, so we wanted a particularly strong and effective beginning. The strident guitar chord was the perfect launch," having what Ian MacDonald called "a significance in Beatles lore matched only by the concluding E major of "A Day in the Life", the two opening and closing the group's middle period of peak creativity".