'Killer Queen' by Queen

What band is queen and who are its members?(+their role).

‘Queen’ is a (progressive) rock band formed in London in 1970-71 by its 4 members:

• Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) = lead singer and pianist

• Brian May = lead guitar and backing vocals

• Roger Taylor = drums and backing vocals

• John Deacon = bass guitar

What is Queen’s music known for and what are its characteristics?

→known for their intense creativity, sense of theatre, and their engagement with music in a daring way.

Characteristics:

• spans(=reaches) many musical genres: riff-driven heavy rock sound, guitar parts are almost treated like sections of a jazz orchestra( → big band jazz influence), influence from opera and musical theatre

• adventurous(unusual) structures

• complex, multi-tracked(music recorded on separated tracks which can be edited individually) guitar and vocal parts

• →often featuring vocals in four-part close harmony and overdubbed(recording a part over previously recorded music) guitar parts

• anthemic melodies (strong, memorable melody which has rousing or uplifting characteristics)

• melodic, carefully crafted guitar solos

• a sense of theatre(insipired by vaudeville & opera)blended into a rock song format

• use of music technology

Genre (and some background information of ‘Killer Queen’)

• Genre : glam rock (genre of rock known for the glamorous dress style of the performers, including flmaboyant hairstyles, glitter, platform shoes)

  • Killer Queen is a pop/rock song written in 1974 for the album ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ and is the first of Queen’s songs to become mainstream (peaking at number 2 in the UK single charts)

  • Freddie Mercury composed the song (starting with the vague lyrics).

  • Due to Mercury’s love of theatre and opera, the music is inspired by vaudeville(a form of comic music theatre from the 1880s)

  • Brian May added a quirky, melodic guitar solo (bars 44-61) afterwards.

What is the structure of killer queen? Why is it considered an adventurous/unusual structure?

• verse-chorus form, with a brief intro, a mini guitar solo (between chorus 1 and verse 2) acting as the bridge or the middle 8 (=connects two sections of a pop or rock song, usually 8 bars long but not necessarily), and an outro(to reinforce the tonic key)

• It is considered an extended structure due to the irregular/assymetrical phrase lengths(4-5-3 bars phrases), irregular section lengths(chorus 2 is shorter than chorus 1, verse 3 has different phrase lengths than verse 1 and 2), a substantial 18 bar guitar solo

Closer analysis of the structure

• Intro (bars 1-2) : 6 fingerclicks, starting on beat 3 (anacrusis)

• Verse 1 (12 bars): 4-5-3 bar phrases

• Chorus 1 (8 bars): 5-3 bar phrases

• 4 bars mini guitar solo acting

• Verse 2 : same phrase structure as verse 1 (4-5-3)

• Chorus 2 : shorter than chorus 1, only first 5 bar phrase, no 3 bar phrase

• Guitar solo part 1 (7 bars), = replaces the voice in the second part of the chorus, idea borrowed from the 3 bar phrase in chorus 1 “recommended at the price”, and repeats 4 bar mini guitar solo from the bridge/middle 8

• Guitar solo part 2 (11 bars) = first part of verse 3 (4-5-2 bar phrase, 4 and 5 similar to verse 1, ideas borrowed from verse 1: “Moët and Chandon”)

• Verse 3: unclear phrase lengths, NOT the same as verse 1 & 2 which is another way in which the structure has been extended

• Chorus 3: 5 bar phrase (same as chorus 1) + 4 bar phrase (same as chorus 1: 3 bars but + 1 extra bar)

• Outro: half-spoken ‘you wanna try’ = one bar answer to the final vocal phrase, repetition of final bar(syncopated rythmic motif) until it fades out

Tempo, Metre, Rhythm

• Tempo: 112 (dotted crotchet) beats per minute

• Metre: 12/8= compound quadruple = 4 dotted crotchets per bar

    →but also includes moments where metre changes to 6/8 (= compound duple), which     has the effect of extending phrase lengths (e.g. bar 10 in the 5 bar phrase of verse 1:     “you can’t - decline” )

• Rhythm: 3 main features

1. swung rhythms(= long then short rhythm) (big band jazz feature)

2. syncopation is frequent throughout, which creates anticipation and drive (big band jazz feature) e.g. bar 44-45 (after chorus 2, in the piano part accompanying guitar solo), end of bar 23 and end of bar 25(tied rhythms stressing last quaver of triplet group)

3. anacrusis=upbeat (every verse and chorus starts with an anacrusis)

(occasionally triplets, e.g. bar 18: “guaranteed to blow your mind”)

Rhythmic motifs that use syncopation

Melody

General melody features:

• quite anthemic melody(strong and memorable with uplifting and rousing characteristics), catchy melodic line (though not as memorable as other rock anthems of Queen)

• The vocal line is almost entirely syllabic(one note sung per syllable), which is typical of pop music. This ensures that the lyrics are clearly heard.

• occasionally there’s spoken text which reflects Mercury’s love of theatre

• there are some moments of melisma, e.g. “decline” (bars 10-11)

• mainly conjunct→ memorable melody

• but sometimes disjunct with small leaps at the beginning e.g. 3rd of 4th and wider, angular leaps later e.g. rising major 6th ( decline bars 10-11), and even an octave in bar 62 (“hat- she’s as willing as”) or bar 20-21 (“insatiable”)

• short altered rising sequence in bars 12 and 13(“caviar & cigarettes, well versed in etiquette“), adding again to the memorable nature of the melody. 

• This falling 5th motif is also used in the chorus bar 20-21 (“recommended at the price…”), forming an altered descending sequence

• use of portamento(slide from one note to another) on the word “queen” in the chorus

• symmetry in the melodic line (1st phrase ascending, 2nd phrase descending)

• Some vocables/vocalisation (nonsense syllables sung instead of words)

• little word painting, e,g, upward sarcastic slide for the word “queen”, phaser effect to make “laser beam” sound unworldly and climatic top notes+busy drum part for “absolutely drive you wild”

• Guitar solo: develops melodic material from other parts of the song, takes over from the vocal melody

Tonality and Harmony

• Key = Eb major

• tonality is sometimes ambiguous e.g. due to the c minor triads at the beginning of the song

• verses start in C minor(relative minor of home key) and choruses are in B b major

• song ends with a perfect cadence in Eb major, fades out on the tonic chord of Eb major (outro)

• many passing modulations, strengthened by perfect cadences

• parallell harmonies in vocal part of chorus (“She’s a killer queeeeeen”)

• most chords are in root position

• some chords are in first or 2nd inversion to creat scalic movement in the bass

• some use of dissonance

• descending chromatic scale from tonic to dominant of Eb major in bass part bars 7-9

• 7th chords (e.g. bar 4)

• circle of fifths (e.g. bars 20-21)

• use of altered and extended chords (e.g. F11 bar 47)

• pedal used bar 27-30( verse 2 “to avoid complications”)

Texture

• frequently changing

• opening is homophonic from the vocals enter

• main texture is homophonic

• opening introduces parts gradually, piano comes in one hand at a time

• articulation of the verse is staccato in most of the parts, so the overall texture is quite light and sparse even when there are multiple instruments playing

• chordal texture for the vocals at the start and the end of the chorus

• increase in polyphony in second part of the verse ( “met a man” + “A killer a killer”)

• use of imitation

• use of panning creates antiphonal feel (bars 42-43 backing vocals)

• antiphonal exchange( 67-68 “drive you wild”)

Instruments used

• vocals (often move in parallel, harmony inspired by gospel music, but parts often cross over)

• piano and jangle piano (overdubbed, play the same part to create a hybrid timbre) (Freddie Mercury)

• electric guitar (Brian May)

• bass guitar (John Deacon)

• drum kit and percussion (Roger Taylor)

• triangle (bar 29)

• windchimes (bar 68)

No synthesizers were used

Vocal, guitar and drum kit techniques

Vocal Techniques:

• vocal slides are used (“Queen)

• vocalisation /vocables are used (nonsense syllables sung instead of words)

Guitar Techniques:

• slides (smooth glide in pitch from one note to the next)

• string bends (After picking a note, the guitarist pushes or pulls the string sideways. The string tightens and the pitch raises)

• pull-offs (plucking the string with the fretting hand)

• vibrato (technique used to create rapid variations of pitch to warm the sound)

• palm mute (damping the strings with the side of the hand while plucking to produce a very dark, dry sound)

Drum techniques:

• cymbal roll

• snare roll

• back beat( louder snare drum hits on beats 2 and 4)

• use of hi-hat

Music technology effects

Music Technology effects:

• overdubbing (to produce multiple guitar tracks all played by Brian May and the 4-part vocals in the chorus all sung by Freddie Mercury)

• multitracking

• flanger for word painting on the word “laser beam”

• distortion on guitars to create ‘creamy’, sustained sound (distortion increases the volume and sustain on guitars, making the timbre more gritty or smooth depending on the settings)

• wah-wah effect on guitar (bar 62)

• reverb (to create a sense of space)

• panning (to create an antiphonal feeling)