SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE

Context

• Eguitars are repetitive, rhythmic, distorted + maybe blues-based riffs

• drum kit beats play driving rhythms, strong bass drum, backbeat, snare, loud cymbals for emphaises

• Ebass guitar provides backing for rhythm + lead guitars, with some riffs

Seven Seas of Rhye

• body of water in the Colony of Calsahara in California

• A series of shallow pools of alkaline water that vary in number at different times of year

Rhye is also

• imaginary place FM + sister invented when they were childhood

• imagine he was “The King of Rhye”

• always said the subject matter was “a figment of his imagination”

Hard rock (fast tempo, strong main vocal part which covers a wide pitch range, one or more electric guitars play rhythm and/or solo lead parts)

Structure

• Introduction (opens 10 bar intro, no vocal, opening 2 bar riff by solo piano with distinctive arpeggiated chords)

• Verse 1 (both 10 bars long, final 2 bars of each repeat the first two bars of opening solo piano riff - that riff gives link into sections; usual 4 bar phrases ending with the hook + distinctive high note before the lyrics ‘the seven seas of Rhye’)

• Verse 2

• Bridge 1 (unusual length of 11 bars, final 2 bars repeat 2 two bars + riffs gives link into lead guitar’s solo, interesting contrast to rest of the song)

• Instrumental Solo (10 bar section dominated with lead and rhythm guitars, then later the guitar continues with repetitive four semiquaver figure)

• Bridge 2 (vocal parts return + shorter slightly than first bridge - 8 bars)

• Verse 3 (10 bars, piano riff is not played in final 2 bar + heard at start of final/ next instrumental instead)

• Final Instrumental (opening piano riff begins, guitars take prominent role to conclude)

• Outro (finishes with the nursery rhyme/ popular Brit music hall song “Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside” - fades at end, loose link to ‘seven seas’ of the title; Queen didn’t always include this ending when performing the song)

(no chorus, so in place a short vocal hook is sun at the end of each verse)

Tonality

• The ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ is clearly in D Major, the tonic key (up until bridge 1)

• Bridge 1 - alternation between F-sharps and F-naturals (don’t stabilise in a new key) + some C-naturals suggesting G major but music never really arrives here

• The solo section includes an unusual modulation to the key of Bb major, the flattened submediant (6th note).

• At the end of the solo section the key returns to D major

• Bridge 2 with C-natural/ C-sharp implications like in Bridge 1 to suggest modulation to the subdominant key G major but remains in D major

• The tonic key of D major returns at the end of this section

Harmony

• generally diatonic

• chords mostly in root position throughout the piece with occasional first and second inversions

• slow harmonic rhythm (mostly one chord per bar)

Intro

• static diatonic harmon

• D + Gmaj chords (arpeggio style)

• G major chord is 2nd inversion

• Concludes with Em, Em9, A7

• The A7 chord preparing for the Dmaj chord at the start of the verse

• Power chords are used in the introduction, with the last three chords being D, Em (Em9) and A7

Verses 1 + 2

• simple harmonies

• against focus on D + G harmonies

• Em-A7-D progression, providing a perfect cadence in D (preceded by an approach chord)

• The word ‘smile’ and the phrase ‘I’ll take you to the seven seas of Rhye’ is sung over a G minor chord. The sixth note of the chord is added (an E natural) to create a G minor 6 (or Gm6) chord.

Bridge:

• harmonic rhythm speeds up (new harmony every two beats)

• Uses C maj on second syllable of ‘sister’ ‘mister’ (flattened chord VII)

• Chords ascend by step (D, Em, F-sharp minor, G)

• wider variety of chord choices (G7, Em, F-sharp minor) with some chromaticism (C + F naturals)

Guitar solo:

• most dramatic harmonic change

• B-flat major and E-flat7 chords (key of B-flat maj —> distant key)

• In the instrumental solo section the chords of Bb major (the tonic - chord I) and Eb major (the submediant - chord IV) alternate throughout (repetition of I-IV7-I harmonies)

Verse 3:

• returns to harmonic pattern with prev verses with slight variations

• discord is heard with Top A against a Gmaj7 chord (G B D F# A)

• Final vocal cadence is plagal to give gentler ending
  

Final instrumental: tonic pedal used

Melody

Intro:

• does not have strong melodic features; interest increases as song progresses

• riff can be described as apreggiated or using broken chords

• arpeggiated piano semiquavers hover around the same note

• powerful long bass notes on bass guitar - with distinctive slide upwards

Verses 1 + 2:

• begin and end with the same piano riff heard in the intro

• starts with very small range, only perfect 4th (A-D) - rising to an 8ve later on

• 1st phrase of each verse descends a perfect 4th

• Disjunct movement towards the end of the verse (perfect fifth)

• includes the melodic hook ‘the seven seas of Rhye’

• Hook is sun 3x and descends by step (conjunct) - except for the final two words ‘of Rhye’ (major 3rd)

• Verse 2 (+3) starts with anacrusis

• at end of the verses, a distinctive high A on the word ‘mine’

• Each verse has a range of an octave

Bridge 1

• set at higher tessitura

• includes blues notes - F-sharps become naturals

• again many repeated notes, but now an octave range (D-D)

• melisma created on the second syllables of ‘sister’ and ‘mister’ due to slides

• bridge ends on an extremely high note (D) in FM voice

Guitar solo

• leade guitars plays descending scale to leade into the solo

• Improvises over the chords of B-flat and E-flat7 with a distinctive upward leap in the melody

• Contains blues notes (flattend 3rd and 7th)

• ascending scales occur at the end of the solo

Rest of the song:

• song ends with totally contasting ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’

• the end of verse 3, where it ascends by a minor seventh (B to A) - more disjunct leaps before vocal hook

Texture

• All vocals parts of this song have melody + accompaniment texture

• Guitar solo is also melody and accompaniment

• The opening two-bar riff is a piano solo, played in octaves.

• The introduction from bar 3 has 2 melodic lines so is polyphonic

• small sections of polyphony between guitar and piano in between the verses

• The verses, bridge and instrumental sections are melody with accompaniment.

• The backing vocals often sing in close harmony and ascend to the final chord of a section.

• At the ends of the verses the band effectively stops, leaving the accompaniment to ring through the textural ‘gap

Tempo + Metre

• The bpm (beats per minute) is crochet = 127

• It is lively and fast.

• The time signature is 4/4 - common time.

• Occasionally the time signature changes to 2/4. This is evident at the end of the 1st verse on the hook ‘the seven seas of Rhye’, and at the end of the 1st bridge on the last echo of the word ‘ever’

• it slows as the song fades at the end with lyrics ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’

Rhythm

• The song features a piano introduction in which the right hand plays rapid semiquavers for 8 bars.

• Semiquaver runs are played by the lead guitar at the end of the solo.

• Dotted rhythms are heard in the vocals in each verse.

• vocals move largely in quavers to emphasise the beat

• Syncopation is NOT a major feature - ‘Give out the good’ - Scotch snap

• Dotted quaver/ semiquaver rhythms particularly in bass guitar

• The drum kit often plays a backbeat that emphasises the second and fourth beat in the bar.

• There are many drum kit fills. The first fill heard at the end of the introduction plays triplets.

• The band accompanies the vocal hook with accented, sustained chords played by the electric guitars

Articulation

• There is frequent use of legato in the scalic runs played by the lead guitar.

• The nursery rhyme is sung legato in the outro.

• The snare drum backbeat is played staccato on beats 2 and 4.

• The electric guitar power chords + crash crymbals are accented

• legato throughout - vocals + instrumental playing

Dynamics

• The piano solo begins mezzo forte (mf – fairly loud).

• The bass and lead guitars enter fortissimo (ff - very loud) from bar 3.

• guitar solo rises to ff

• definite diminuendo on repetitive semiquaver sections bars 48-51 and then return to opening dynamics

• A diminuendo heard on the lead guitar at the end of the solo section and verse 3.

• A crescendo is created feedback on the electric guitars before bridge 2 begins.

• Power chords are played ff by the electric guitars.

• The crash cymbals are accented

• ‘seaside’ song has a studio ‘fade’ technique at the end

• energy of the song gives ff/f feel

Sonority (Timbre)

Intro:

• arpeggiated piano, recorded with two mics

• strident notes on electric guitars soon after piano starts with upward slides (portamento)

Verse:

• guitar doubles vocals

• bass plays steady repeating pattern

• tambourine heard in the short instrumental at end of verse 1

Guitar solo:

• 1st bridge - palm muting

• solo guitar very prominent

• use of distortion, multiplayers, reverb

Outro

• stylophone heard to accompany ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’

• Metal keyboard played by touching the notes with a stylus

• The song consists of lead and backing vocals, a piano, a wide range of electric guitars including two rhythm, three leads and one bass guitar, a drum kit, a tambourine and a stylophone (a very small electronic keyboard played with a stylus).
  Vibrato - Slightly raising and lowering a pitch to create a ‘wobble’ type effect, heard in bar 6 of the introduction
  Power chords - Loud, powerful and distorted chords played during the introduction.

• The tambourine enters during bridge 1.

• ‘Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside’ is played by the stylophone.

• The backing vocals sing in close harmony in bridge 1, reaching a top A at the end of the section (see example above)

Technology

• Overdubbing is used for four part vocals and multiple guitars.

• The lead vocal part is double-tracked in verse 3.

• Reverb and stereo panning are added to the vocal lines.

• The electric guitars use light distortion.

• Echoes are heard at the end of the solo, followed by feedback created by the electric guitar.

• The echoes have a short delay time with the repeats lasting about two bars

• The song ends with a cross fade. Instruments blend into the band singing ‘Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside’.

• The three-part electric guitar arrangements are often panned. Two are in stereo and placed either side of the centrally located lead guitar