Killer Queen

Question 1

Release and Artist

Answer 1

1974 - Sheer Heart attack - Queen

Question 2

Influences and themes

Answer 2

Queen first few albums were influenced by heavy metal and prog. rock styles whereas Killer Queen was a laid back, light and elegant songe, influenced by a cabaret.

Question 3

Instrumentation

Answer 3

Killer queen includes piano, electric guitars and drums. 4 vocal parts are sung by freddie Mercury and 3 guitar parts are played by brian may. They use overdubbing to play all these parts at the same time.

Question 4

Vocal range

Answer 4

Freddie Mercury has a extremely wide vocal range - He sings over 2 octabes from D above middle C to a high F. This is achieved with use of falsetto

Question 5

Dynamics

Answer 5

Performed at Mezzo Forte throughout, no dynamics are printed in the score

Question 6

Form and structure

Answer 6

Standard pop and rock structure
introduction - bars 1 and 2
verse 1 - bars 2 to 14
chorus 1 - bars 15 to 22
instrumental link - bars 23 to 26
verse 2 - bars 27 to 38
chorus 2 - bars 39 to 43
guitar solo - bars 44 to 61
verse 3 - bars 62 to 69
chorus 3 - bars 70 to 78
outro - from bar 79 until the end

The phrase length of the verse and chorus arent always evenly balanced. Verse is 4 bars followed by 5 bars with an extra 6/8 bar played between the two subsections.

Question 7

Melody

Answer 7

Six intro clicks in 12/8, begins with vocal anacrusis. Small phrases within the melody move mostly step by step. Leaps between the end note of one phrase and beginning note of another. A sequence is found in Verse and chorus. Word setting is almost totally syllabic

Question 8

Texture

Answer 8

Melody dominated homophony. Clear melody line and the accompaniment mostly plays block chords on each beat. There is imitation between the voice and the electric guitar eg: Imitation bar 62 on beat 4.

Question 9

Metre, Rhythm and tempo

Answer 9

Time signature is 12/8, many of the rhythms are dotted crotchet to a quaver which gives the song a swung feel. Tempo is a steady 112 BPM. Syncopation is found at various points in the melody which helps create an upbeat feel.

Question 10

Harmony and Tonality

Answer 10

Eb Major tonic key
Verses start in the relative minor of C
Choruses move to dominant B Major
Exceptions - Bar 18 has the chords G7, F7/A, G7/B and C. They have been altered to chords that dont belong to the tonic key.

Question 11

Sonority

Answer 11

Pitch bend at bar 30
Slide bar 34
Palm mute at bar 69
light distortion throughout.
FM uses a portamento between the two syllables of ''Queen'' in each chorus. In bar 17 A flanger is applied to the lyric like a laser beam - Word painting.