Killer Queen

Question 1

When was the band Queen formed and who was in it?

Answer 1

1970-71 and Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were in it

Question 2

When was Killer Queen written and who was it written by?

Answer 2

In 1974 by Freddie Mercury and is a track from their third studio album Sheer Heart attack

Question 3

Give some context on Freddie Mercury

Answer 3

He was born to Persian parents on Zanzibar in east Africa. When he was 8 he was sent to a boarding sch9ol in India where he learnt t9 play piano and played in the schools rock and roll band. When he was 17 he moved to West London and studied at Ealing college of art

Question 4

Give examples of the range of musical styles the band used

Answer 4

Progressive rock (influence on their earlier music), piano based pop, songs that evoke 1950s rockabilly and 1920s vaudeville, power ballads, and hard rock numbers

Question 5

What is the genre of killer queen?

Answer 5

It’s a rock song

Question 6

Queen adopted a stule of performance called glam rock. What is glam rock?

Answer 6

It has male performers with big hair styles, dressed in flamboyant clothes with glitter and wearing boots with platform soles. It has a large drum kit mounted on a high platform and special effect such as smoke, dry ice, fireworks and elaborate lighting.

Question 7

What did Freddie Mercury do in this song?

Answer 7

Lead vocal, piano and most of the backing vocals (including the overturned three and four part harmony in the chorus). He overdubs the piano part with the same music played on a honky tonk/ jangle piano in which the hammer create a tinny retro effect

Question 8

What is the range of Freddie Mercury in this song?

Answer 8

Two octaves and a third

Question 9

What did Brian May play in this set work?

Answer 9

Guitar with a lot of overdubbing to produce the gtr 2, 3 and 4 parts in the score

Question 10

What did Roger Taylor play?

Answer 10

Drums

Question 11

What did John Deacon play?

Answer 11

Bass guitar. A lot of it doubles the left hand of the piano part so is not shown in the anthology but it has a descending scale in bar 38

Question 12

What are two additional percussion instruments?

Answer 12

A triangle (heard on beat 1 of bar 29) and windchimes (struck on the word ‘you’ in bar 68)

Question 13

The score is a transcription. Why?

Answer 13

Because it was not originally written in music notation

Question 14

What is vibrato and give an example of where it is found.

Answer 14

Bar 7, continual small fluctuations of pitch to warm the sound of a note

Question 15

What is an octtava sign and where is it found?

Answer 15

In bar 19. It is a direction that the notes sound an octave higher than they are written

Question 16

What is a tremelo and where is it found?

Answer 16

A rapid repetition of a note, indicating a symbol roll in bar 26 and a snare drum roll in bar 28

Question 17

What is a pitch bend and where is it found?

Answer 17

Bar 30. A small slide in pitch away from a note and back again

Question 18

What is a slid3 and where is it found?

Answer 18

Bar 34. A smooth glide in pitch from one note to the next

Question 19

What is a palm mute and where is it found?

Answer 19

Damping the strings with the side of the hand while plucking to produce a very dark dry sound

Question 20

What was the wierd sound on the word laser beam produced by?

Answer 20

A countryman phase shifter

Question 21

Give examples of uses of technology and special effects

Answer 21

• overdubbing- on four part vocals and multiple guitar tracks
• reverb on the lead vocals
• carefully controlled distortion on the solo guitar part
• wah wah effect of the guitars in bar 62
• sounds are carefully panned in the stereo mix (anytime in bar 19) (separation of overlapping guitar parts in 55-56 and at the end of the song)

Question 22

What is the general structure of killer queen

Answer 22

Verse chorus form

Question 23

Outline the structure

Answer 23

• lead in
• verse 1: bar 2
• chorus 1: bar 14
• instrumental: bar 23
• verse 2: bar 26
• Chorus 2: bar 38 and
• guitar solo: bar 44
• Verse 3: bar 61
• Chorus 3: bar 69
• outro: bar 79

Question 24

Describe the melody

Answer 24

• initially moves stepwise and in small leaps but the leaps get progressively wider (e.g. a rising 6th in bars 6-7 and 10-11 and a rising octave in bars 20-21)
• the verses start with a two bar vocal phrase that is repeated with its ending changed to finish on a climatic top g rather than c
• to avoid predictability the next phrase is extended to five bars by the insertion of a 6/8 bar
• Bar 12 is repeated in a modified rising sequence to form bar 13. The same falling 5th motifnis used in the chorus where it forms a modified falling sequence in bars 20-21 (caviar and cigarettes…recommended at the price)
• there is portamento used on the word queen in bar 15
• unusual phrase length in the chorus where it’s eight bars are structured as 5 bars followed by 3 bars
• the chorus is followed by a four bar instrumental/bridge
• each verse begins with An anacrusis
• the word setting is almost always syllabic with occasional spoken text shown by an x note head
• the backing vocals sometimes include vocables (ooh bars 8-11 and ba ba ba in bar 18)
• the only word painting is on the upward slide to emphasise the sarcastic use of the word queen, the use of the phaser effect to make laser beam sound otherworldly and the climatic top notes and busy drum part for the phrase ‘absolutely drive you wild in bars 66-67

Question 25

What is portamento?

Answer 25

A slide from one note to the other

Question 26

What is the metre?

Answer 26

Mainly 12 /8 giving then rhythm a swing feel but some bars in 6/8

Question 27

What is the tempo?

Answer 27

Moderately fast at 112 dotted crotchet beats per minute

Question 28

What is the Rhythm?

Answer 28

There’s lots of syncopation (e.g the tied notes in bars 3, 7, 8 ect)
Each verse and chorus begins with an anacrusis

Question 29

What is the tonality?

Answer 29

• It is in Eb major but the tonality is sometimes ambiguous
• the verses start in c minor and the choruses are in Bb major but they both quickly modulate
• the song ends with a perfect cadence in Eb major and it fades out on the tonic chord of that key

Question 30

Describe the harmony

Answer 30

• mostly root position triads with occasional inversions and 7th chords. Chords are mainly diatonic with occasional chromatic chords (e.g. Abm in bar 9)
• some use of expressive dissonance (e.g. G above a chord of Bb7 in the lead vocal of bar 11 resolving to a chord note of F)
• short tonic pedal in C minor at the start of each verse and dominant pedal (F in the key of Bb) in the instrumental links following the first two choruses
• Freddie Mercurys multi tracked backing vocals in bar 15-17 and elsewhere produce a succession of parallel harmonies in three and four parts
• Descending chromatic scale from tonic to dominant of Eb major I’m lead guitar, bass guitar and piano left hand in bar 7-9
• Circle of 5ths progression in bars 20-21
• Guitar parts in bar 55 produce bell chords (In which notes are sustained in downward succession instead of being played together)

Question 31

What is the texture?

Answer 31

• Homophonic, gradually increasing in density from a very light textured start
• Chordal texture for the vocals at the start and end of the chorus
• guitar parts in parallel 3rds in the link following the first chorus (bars 23-26)
• Brief contrapuntal fragments in the occampaniment (e.g. In bar 62 where guitar 4 imitates the lead vocal and during the case out)