Queen Killer Queen

Question 1

Date and Genre

Answer 1

1974 and is a rock song

Question 2

What style of performance did they adopt?

Answer 2

Glam Rock

Question 3

What is glam rock?

Answer 3

Male performers with big hairstyles, flamboyant clothes, glitter and boots with platform soles

Question 4

Which parts does Freddie Mercury do?

Answer 4

Lead vocal, backing vocals, piano and the overdubbed 3 and 4 part harmony in the chorus

Question 5

What is a honky-tonk or jangle piano and how does Freddie use it?

Answer 5

A piano with tacks in the hammers to create a tinny retro effect, it overdubbed the piano part playing the same thing

Question 6

What range does Freddie have in this song?

Answer 6

Two octaves and a third

Question 7

What is falsetto?

Answer 7

A high male vocal

Question 8

Who plays what?

Answer 8

.Brian May on electric guitar
.Roger Taylor on drums
.John Deacon on bass guitar

Question 9

What two unusual percussion instruments are present?

Answer 9

.A triangle and windchimes

Question 10

The piece wasn’t scored down then played, how did it get written down then?

Answer 10

Transcribed from the recording

Question 11

What is vibrato?

Answer 11

Continual small fluctuations of pitch to warm the sound of a note

Question 12

What is an ottava sign?

Answer 12

a direction that the notes sound an octave higher than written

Question 13

What is tremolo?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is a pitch bend?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is a slide?

Answer 15

A smooth glide in pitch from one note to the next

Question 16

What is palm mute?

Answer 16

Dampening the strings with the side of the hand while plucking to produce a dark, dry sound

Question 17

How was the sound effect on ‘laser beam’ created?

Answer 17

A phase shifter with a flanger, it is word painting

Question 18

What is overdubbing?

Answer 18

The layering of tracks playing the same thing

Question 19

Where is overdubbing used?

Answer 19

To produce the multiple guitar tracks and the four-part vocals in the chorus

Question 20

Where is reverb used?

Answer 20

Lead vocal

Question 21

Where is distortion used?

Answer 21

The lead guitar part in the solo

Question 22

Where is the wah-wah effect used?

Answer 22

The guitar parts at a certain point (bar 62)

Question 23

Where is panning used?

Answer 23

‘anytime’ is being panned hard right in bar 19

Question 24

What is the form?

Answer 24

Verse-chorus form

Question 25

State each section

Answer 25

``` Verse 1 Chorus 1 Instrumental Verse 2 Chorus 2 Guitar Solo Verse 3 Chorus 3 Guitar Solo ```

Question 26

What do the six finger clicks at the start do?

Answer 26

Set the tempo - they are too insubstantial to be called an intro

Question 27

Describe the melody

Answer 27

Initially moves by step and small intervals but the leaps gradually get wider

Question 28

How does the verse start?

Answer 28

A two bar vocal phrase that is repeated with a changed ending so it can finish on a top G rather than a C

Question 29

How is bar 10 different?

Answer 29

It's in 6/8

Question 30

Where is bar 12 repeated?

Answer 30

It's repeated in a modified rising sequence in bar 13 and the same falling 5th motif is used to create a modified falling sequence in the chorus

Question 31

Where is portamento used?

Answer 31

The word 'queen' in bar 15

Question 32

How is there unusual phrase lengths in the chorus?

Answer 32

8 bars are split into 5 followed by 3

Question 33

What is the chorus followed by?

Answer 33

A 4 bar instrumental bridge of link

Question 34

What does every verse and chorus begin with?

Answer 34

An anacrusis

Question 35

What is an anacrusis?

Answer 35

An upbeat

Question 36

What is the outro based on?

Answer 36

The link that follows the choruses

Question 37

What is the word setting?

Answer 37

Mainly syllabic with occasional spoken text

Question 38

What do the backing vocals sometimes include?

Answer 38

Vocables

Question 39

What are vocables?

Answer 39

Nonsense syllables like'ooh'

Question 40

Give 2 examples of word painting

Answer 40

.Upward slide on 'queen' to emphasize the sarcastic use of the word .The phaser effect on 'laser beam'

Question 41

What is the meter?

Answer 41

Compound quadruple which gives a swing feel

Question 42

Tempo

Answer 42

Moderately fast (112 bpm)

Question 43

What rhythmic feature is frequently used?

Answer 43

Syncopation

Question 44

Describe the tonality of the piece

Answer 44

The song is in Eb major, but the tonality is sometimes ambiguous. Verses start in C minor and choruses in Bb major but both quickly modulate

Question 45

How does the piece end in terms of tone

Answer 45

A perfect cadence in Eb major and fades out on the tonic chord of the key

Question 46

Describe the use of chords

Answer 46

Mainly root position triads with occasional inversions and 7th chords Mainly diatonic with occasional use of chromatic chords

Question 47

What is there some use of in bar 11

Answer 47

expressive dissonance

Question 48

Where is there use of pedals

Answer 48

Tonic pedal in C minor at the start of each verse and a dominant pedal in the instrumental links following the first two choruses

Question 49

What sort of harmonies do the overdubbed backing vocals create

Answer 49

Parallel harmonies

Question 50

Where is there a descending chromatic scale?

Answer 50

Lead guitar, bass guitar and left-hand piano in bars 7-9 (from tonic to dominant of Eb major)

Question 51

Where is there a circle of 5ths?

Answer 51

Bars 20-21 (A-Dm-G7-C)

Question 52

What is a bell chord?

Answer 52

The notes are sustained in a downward succession instead of being played together

Question 53

Where are bell chords present?

Answer 53

Bar 55 of the guitar parts

Question 54

Describe the overall texture?

Answer 54

Homophonic and it gradually thickens over time

Question 55

What is the texture of the vocals at the start and end of the chorus

Answer 55

Chordal

Question 56

How are the guitar parts played in the link following the first chorus?

Answer 56

In parallel thirds

Question 57

Where is there brief contrapuntal fragments?

Answer 57

In the accompaniment, in bar 62 guitar 4 imitates the lead vocals