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Music GCSE 9-1 > Queen Killer Queen > Flashcards

Queen Killer Queen Flashcards

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1
Q

Date and Genre

A

1974 and is a rock song

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2
Q

What style of performance did they adopt?

A

Glam Rock

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3
Q

What is glam rock?

A

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

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4
Q

Which parts does Freddie Mercury do?

A

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

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5
Q

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

A

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

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6
Q

What range does Freddie have in this song?

A

Two octaves and a third

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7
Q

What is falsetto?

A

A high male vocal

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8
Q

Who plays what?

A

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

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9
Q

What two unusual percussion instruments are present?

A

.A triangle and windchimes

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10
Q

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

A

Transcribed from the recording

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11
Q

What is vibrato?

A

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

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12
Q

What is an ottava sign?

A

a direction that the notes sound an octave higher than written

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13
Q

What is tremolo?

A

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

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14
Q

What is a pitch bend?

A

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

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15
Q

What is a slide?

A

A smooth glide in pitch from one note to the next

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16
Q

What is palm mute?

A

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

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17
Q

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

A

A phase shifter with a flanger, it is word painting

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18
Q

What is overdubbing?

A

The layering of tracks playing the same thing

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19
Q

Where is overdubbing used?

A

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

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20
Q

Where is reverb used?

A

Lead vocal

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21
Q

Where is distortion used?

A

The lead guitar part in the solo

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22
Q

Where is the wah-wah effect used?

A

The guitar parts at a certain point (bar 62)

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23
Q

Where is panning used?

A

‘anytime’ is being panned hard right in bar 19

24
Q

What is the form?

A

Verse-chorus form

25
Q

State each section

A 
Verse 1
Chorus 1
Instrumental
Verse 2
Chorus 2
Guitar Solo
Verse 3
Chorus 3
Guitar Solo
26
Q

What do the six finger clicks at the start do?

A

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

27
Q

Describe the melody

A

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

28
Q

How does the verse start?

A

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

29
Q

How is bar 10 different?

A

It’s in 6/8

30
Q

Where is bar 12 repeated?

A

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

31
Q

Where is portamento used?

A

The word ‘queen’ in bar 15

32
Q

How is there unusual phrase lengths in the chorus?

A

8 bars are split into 5 followed by 3

33
Q

What is the chorus followed by?

A

A 4 bar instrumental bridge of link

34
Q

What does every verse and chorus begin with?

A

An anacrusis

35
Q

What is an anacrusis?

A

An upbeat

36
Q

What is the outro based on?

A

The link that follows the choruses

37
Q

What is the word setting?

A

Mainly syllabic with occasional spoken text

38
Q

What do the backing vocals sometimes include?

A

Vocables

39
Q

What are vocables?

A

Nonsense syllables like’ooh’

40
Q

Give 2 examples of word painting

A

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

41
Q

What is the meter?

A

Compound quadruple which gives a swing feel

42
Q

Tempo

A

Moderately fast (112 bpm)

43
Q

What rhythmic feature is frequently used?

A

Syncopation

44
Q

Describe the tonality of the piece

A

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

45
Q

How does the piece end in terms of tone

A

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

46
Q

Describe the use of chords

A

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

47
Q

What is there some use of in bar 11

A

expressive dissonance

48
Q

Where is there use of pedals

A

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

49
Q

What sort of harmonies do the overdubbed backing vocals create

A

Parallel harmonies

50
Q

Where is there a descending chromatic scale?

A

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

51
Q

Where is there a circle of 5ths?

A

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

52
Q

What is a bell chord?

A

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

53
Q

Where are bell chords present?

A

Bar 55 of the guitar parts

54
Q

Describe the overall texture?

A

Homophonic and it gradually thickens over time

55
Q

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

A

Chordal

56
Q

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

A

In parallel thirds

57
Q

Where is there brief contrapuntal fragments?

A

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

Music GCSE 9-1 (8 decks)

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