Queen: Killer Queen (from the album ‘Sheer Heart Attack’)

Question 1

Killer Queen: Rhythm, metre, tempo

Answer 1

• 12/8 Swung rhythm
• Time signature changes to 6/8 Compound time
• Syncopated rhythms (for vocals on ‘perfume’ and piano throughout)
• Snare drum accents with syncopated vocals
• Anacrusis chord (starting on the weaker beat)
• Tempo of 112 bpm

Question 2

Killer Queen: Tonality

Answer 2

• E^b major, however tonal ambiguity caused by starting on C minor
• Lots of ‘mini modulations’
• Backwards circle of fifths (Circle of fourths I guess?)
• F major in chorus with interrupted cadence to B^b major

Question 3

Killer Queen: Timbre (Instrumentation/Orchestration)

Answer 3

• Tenor lead vocal (Freddie Mercury [pic below])
• 4 part harmony with multi-tracked backing vocals
• Piano (chordal)
• Electric guitars
• Electric bass (melodic and lots of inversions)
• Drum kit: fills and rolls
• Falsetto during 4 part harmony

Question 4

Killer Queen: Melody

Answer 4

• Wide vocal range (2 octaves + a 3^rd) [He’d need to pretty big throat for all of that…. sing ing………………]
• Almost entirely syllabic
• Sequences used
• Melismatic
• Word painting due to flanger on ‘laser beam’ _{^{(fun fact: LASER is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)}}
• Mainly conjunct/stepwise but leaps get progressively wider
• Backing vocals are 8^ve higher
• Unusual bar lengths
• X - shaped not heads for spoken words
• Glissando on ‘Queen’ is word painting showing eloquence

Question 5

Killer Queen: Harmony

Answer 5

• 4 part vocal harmony
• Inversions in bass
• Borrowing chords from closely related keys
• F (dominant) pedal
• Tonic pedal
• Harmony in 3^rds and 6^ths
• Parallel harmonies
• Bell chord (notes of arpeggio, staggered then held)
• Circle of 5^th backward (A, Dm, G⁷, C)
• Harmonic sequences of V-I candences (due to backward circel of fifths – Lets agree to call it a circle of fourths)

Question 6

Killer Queen: Structure

Answer 6

Verse and Chorus form:

• Verse 1
• Chorus 1
• 4 bar instrumental
• Verse 2
• Chorus 2
• Guitar solo
• Verse 3
• Chorus 3
• Outro

Question 7

Killer Queen: Guitar playing techniques

Answer 7

• Brian May (lead guitarist) used a sixpence coin instead of a pick (There’s a pun to make here but I can’t quite pick it out)
• Vibrato
• Pitch bends
• Double stops
• Palm muting
• Slide
• Acciacaturas
• Glissandi/slides

Question 8

Killer Queen: Texture

Answer 8

• Melody dominated homophony
• 4 part vocal harmony
• Contrapuntal texture at points
• Parallel 3^rds in link
• Polyphonic in parts
• Imitation between vocals and guitar
• Vocalizing in backing vocals

Question 9

Killer Queen: Genre/period features

Answer 9

• Album: ‘Sheer heart attack’
• Released 1974 (i.e. back when music was still good *cue back in my day *)
• Stadium rock/ Glam rock/ Pop rock/ Rock (Basically it’s rock)
• Dramatic use of language and time signatures
• Use of studio FX (look at me with my cool abbreviations)
• Unusually, no synthesiser used
• Use of guitar specific techniques
• ‘Killer Queen’ is about a high class prostitue (thought to be madilynyil moanroe [idk how to spell her name])

Question 10

Killer Queen: Chords used in each verse

Answer 10

• Verse 1:
  
  • G⁷, Cm
  • B^b, E^b
  • D⁷, Gm, F
• Verse 2:
  
  • G⁷, Cm
  • B^b, E^b
  • D⁷, Gm, F
• Verse 3:
  
  • G⁷, Cm with G⁷, Cm
  • B^b, E^b with B^b, E^b
  • D⁷, Gm, F with B^b, F with B^bm, F

Question 11

Why is the key of Killer Queen unusual?

Answer 11

String instruments, such as guitars, find it much harder to play in flat keys (Eb major) however it is typical of Queen to do this

Question 12

Studio FX used in Killer Queen

Answer 12

• Multi-tracking/overdubbing (recording over recordings. So the same guitarist will playback different melodies that will play at the same time)
• Wah wah pedal
• Guitar overdrive/distortion
• Phase shift/flager on ‘Laser beam’
• Panning on ‘anytime’ to right side (use headphones to feel it. Or buy a cinema and play it there)
• Reverb on lead vocals

Question 13

How is mood/drama established in Killer Queen?

Answer 13

• Word painting on ‘laser beam’ (flanger)
• Irregular phrases and shifts in time signature create a sense of instability and drama
• Texture becomes mroe complex through dialogue, imitation and counterpoint
• Elaborate and flamboyant (Vocal range, falsetoo and spoken-singing)
• Overdubbed piano to create a retro effect (But is retro-70s retor or old or 70s?)

Question 14

Killer Queen: Circle of fifths progression

Answer 14

Circle of fifths series:

• A
• Dm
• G⁷
• C

Perfect cadence series:

• G⁷
• Cm
• B^b
• E^b

Question 15

What is the term for the ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ throughout Killer Queen?

Answer 15

Vocalisation

_{S̶c̶r̶e̶a̶m̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶m̶u̶r̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶v̶i̶c̶t̶i̶m̶s}