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Queen: 'Killer Queen' (from the album Sheer Heart attack)…
Queen: 'Killer Queen' (from the album Sheer Heart attack)
Background Information and performance circumstances
Written by Freddie Mercury
From the album Sheer Heart Attack
Queen
Formed in London 1970
Musicians
Freddie Mercury
Singer
High male voice
Tenor
Brian May
Guitarist
Roger Taylor
Drummer
John Deacon
Bassist
About an upper class prostitute
Peaked at number 2 in the British charts
Performing forces and their handling
Vocal part
Freddie Mercury
Uses Lead and backing vocals
Overdubbed
Create richer sound
Honky-tonk piano
Four electric guitars
Techniques
Slides
Bends
Pull-offs
Vibrato
Drum kit
Bass guitar
Overdubbed to create richer sound
Recording techniques and effects
Multi-tracking
EQ
Flanger
Distortion
Wah-wah
Panning
Overdubbing
Structure
Verse 1
Six finger clicks start
Starts on the upbeat, anacrusis
Voice is accompanied by short detached chords
By the piano
Bass and drums enter
At end of bar 6
Tonally unstable
Opening in C minor but quickly shifting
Descending sequence in Guitar 1
Bar 7
Falsetto
Bar 11
Phrases
1st Phrase
4 bars long
2nd Phrase
Extended by the addition of a 6/8 bar
5 bars in length
Verse- Chorus form
Chorus 1
8 bars in length
Phrasing
5 + 3
Cadenced into Bb major
Key moves to D minor then C major
Shift in parallels to a circle of fifths
Then slide to Bb
Four-part texture
Created by leading and backing vocals
Vocals
Backing
Vocables
Stabs
Bar 18
Portamento slide on the word 'Queen'
EQ
'Laser Beam'
Instrumental
Guitar 1 & 3
Play in 3rds
Vibrato and slides
Verse 2
Verse 1+ 4-part backing vocals
Drums enter early with guitar 2
Inner chromatic descending pattern
Bars 31-33
Main vocal uses spoken text
Bar 38
Dramatic effect
Bass guitar develops its line from verse 1
Using pentatonic and chromatic scales
Chorus 2
Same as Chorus 1
Has been cut short using the first five-bar phrase
Guitar solo
Starts off mimicking the lead part of the chorus
Then expand into 3 part guitar solo
Chord sequence uses a descending pattern
Bars 44-47
Bars 48 Guitars 3 & 4 use imitation against guitar 1 before coming together in Bar 50 to create 3 part texture
Harmony returns to the verse chord sequence with the original melody embellished
Bar 51
Solo goes back to guitar 1
Until bar 55 where guitar 2 & 3 again use a hocketting effect before coming together
The harmony is extended with a repeated imperfect cadence
Verse 3
Usually only 7.5 beats long
1st part of Verse 3 is an extended variant of Bars 12 & 13
3 part guitar 'response' to vocal line
Beat 3 - Bar 62
Word- painting
'Absolutely drive you wild'
Climax of the piece
Bar 67
'wild'
Vocals very high in four parts
Chorus 3
Similar to previous choruses
guitar solo
Outro
Music fades over a Eb major chord
Harmony suggests a repeated IV-V-I cadence
Fading over the subdominant with Guitar s 1& 2 in thirds and imitation between 3 & 4
Melody
Mainly syllabic
Backing vocals
Mixture of words and vocalisation
Bars 8-9
'OHH' bar 18 'BA'
Mostly conjunct
Small leaps of a 3rd or fourth
Altered descending sequence
Bars 7-8
Verse and chorus combine conjunct with large angular leaps
Leaps often feature a rising major 6th
Texture
Homophonic
Imitation
Layering
3 part texture
Guitar solo
Anitphonal
Bars67-68
Panning
Bars 42- 43
Tempo, Metre and Rhythm
Moderato tempo
12/8 compound quadruple time
Swung
Occasional insert a bar of 6/8
Extending the phrase length
Anacrusis
Syncopation
Bars 44-46
Triplets
Bar 18
Harmony and Tonality
Eb major
Opens in C minor
Tonally ambiguous
Many passing Modulations
Strengthened by the perfect cadences
Most chords are root position
Some Chords first or second inversion
Use of Dissonance
Bar 30
Seventh chords
Bar 4
Circle of fifths
Bars 20-21
Altered and extended chords
F11 bar 47
Pedal
Bars 27-30