Section Analysis

Intro (Bar 1)  6 finger clicks

 Body percussion
Verse 1 (Bar 2-14)  Main tonality is Eb Maj however key
modulates and there are points of tonal
ambiguity
 First chord is Cm
 Every verse and chorus starts with an
anacrusis
 Syncopation (bar 6) heard in an important
musical motif which is cleverly reused
throughout the piece
 Word setting is mainly syllabic
 The texture builds up gradually and the
opening is homophonic from when the
vocals enter
 The opening is a 4 bar phrase oscillating
between Cm and Bb7 chords. Before bar 6
where the Eb tonality is heard the tonality
is ambiguous and sounds like Cm
 The harmonic rhythm builds from one
chord per bar (Cm and Bb7 alternating) to
two chords per bar (bar 6-9)
 5 bar phrase ending with a rhythmic trip
(bar 7-11)
 Backing vocals use vocalisations
 Rather than 2 and 4 bar phrases here are
many examples of 5 and 3 bar phrases
 Descending bass line and the use of chord
inversions
 Extended chords e.g., Bb11
 Harmonic Sequence G7 Cm|Bb Eb|D7 GM F
 Brief change in time sig to 6/8 (compound
duple)
Chorus (14-22)  Chorus modulates to Bb maj
 Bar 14 5 bar phrase + echo/answer
 The vocal part includes spoken text
 Wide range
 The vocal part also uses falsetto for higher
parts
 Melody is harder to spot because of the
backing vocals
 Flanger FX on the word ‘laserbeam’
 Some parts of the chord sequence contain
a faster harmonic rhythm (bar 18)
 3 bars (dovetails with the next section)
 Harmonic sequence – Circle of fifth (series
of chords in which the root note of each
chord is a fifth lower or a fourth higher
 Call and response ‘anytime’ (bar 19)
4 bar Instrumental Link (bar 23-26)  This phrase gives a little break from fast
moving chords with a piano vamp based
around an F chord
 The guitar parts are harmonised in 3rds
Verse 2 (bar 27-38)  Pedal note used in bars 27-30
 Bell (bar 29)
 Snare/side drum roll (bars 27-28)
 4 part vocal harmonies
 Most chords in root position but some
inversions
 More prominent guitar
 Interweaving guitar and vocals parts give
the piece polyphonic feel at times
 Backing vocals echo on ‘naturally’
 Adventurous chord sequences
 Extended chords
 The length of the melodic phrases are
uneven like the extra 6/8 bar
Chorus 2 (bar 39-43)  Spoken text for dramatic effect (bar 38)
 Rather than being an exact repeat this
chorus is shorter than the first one
 4 part close harmony and carefully crafted
backing vocals
Guitar Solo (44-48)  4 bars borrowing ideas from second half of
the chorus
 Guitar solo borrows ideas from other
section of the song. The clever reuse of
phrases and the development of the vocal
melody is also a feature of the piece
 Solo starts by mimicking ‘recommended at
the price’
 Return of a similar melodic motif through
several sections of the piece (bar 46)
 3 bars with syncopated motif in the bass
 In bar 48 guitar 3 and 4 use imitation
against guitar 1 before coming together in
bar 50 creating a three part texture
Guitar Solo part 2 (49-61)  String bending (guitar FX)
 Portamento/slide/glissando (guitar FX)
 Vibrato (guitar FX)
 4 bar phrase same as verse 1 (bar 51)
 Bell effect is created as guitar entries are
overlapped
 5 bar phrase same as verse 1 (bar 55)
Verse 3 (bars 62 – 70  Verse 3 is unusually 7 and a half bars long
 Overlapping 3 part harmony
 2 bar phrase leading to Verse 3
 w/wah (guitar FX) musical onomatopoeia
 Backings mostly sing vocalisations
 Climax of the piece is at bar 67 on the word
 ‘wild’ where the vocals sing very high in
four parts followed by a response from the
band
 Word painting on “drive you wild” (effects
are added for additional emphasis
 Use of panning creates antiphonal feel
(e.g., bar 67-68 in the backing vocals
 Backing vocals – call and response creates
antiphonal texture
Chorus 3 (bars 71-78)  The melody is often conjunct, but with
some wide angular leaps including intervals
of 6ths and octaves
 Flanger (bars 77-78)
Outro  Starts With one-bar answer to the final
vocal phrase and repeats the syncopated
rhythmic motif until fades out
Extra notes  This piece has a verse chorus structure
 Queen are a British rock band from the  12/8 (compound quadruple) making it feel
1970s and 80s swung
 ‘Killer Queen’ is a glam rock song from the  Steady tempo of 112 BPM
bands third album ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ in  There are limited instruments (no synths)
1974  Eb is unusual key for guitar
 This song is about a high-class escort who  The texture in ‘Killer Queen’ is frequently
enjoys drinking Moet et Chandon and changing. The song is much more
eating caviar which makes the theme quite ‘orchestrated’ than a standard rock song –
flamboyant and over the top every sound has its place and many parts
 Queens sound is unlike many other come and go. Only the piano seems to be
“standard” rock bands as they use present for almost all the song. The music is
adventurous harmonies and structures, and given room to breathe and there are clear
a theatrical style influenced by musical contrasts between sections
theatre and opera  Occasional extra 6/8 bars to extend phrase
 The vocal part is sung by Freddier Mercury lengths
who has a high tenor voice  The use of unusual phrase lengths and the
 Part of Queen’s distinctive sound is the way clever use of phrases in different sections is
they build the guitar and vocal textures by a characteristic feature of the structure and
recording one layer over another – melodic writing
overdubbing  Overdubbing and multi tracking to layer
 Vocal writing is a really important part. parts creating rich textures
Since no synths were used in this album,  There is much use of panning especially in
the vocals have the dual role of 1) creating the backing vocals (e.g., bars 73 – 74)
gospel-inspired parallel harmonies and 2)  Effects used: Distortion, wah wah, bends,
providing harmonic support, almost like pull offs, slides, vibrato, panning
synth chords