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
