2. Queen are a British rock band
Queen was formed in London in 1970.
Their style of music is described as glam rock.
Queen had 4 members, who usually played the following roles:
- Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano, backing vocals
- Brian May – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals
- John Deacon – bass guitar
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on 5 September 1946 in Stone Town, Zanzibar (now Tanzania) and grew up in India.
He took up the piano at the age of 7. At the age of 17 his family moved to Middlesex, England.

3. Queen are a British rock band
‘Killer Queen’ was written by Freddie Mercury and featured on Queen’s third studio album ‘Sheer Heart Attack’. (1974)
It uses the recording techniques of layering instruments and vocals – the band used these techniques regularly to achieve the distinctive Queen ‘sound’.
Queen’s sound:
adventurous song structures
use of unusual keys
complex, multi-tracked guitar and vocal parts
melodic, carefully crafted guitar solos
anthemic melodies (‘We are the Champions’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, etc.)

4. The song has unusual lyrics
The lyrics of ‘Killer Queen’ are a key feature of the song.
They were written before the music and are very wordy with lots of syllables.
Most of the song is ‘syllabic’ – one word per note.
The words are unusual – the song mentions Marie Antoinette, Khrushchev and Kennedy (all famous historical figures.
The subject of the song enjoys ‘Moet et Chandon’ and ‘caviar’ and talks like a ‘baroness’, which creates an image of an upper-class, well connected woman.
The chorus uses lots of explosive imagery – e.g. ‘gunpowder’, ‘dynamite’ and ‘laser beam’.

6. Key musical features
Unusually for a rock song, ‘Killer Queen’ doesn't start with an instrumental introduction - it starts with 6 clicks.
The soloist comes in alone on the last click, then the instrumentation builds up.
Order of entries: pianodrumsguitar& bass guitarbacking vocals
In verse 2 there is a bell and a more prominent guitar part.
At the start of each chorus the vocals are in 4-part harmony with no solo line.
The backing vocals are in 4-part harmony (another reason why the song couldn’t be performed live) - there’s 4-part harmony & a soloist.
The backing vocals are a key feature of Queen songs, and help create their recognisable sound.

7. Song structure of Killer Queen by Queen
The structure of ‘Killer Queen’ is straight forward – it uses a verse- chorus structure with a few variations.
There are a couple of bridge sections and a little guitar interlude before verse 2.
The verses aren’t exactly the same either.
The guitar solo is performed by Brian May. It was actually recorded after the rest of the piece, as May was ill when the song was recorded.
The solo uses layering, so couldn’t be performed live in exactly the same way.
Intro 
Verse 1 
Chorus 
Bridge 
Guitar Interlude 
Verse 2 
Guitar Solo 
Verse 3 
Outro

8. Tonality & Rhythm
‘Killer Queen’ is in E flat major – but verse 1 & 2 actually start on a C minor chord (relative minor).
The key of E flat major has 3 flats in the key signatures – Bb, Eb & Ab.
There is a mix of major and minor tonality throughout the piece.
There are a number of modulations in the song.
The song is in 12/8 (compound quadruple time).
It changes to 6/8 (compound duple time) for one bar in each verse.
It has a steady rhythmic pulse, set up from the start by the opening clicks and continued by the rhythmic piano chords.

10. Backing vocals The backing vocals are different in each verse.
They mainly sing ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’.
Sometimes the backing vocals echo the solo line, e.g. ‘naturally’ in verse 2.
Sometimes the backing vocals complete the solo line, e.g. ‘drive you wild’ in verse 3.
In the choruses the backing vocals start by singing the main lyrics in harmony.
Also in the choruses the backing vocals add punctuating chords which are the ‘ba’s under the vocal line.
The backing vocals sing in call and response with the soloist as well, e.g. ‘anytime’.

11. Layering in ‘killer Queen’
The song contains a lot of layering of both instruments and voices.
Layering has to be done in the recording studio – it couldn’t be done in a live performance.
Layering means that one part is recorded onto another.
If necessary, a third is recorded onto that , and so on until every part is recorded.
This is called multi-tracking.
Each part is recorded on a different track and then played together.
The separate tracks can then be altered in different ways to achieve the required sound.

12. Layering in ‘killer Queen’
Layering is used in the guitar solo – you can hear the separate parts being played at the same time.
This creates a ‘bell effect’ – notes are played one by one, and sustained to make a chord.
Layering is also used in the vocal parts. Queen famously used this technique in the vocal parts of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Queen also uses a flanger effect on the guitar and vocals (on ‘laser beam’ in v2 and on ‘wanna try’ in the final bridge.
Flanger – creates an intense ‘whooshing’ sound. The effect is created by combining the original sound with a copy, and varying the delay between them.

13. Effects used in ‘killer Queen’
Queen use the vocal technique of portamento or glissando, e.g. for every time they sing ‘Killer Queen’.
String-bending is used in the guitar solo – the pitch is changed by bending the string across the fingerboard.
Sliding is also used – the player moves between notes by sliding up or down the neck of the guitar.

14. Guitar effects Distortion – distorts the sound.
Reverb – adds an echo to the sound.
Chorus – makes it sound as if there’s more than one player as copies of the original sound are mixed together.
Phaser – creates a ‘whooshing’ effect, a bit like the noise a plane flying overhead makes.
Flanger – similar to a phaser, but makes a more intense sound. The effect is created by combining the original sound with a copy, and varying the delay between them.
Pitch shifting – used to bend the natural note or add another harmony
Octave effects – creates octaves above or below the note being played.

15. Guitar techniques String bends Slides Pull-offs Vibrato
Homework: Further Listening
Beach Boys: ‘ God Only Knows’ from Pet Sounds
Alicia Keys: ‘If A Ain’t Got You’ from The Diary of Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys: ‘Dragon Days’ from The Diary of Alicia Keys