How Queen use key changes
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- Watch the making of this video here: • How I made my "Queen k... 🎥
Queen were no strangers to modulation. Dozens of their songs feature clever, creative key changes, but today we will take a look at just five of my favourite Queen modulations and see how they often play straight into the themes and lyrics of the song!
Re-creation of “Killer Queen” used in the video: • Killer Queen - Multitr...
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0:00 Introduction
0:27 We Are The Champions
2:02 The Show Must Go On
3:10 Under Pressure
5:40 Killer Queen
8:07 Bohemian Rhapsody
10:38 Behind the Scenes vlog
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@@hatchedague He probably doesn’t make a penny out of Adsense with all the copyright nonsense. Your comment just made me go to his Patreon page and give him money 🙏❤️
Wonder if Brian will see this. He seems quite up on his UA-cam music personalities. David might even get an interview, like Rick did!
That would be amazing!
Send him the link on Instagram! I bet he'd listen!
@@DavidBennettPiano Rick's interview with Brian was great, but I'd LOVE to see you interview him as well about some of these nitty gritty theory aspects of Queen's music. Well done on this vid David. Seriously excellent.
@@DavidBennettPiano the video interview was focused more on Bohemian Rhapsody, but if you ever have a chance to talk to Brian, you might be able to at least deep dive to one of their songs or even the deep cuts that fans really dig
@@BillyLeeGoodman c lp
I'd love to see deeper analysis of Queen's (heavily underrated) prog era: Queen 1, Queen 2 and Sheer Heart Attack
I’ll bear it in mind! I love those albums!
@birko bird I'll second that
sheer heart attack is awesome, love In The Lap Of The Gods
@@chjupke I’m listening to it right now!
Did someone say Great King Rat and Brighton Rock???
There is much more "wilder" key change in "The Show must go on", when the lyrics go to "My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, Fairy tales of yesterday, grow but never die I can fly, my friends" ...
Yes, as I recall it modulates to C major for that section (starting on the IV chord of F), which is a weird change but works perfectly. And it ends with a diminished chord (Edim?) and then a Dsus -> D which slams back into the Bm.
You missed out on Now I'm Here, which has a lot of rapid key changes:
Chorus 1 (D mixolydian)
Band kicks in (A major to B major)
Riff 1 (E)
Verse 1 (E major)
Post-Verse 1 (A to C# to E to B)
Riff 2 (E)
Verse 2 (E major)
Post-Verse 2 (G to B to A to B)
Solo 1 (B)
Truncated Post-Verse (G to B)
Chorus 2 (D)
Riff 3 (E)
Solo 2 (B)
Finally, somewhere to make note of some of my favourite Queen key changes.
-"Love of My Life", mostly in F Major, but the verses start in C Major and then manage to modulate smoothly back to F Major.
-"Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon", mostly in Eb Major, but modulating a tritone to A Major for its ending guitar solo. Always grabs my attention.
-"Innuendo", modulating from E Major (double harmonic major?) to G# Major, then to C# Major, then to F# Major, and back to E Major. Then having a middle section that features A Minor and C Major (and a 5/4 time signature for added fun).
-"The March of the Black Queen", too many to note here. Just go listen to it, it's a masterpiece.
I was just gonna mention _Love of my Life_ and _Inneundo!_
Where's the 5/4 in Innuendo?
@@kuromori_6472 The middle section with the Spanish guitar is in 5/4, as is the guitar solo after the "you can be anything you want to be" section.
@@PotatoesAreUs Wow you're right! I have never noticed it before, thanks (Steve Howe always doing progressive stuff on acoustic guitar right?)
@@PotatoesAreUs I love innuendo it’s so underrated
Most of the key changes in Queen songs serve the song well, but one of my favorites is during the refrain at the end of "Keep Yourself Alive," where they shift a number of times, sometimes, up, sometimes down, but mostly because it sounds cool as hell and lets them all show off a bit.
Queen really are fantastic. As much as they are indisputably one of the greatest bands alive there’s still so much brilliance that goes unpacked. They survived three decades making hits in each one, had band members who stood out each having their own hit, had fantastic lyrics, instrumentals and of course vocals. It’s kinda annoying how some people are saying they’re overrated when really there’s still so much that goes unnoticed despite being one of the most analysed bands in history.
Well done Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Brian May and of course Freddie Mercury
What really annoys me is that even though Queen’s hits are the stuff of legends people only think of them for Bohemian Rhapsody and We will rock you/We are the champions when they in reality have soooo much more to offer
You could tell Freddy was self taught cos he used some crazy changes ...but like the greats you don't really notice ...like Brian Wilson and Elton John he used weird bass notes over standard chords .
I think cos your following Freddies voice but the mood changes underneath were fantastic
As someone who spent a lot of time learning a lot of Queen songs, you got me laughing out loud at the 1:38 mark with "this would have been the easier and more intuitive thing to do" . But not the Queen thing to do. The best stuff about playing their music (and the hardest) is that it constantly changes and almost never repeats. Key changes, dropped beats, added beats, orchestration and arrangement changes, or structures that just don't confirm to any "normal" repetitive patterns. There is no "going on autopilot" playing their material. But it is so rewarding to get it right.
But not the Queen thing to do… TY 🌷
In the "night at the Odeon", Hammersmith concert 1975 there's an incredible key change they do live, passing from the end of Bohemian Rhapsody's solo to Killer Queen in a really cool and smooth way.
That medley is amazing. Bohemian Rhapsody > Killer Queen > March Of The Black Queen > Bohemian Rhapsody sounds just so right. Killer Queen and March Of The Black Queen are better (imo) and at least a welcomed change to the normal opera+rock sections of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Is like they were classically trained amazing
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon is one of my favorite key changes ever. It shifts up a tritone to one of Brian May's snazziest solos. The abrupt and pretty noticeable key change really brings character to the extremely flamboyant nature of the song.
The shift from Eb to A also sets up the perfectly-in-time segue from “Lazing” to the opening D chord of “I’m in Love with My Car”, which after a long ambiguous drone in D, shifts up to E minor for the verse.
I think I associate key changes with Queen as much as multi-part vocal harmonies, top-notch arrangements and progressive yet tasteful studio musicianship.
So what you're telling me is that Queen knew how to right key changes that elevate people's mood? That sounds about right.
Innuendo was the first example that came to my mind reading the title, I knew it would probably not make the cut for a quick video but I think I never heard a song that can switch so smoothly between so different universes. Brilliant.
Well, they famously did another song like that, but yes
Innuendo is so interesting. Not only do they change the root note a lot, but also the type of scale. Phrygian dominant, major, mixolydian and minor are all important to this song. The meter is 3/4, 4/4 or 5/4 in different parts. And boy do I love that Ab chord at the end of the C major 3/4 section.
@@gubblfisch350 That Ab chord functions as what I like to call a “vortex chord”: a flattened tonic into major or sharpened tonic into minor, in this case resolving to A minor.
@@gillianomotoso328 it's a chromatic mediant if I'm not mistaken
@@philipkarovski281 It is to C major, but to A minor it is a flattened tonic. The flattened tonic effect occurs because the chord is pivoting its notes (Ab and Eb) downward around a third that remains static (C)
Glad you're doing Queen. Such a brilliant, brilliant band and still so unique.
I absolutely LOVE that you show what the song would've sounded like if they didn't change keys.
I'd love you to talk about Queen's "Innuendo" some day. That song goes through so many transformations in arrangement and style, and it's one of their lesser-known songs despite sharing a lot of DNA in their other hits.
Polyphonic has a video on it.
so THIS is the reason Queens music sounds so triumphant and epic✨💕
There are really tons of key change in Queen’s songs
Excellent analysis, as usual. Examples abound, indeed, but I'd like to mention 'The Millionaire Waltz' as it's a bit of a follow-up to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the sense of being a long and elaborate number. Coincidentally, it starts firmly in the key of F Major (where 'Rhapsody' ended) and stays there for a while, until the lyrics state 'now I am sad', by which time they've moved on to the parallel key of F minor; the first solo then modulates to E-Flat Major (one of Mercury's favourite keys), then there's a hard-rock section back in F minor, which moves to its relative (A-Flat Major) and stays there for the waltz solo, which ends with a chain of fifths shifting the key to E-Flat Major again, where it stays for the 'my fine friend' section. It then moves to the distant key of B Major ('Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy', from the same album, also has that Eb>B change, which could also be read as Eb>Cb), and then it moves up a tritone to F Major via using the minor version of the subdominant (E minor instead of major) and then going with another chain of fifths (G > C(7) > F), for a triumphant return of the verse and a happy ending. It's gorgeous and brilliant!
Also the brilliant bass work on the intro to The Millionaire Waltz.
Save Me springs to mind. The verses being in a melancholic key of G (reminiscent of the reference to Under Pressure in this video) to then being uplifted to the heavy chorus, now in D major.
Queen used chords and tonality in the same way a great thespian uses facial expressions and body language... They don't just express themselves, they move people, and even result in catharsis at a subconscious level! ✨
Amazing video! Bravo❣️
'The Miracle' - changes 4 or 5 times in the first minute! Fantastic song and a pretty decent video to go with it.
One of the things I love most about Queen and especially Freddie Mercury’s writing is how complex it can be without sounding too complex. It’s not like modern prog rock that plays complex music for the sake of it being complex. Queens music is so good. It’s also very unique and different than anything else. I wonder how much theory Freddie knew and did it play into his writing or was it all just by feel and where the song was moving naturally for him.
Edit: I wrote this before I even started watching the video and within the first few seconds you cover pretty much exactly what I was talking about. Noice!
Fantastic video, David! Never knew these songs changed key before, it all sounds so natural!
I know right, some of these key changes are hidden in plain sight. Thank you!
Exactly what I wanted to comment. I saw the title and I thought "What Queen song changes key except Show must go on? None comes to mind."
I love how you pivot from the sponsor message back to content. queen’s killer key changes. And then you show killer queen.
You do in content kinda what the key changes does in music. Which is moving to something else to have a reason to reintroduce something new in an energetic way
The one and only Queen. As regards key changes, I suppose almost every Queen song has it😉
The example in The Show Must Go On is also great because the modulation up heading into the 2nd verse, which respresents optimism and hope is followed by a return to the original key, which seems to represent resignation, acceptance and a bit of sadness as Freddie confronts the dire reality of his situation…
"Drowse" it happens to be my favorite Rodger Taylor lyric. The lyric is very smartly done. And the key changes work out great
The key change in good old fashioned lover boy is so great!
I really wish more people would breakdown some of Queen's earlier more obscured works. For example, The March Of The Black Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, and The Prophet's Song feature so many key changes within such a small amount of time compared to most Progressive Rock bands at the time. It just feels like whenever people make videos analysing Queen, it's always the same hits.
Princes Of The Universe has some killer key changes, in the chorus alone it goes from A major to D# minor and then to B minor.
Always been a great admirer of Queen, definitely one of the greatest rock bands ever produced in this country. Top video again, David.
Thanks Hugh! Yeah Queen are one of the best!
Queen is by far my most favourite band and I love your analysis!
Deep Purple's I feel like screaming is a great example of many key changes. The finale solo is a great exercise for understanding the key changes. Take a look, also, to Natural Science by Rush.
SO many places to start with RUSH. Insane talents.
I feel like Freddie did such things instinctively, and Brian did them using theory.
The finest band ever.
I don’t know why, but I‘m super happy that Andy Deacon is one of your top patreons again. I’ve always remembered his name (because of John Deacon) and was so confused that he stopped donating for a while
Ha! The funny story is that Andy Deacon was actually the drummer in my band years ago! I hadn’t heard from him for years and then suddenly he becomes a Patreon! We then reconnected!
And the reason he stopped for a while was because his credit card changed, so it was just an admin error really 😂
@@DavidBennettPiano lol
I find the most unusual but cool chord changes in Bicycle Race. And so many of them, between and within phrases.
Yet another great video on Queen. It perfectly shows their extraordinary music skills. As always, very educational stuff. Cheers David
Thank you!
Great video. It is not possible to overstate Freddie's mastery of song writing.
let me in your heart again when it goes in the solo
Please do these kind of detailed analysis on the other intricacies of Queen's songs.
"And back to queen and their "killer" key changes"
*killer queen*
Lmaoo
😉
The last key change you mentioned is the most beautifull!
I know the songs as everyone else and I'm trying to understand music theory.
this video is pure gold 💕
😃😃
Great video. You should check out the key-change from Eb to B then quickly back to Eb in the 'let me feel your heart beat' section of Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy.
I like that you show how the song would change within this analysis.
Well done, sir.
Would love to see you do a video about when one song transitions into a second without a break!
There are so many more, but pain is so close to pleasure popped out instantly in my mind.
9:37 We have the same taste man. I absolutely agree, its probably my favourite few seconds too. I've never heard anyone else say this, or focus on it before.
In this video, you're breaking down the secrets of a lot of what makes Queen's music so powerful, especially the uplift that makes this into music that gives me hope and strength if I'm feeling down.
Now I need a hug, and I might cry a little...but then, back to the keyboard, where my fingers will have new magic.
Just wanted to thank you.
I'm really enjoying your videos. I've been in various choirs for 25 years but I've never studied music so although I have a practical working knowledge of music theory I've never understood it formally. Saying 'You know, in bar 27, where it goes da-DAA' only gets you so far.
Great! I’m really glad you find the videos useful 😃
"Good old-fashioned lover boy" changes key from Eb (Ab maj) to F# (Ab min, Db7). "The game" has a lot of key changes, and it sounds a small bit like Bohemian Rhapsody in a way, but it's like the other side of the story, the voice in the boy's head telling him to find a place where he fits in.
There is no bottom to the rabbit hole that is music!
Thanks for posting.
Queens "Save Me" also modulates by 5ths between the verses in G and choruses in D.
Great example!
And Spread Your Wings, I think. Have to look at it..
David you know I’ve been waiting for a Queen video for so long. This is awesome!
This reminds me of Genesis changes, Tony Banks has a well developed sense of harmony.
Really enjoyed these insights ... when I'm playing these I don't even think of these, key changes are so smooth they just happen flawlessly !
Check out the modulations on Keep Yourself Alive, Bicycle Race, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, The Millionaire Waltz, The Great King Rat, The March of the Black Queen, In the Lap of the Gods, The Miracle, The Prophet Song.
Love of my life, the instrumental solo
Really Brings a smile on my face when I see the pop up on my phone of Davids video 😊 because it's relates to the kind of music theory I'm always looking for here.. Keep them coming David.. You are the best 👍💯 pretty excited to watch this one as I type this 😍
Thank you! That is amazing to hear! I hope you enjoy the video!
“Save me” also has a unanounced key change going from G (Verse and pre-chorus) D (Chorus). Excelent video as always!
I really love seeing these kinds of videos, not only because I like to geek out over music theory!!! I'm a huge fan of Queen, and remembering these sounds from my pre-music theory listening experience, it gives me a very specific relationship with the sound of these modulations. It also inspires me to use more modulations in my own work!! Thanks David, another great video.
Somebody To Love!! In the bridge section, before the guitar solo, it quickly modulates to Db and then to Gb and comes back to Eb through a grand Bb with the harmonized vocals.
Really striking how shifting one tone massively changes the character of his voice.
My best key change happened when someone tried to break in. The locksmith did a great job.
Thank you so much for doing these videos. They are always well made, pedagogical and super interesting.
Thank you for yet another awesome video! You obviously couldn’t include as many songs as there actually are. It's always nice to see some appreciation of the legendary band with four extremely talented individuals.
Thank you! Definitely one of the best bands of all time!
Another awesome vid, thank you so much! I would´ve love to see Bicycle Race, that song has TONS of key changes.
Such a good example! I feel like those key changes are more for the sake of key changes and fun dynamics then to reflect an emotional journey but none the less an outstanding song and a great example
I love your videos on key changes and Queen are my favourite band, thank you so much!
Yesssssss I've been hoping for some more Queen on this channel! ✨
Ys by Joanna Newsom is my favorite album ever. I know that's unrelated to the main subject of this video, but since you mentioned her in the ad I thought I'd shout that album out. As usual, your tastes are impeccable. Radiohead, Beatles, Queen, Bjork, and Joanna Newsom would all go in my top 10.
Another brilliant analysis. I've learned so much.
Awesome video!!! Its always really interesting seeing what makes our favourite songs are so amazing. Thanks for all you do :)
Thank you! 😃😃
Well done on this video. This a great illustration of how to use key changes in a creative way.
as a huge queen fan, thank you for explaining their music so well! great video
Fascinating as always. Thanks so very much for making these inspiring videos available to all x
Thank you 😃😃😃
Most satisfying analysis ever :) thank you
Thank you for your outstanding work!
Such a great video as always!
Thank you!
Key changes are much easier in a piece of music that is piano dominant. My heart goes out to the guitarist.
Favourite key change records - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Diana Ross), "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" (Fifth Dimension), "Thank You" (Petula Clark) several times and at the end there's a jokey NOT key change! (Tony Hatch's sense of humour?), "A Lover's Concerto" (Toys), the Beatles only ever did it once, on a single at least - "Penny Lane", "Roll Over Beethoven" (E.L.O. hastily edited!), "Good Vibrations" (Beach Boys), and probably "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (on the flip side). Also "Cottonfields", "Dance Dance Dance", "Fun Fun Fun", Four Tops "I'm In A Different World" (all over the place, that one!) ... etc.! Oh, and "Time For Living" (Association) - how often do we hear a key change downwards? I know of one - Johnny Cash "I Walk The Line".
Very good video. And what a topic. Love Queen and their song writing style
Now I'm Here is all over the place with key changes. Nice video, your analysis is always insightful.
You should do a video about The March of the Black Queen
Queen is really so smooth with the modulations! But that’s just only one factor. The other is their vocal harmonic arrangements. These factors set Queen apart from other rock bands, absolutely! In Let Me Live, there’re four additional background vocals to Mercury, May and Taylor. You can hear the deep richness of the background vocals. Some 40 years ago, I had to give away the poster from the Jazz album (?) for I was afraid my Dad’s gonna find out it showed naked girls!! LOL!!
It's so weird to hear We Are The Champions without the change
Man, your work here on UA-cam is so important. Tnx for one more explendid vid
Thank you Sam! That means a lot!
@@DavidBennettPiano I've been studying about key changes with Nightwish. It'd be a good topic to make a video about. Think about it 😁
I think what makes the key change in "We Are the Champions" feel so seamless is that right before the chorus, on "I've had my share of sand kicked in my face" we modulate to Bb major from Eb major. So we go around the circle of fifths from Eb-Bb-F.
You vid tutorials are the best! Thanks for this great content.
This has got to be my favourite video
Thanks David.
I feel like David Bennet should be heading in the direction towards college professorship, however his success on the UA-cam platform might derail him and open his life choices... I wish you all the success in the world Master Bennet (and thank you for another fabulous video lesson)
At around 1:10, (on and on and on and on), you've listed the chords as a simple Bb and C progression. The piano version I play, which meshes with the isolated piano version, is a bit more interesting. It's Ab/Bb, Bb dim, Bb7, C7... Iconic, and a great set up for going into F major.
I play this version on piano too!
Another great video, thank you for taking the time to make it! I love the examples that you pointed out as I've listened to Queen most of my life and never really noticed some of the more subtle key changes that work so well here, despite them still having their effect on me.
It's not something you've really covered before, but I was wondering if you'd be interested in covering the use of leitmotifs and instrumentation in Undertale/Deltarune? Toby Fox is (to me, a far less musically-experienced person) a very skilled musician, and I think it's worth hearing your perspective on the matter. Other channels have touched on his use of leitmotifs to an extent, but most fail to point out the significance of many of these leitmotifs, and even fewer touch on the different sounds he sources from FLStudio to draw out different emotions in the player.
I completely understand, though, if that's not something you'd be interested in, I just wanted to put the idea out there in case you find it worthwhile to make a video about. It'll be a long wait, but chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Deltarune are getting released together in the future, so that would be a pretty good time to release a video on the subject as chapter 2 has been out for a couple months now and the initial peak viewership for Deltarune content has dwindled slightly. Looking forward to your next video, regardless of theme!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked the video.
I’ve never played Undertale but I’m familiar with the main song “Megalovania” as one of my students learnt it on piano. 😃 I’ll bear the topic in mind! Thank you!
I love key change songs!
Thanks for posting. I get it: most key changes Queen wrote usually only involved changing one note in the scale at a time, (although admittedly changed twice in Bohemian Rhapsody: once going into A Major and once going back to B Flat Major.)
Do March of the Black Queen next. It might not have used as many overdubs Bohemian Rhapsody used, but it did have thicker vocal harmonies not including unison overdubs.
Fantastic vidéo, as usual
Thank you!
this is just so brilliant - I consider myself somewhat musical but wow dude you are blowing my mind......,.and you are SO YOUNG!! Julie from NZ