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Related Music Theory Alchemy

“Love of My Life” by Queen exhibits a very romantic and classical style, resonant of popular ballads primarily from the classical and romantic periods. The song beautifully plays with complex harmonies, frequent key changes and borrowings from parallel keys (modal mixture), which together yield a dramatic and emotional expression. Many of the chords used, including diminished chords, fully diminished seventh, major-minor seventh chords, and usage of secondary dominants are reminiscent of 19th-century Romantic music.

“Someone to Love” by Queen exhibits a blend of rock and gospel music, showcasing their musical brilliance and theatrical elements. The chord progression forms a classic example of a departure from the typical I-IV-V root progression seen in much of popular western music, demonstrating Queen’s ingenious writing style.

The chord progression of the Verse 3 in the song “California Kids” by Weezer features a blend of diatonic and chromatic chords in the key of C major, exhibiting a classic pop-rock feel with some variations in the chord structure. The progression also showcases the use of chromatic bass motion to add harmonic interest.

“Wild Horses” is a song by the rock band Rolling Stones from their 1971 album “Sticky Fingers”. It is a great example of the band’s adeptness not only at writing catchy rock songs but also at creating complex and interesting chord progressions. The song is in the key of G major. The verse progression is interesting with the use of the B minor chord (Bm), which is the iii chord in the key of G major – a chord that isn’t commonly used in popular music.

“Paint It, Black” is in E minor key, with verse 3 having an exciting harmonic progression: Em – B – Em – B – Em – D – G – D – Em – Em – D – G – D – A – B. The chord progression suggests that the Rolling Stones utilise borrowed chords to impose an air of ambiguity that reflects the song’s lyrical themes. Additionally, this song is a blend of rock and raga rock style and exemplifies the Stones’ 1960s exploration into psychedelia and Eastern musical styles.

Queen – Love Of My Life – Verse 3

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Chord Progression

[‘Bm’, ‘F#m’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘F#’, ‘Bm’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘Cdim’, ‘B’, ‘Em’, ‘A’, ‘D’]

Chord Progression Analysis

Bm (‘ii’), F#m (‘vi’), G (‘bIII’ – borrowed from the minor scale), D (‘I’), F# (‘V/vi’ – secondary dominant), Bm (‘ii’), F#m (‘vi’), B (‘V’), Cdim (‘viio/vi’ – secondary leading-tone chord), B (‘V’), Em (‘ii’), A (‘V’), D (‘I’)

“`Borrowed chord: G (‘bIII’)“`

Similar Chord Progressions

1. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles: [‘Am’, ‘Am/G’, ‘Am/F#’, ‘Am/F’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘E’, ‘C’, ‘C#dim’, ‘Am/C’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘E’]
2. “Hotel California” by The Eagles: [‘Bm’, ‘F#’, ‘A’, ‘E’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘Em’, ‘F#’]
3. “Blackbird” by The Beatles: [‘G’, ‘G#dim’, ‘A’, ‘Am7’, ‘G/B’, ‘C’, ‘Cm’, ‘G’, ‘C’, ‘D’]

These songs also use a mix of simple and complex harmony including secondary dominants, borrowed chords, and complex chord voicings, similar to “Love Of My Life”. In particular, they all feature a change in tonal centre at some point in their progression, which is a harmonic trait shared with Queen’s composition.

Musical Analysis

The chord progression has a good mix of stability and instability. It starts in D Major, quickly shifts into the relative minor (Bm), and then uses a borrowed chord from the B minor scale (G) to lead back to D Major. This temporary ‘modulation’ into the parallel minor is indicative of Queen’s use of chromatic harmony to add color and contrast to their music. The use of secondary dominants (F# and B) and secondary leading-tone chord (Cdim) further emphasizes tension and release, creating musical interest.

Overall Analysis

“Love Of My Life” by Queen, especially Verse 3, showcases a mix of simple and complex harmony, with many secondary dominants, borrowed chords, and diminished chords contributing to varying and shifting tonal centres. This makes for an emotional and contextually appropriate progression that fits well with the song’s lyrical content.

Style Analysis

Queen often used complex harmony and secondary dominants in their music, which gives their compositions a dramatic and theatrical quality – a feature that is extremely evident in “Love of My Life”. Their use of diminished chords, borrowed chords, and frequent modulation are hallmarks of their unique, rock-based take on classical harmony.

Chords in the Verse 3 section of Love Of My Life by Queen are:

[‘Bm’, ‘F#m’, ‘G’, ‘D’, ‘F#’, ‘Bm’, ‘F#m’, ‘B’, ‘Cdim’, ‘B’, ‘Em’, ‘A’, ‘D’]