{"id":20301,"date":"2026-02-05T22:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artgardenhub.com\/?p=20301"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T14:11:26","slug":"is-killer-queen-really-brian-mays-best-solo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artgardenhub.com\/?p=20301","title":{"rendered":"Is \u2018Killer Queen\u2019 really Brian May\u2019s best solo?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brian May\u00a0is one of the most innovative guitarists out there; he was always looking for exciting new ways to push himself as a creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, when he first decided that he wanted to be an electric guitar player, he couldn\u2019t actually play anything because his family couldn\u2019t afford to buy him a six-string, so as an innovator, he decided to think of a unique way around his problem, which meant building his own electric guitar, which\u00a0perfectly suited his playing style. \u201cI was 17, and my dad was a great electronics engineer and a craftsman, so me and my dad set about making a guitar,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI couldn\u2019t afford a Stratocaster or a Gibson or whatever, so we thought, \u2018We can make a guitar, and maybe we can make something that\u2019s better than anyone\u2019s ever made\u2019\u2026 My dad had that attitude, which I inherit: if a thing\u2019s worth doing, it\u2019s worth doing properly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was using this guitar that May managed to put together some of the greatest rock music to come out of the 1970s and \u201880s. Queen worked together exceptionally as a unit, but there is no escaping the fact that they wouldn\u2019t be celebrated as such to ever take to the stage were it not for the emotive playing style of Brian May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he had a lot of influences, the main thing that Brian May was looking for with his guitar work was emotion. When you have a singer with the range of Freddie Mercury, this is easier said than done. He had such a dynamic voice and could embody every feeling under the sun with it, so much so that any attempt at an emotive guitar solo would often pale in comparison. This meant May had to champion melody and harmony throughout his guitar solos; he didn\u2019t want to just do general shredding like a lot of rock guitarists were at the time, but instead gave listeners a melodic line with different parts that they could follow along. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Beck was a big inspiration\u00a0when it came to perfecting this kind of playing style. May always loved the way that his instrumental songs felt as though they had a natural progression. There was never any interest in soloing for the sake of it, he could tap into something beautiful within listeners through the power of his fretwork alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you wanna hear his depth of emotion, sound and phrasing, and the way he could touch your soul, listen to \u2018Where Were You\u2019 of the Guitar Shop album\u2026 sit down and listen to it for four minutes,\u201d said May. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable; it\u2019s possibly the most beautiful bit of guitar music ever recorded, alongside Jimi Hendrix\u2019s \u2018Little Wing\u2019. So sensitive, so beautiful, so incredibly creative and unlike anything you\u2019ve ever heard anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May could embed this style of playing into a lot of his music, but the song where he really perfected it was \u2018Killer Queen\u2019. He himself has admitted that this is one of his greatest solos because it was when he really learnt to strike that balance between shredding, melody and harmony. There are plenty of other solos where he does this, but \u2018Killer Queen\u2019 opened the door, it was proof of concept and is still one of the greatest that the Queen guitarist ever wrote. Was it his absolute best? Well, May certainly thinks so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe \u2018Killer Queen\u2019 solo was the first time I really managed to get the harmony thing across, and all those harmonies move about, they\u2019re not just following each other parallel \u2013 they all interact like a small jazz band would do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concluding, \u201cWith \u2018Killer Queen\u2019, it worked out so nice. I would probably put that forward as the one that perhaps I would want people to remember me by.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2ZBtPf7FOoM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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