The Book

Introduction What is it all good for? Scope of work Project History

Music theory in nutshell Harmony Chord notation used in the analyses The degrees of notes Chord functions Keys, Sharps and flats, neighbour keys Guitar friendly and piano-friendly keys Modulations, key changes Parallel key modulations Relative key modulations Neighbour key modulations Combined modulations Step-up/down modulations Unusual modulations Key-shifts Pivot Modulation Borrowed chords Cliche chord progressions Modes Ambigous harmony Rhythms Exercies Syncopations Shuffle beat Metrical modulations, metrical anomalies Compound meters Disorienting Rhythms Songforms General aesthatics of popular and rock music

Repetitions and variants

Queen - The four of them as musicians Brian May Roger Taylor Freddie Mercury John Deacon

Songwriting Analyses Smile Ibex "No Synth" era Queen Keep Yourself Alive Doing All Right Great King Rat My Fairy King Liar The Night Comes Down Modern Times Rock'n'roll Son And Daughter Jesus Seven Seas Of Rhye Silver Salmon Hangman Mad The Swine Queen II Procession Father To Son White Queen (As It Began) Some Day One Day The Loser In The End Ogre Battle The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Nevermore March Of The Black Queen Funny How Love Is Seven Seas Of Rhye See What A Fool I've Been Sheer Heart Attack Brighton Rock Killer Queen Tenement Funster Flick Of The Wrist Lily Of The Valley Now I'm Here In The Lap Of The Gods Stone Cold Crazy Dear Friends Misfire Bring Back That Leroy Brown She Makes Me In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited A Night At The Opera Death On Two Legs Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon I'm In Love With My Car You're My Best Friend Sweet Lady '39 Seaside Rendezvous The Prophet's Song Love Of My Life Good Company Bohemian Rhapsody God Save The Queen A Day At The Races Tie Your Mother Down You Take My Breath Away Long Away The Millionaire Waltz You And I Somebody To Love White Man Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy Drowse Teo Torriate News Of The World We Will Rock You We Are The Champions Sheer Heart Attack All Dead All Dead Spread Your Wings Fight From The Inside Get Down Make Love Sleeping On The Sidewalk Who Needs You It's Late My Melancholy Blues Feelings Jazz Mustapha Fat Bottomed Girls Jealousy Bicycle Race If You Can't Beat Them Let Me Entertain You Dead On Time In Only Seven Days Dreamers Ball Fun It Leaving Home Ain't Easy Don't Stop Me Now More Of That Jazz Live performances in the 70s Modern-era Queen The Game Play The Game Dragon Attack Another One Bites The Dust Need Your Loving Tonight Crazy Little Thing Called Love Rock It (prime Jive) Don't Try Suicide Sail Away Sweet Sister Coming Soon Save Me Human Body Sandbox Flash Gordon Flash's Theme In The Space Capsule Ming's Theme The Ring Football Fight In The Death Cell Execution Of Flash The Kiss Arboria Escape From The Swamp Flash To The Rescue Vultan's Theme Battle Theme The Wedding March Marriage Of Dale And Ming Flash's Theme Reprise Crash Dive On Mingo City The Hero Hot Space Staying Power Dancer Back Chat Body Language Action This Day Put Out The Fire Life Is Real Calling All Girls Las Palabras De Amor Cool Cat Under Pressure Soul Brother The Works Radio Ga Ga Tear It Up It's A Hard Life Man On The Prowl Machines (or 'Back To Humans') I Want To Break Free Keep Passing The Open Windows Hammer To Fall Is This The World We Created? I Go Crazy A Kind Of Magic One Vision A Kind Of Magic One Year Of Love Pain Is So Close To Pleasure Friends Will Be Friends Who Wants To Live Forever Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme) Don't Lose Your Head Princes Of The Universe The Miracle Party Khashoggi's Ship The Miracle I Want It All The Invisible Man Breakthru Rain Must Fall Scandal My Baby Does Me Was It All Worth It Hang On In There Chinese Torture Hijack My Heart My Life Has Been Saved Stealin' New Life Is Born Dog With A Bone Guess We're Fallin Out Innuendo Innuendo I'm Going Slightly Mad Headlong I Can't Live With You Don't Try So Hard Ride The Wild Wind All God's People These Are The Days Of Our Lives Delilah The Hitman Bijou The Show Must Go On Lost Opportunity Face It Alone Self Made Man My Secret Fantasy Made In Heaven It's A Beautiful Day Made In Heaven Let Me Live Mother Love My Life Has Been Saved I Was Born To Love You Heaven For Everyone Too Much Love Will Kill You You Don't Fool Me A Winter's Tale My Life Has Been Saved It's A Beautiful Day (reprise) No-One But You Live performances in the 80s

Appendix Special instruments Special effects Special playing techniques Classical quotes Musical terms Index References

Path: Queen Songs - The Book - Songwriting Analyses - "No Synth" era - A Day At The Races: Teo Torriate

Teo Torriate

Title: Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)
Composer: Brian May
Album: A Day At The Races, 10th track
Key: d-minor, D-major, (A mixolydian)
Meter: 4/4 (occassional 3/4 and 2/4 measures)
Form: 
 | Intro (Verse') | Verse |1| Verse |1| Chorus | Chorus |2|
                            | Verse |1| Chorus | Bridge |
 | Chorus | Outro (Chorus' 2nd half) | Album Outro |
 
1,2: spacers

Teo Torriate is a hymn-like ballad. The unisono choir Choruses creat a nice sing-along feel for this song, while the japan lines creat a kind of "international" feel.
The arrangement features harmonium, and plastic piano (beside a grand one). Rhythm guitar can'tbe heard just some sustained guitar harmonies. As so many times in Queen songs the arrangement changes from section to section. The melancholic Verses are in minor key, the more "optimistic" choruses are in the parallel major key. Parallel modulation is relatively unusual feature of Queen songs.
The chord progression is very simple in terms of functional harmony: mainly three chords build up the harmony of the verses (i, iv, V) and the choruses (I, IV, V). The range of the lead vocal is 13 notes, the low end (D) is at the start of the Verses, the peak (B) is in the climactic part of the Bridge.
The songform is not unusual.
Special instruments featuring in the arrangement are harmonium and plastic piano (there is normal piano too) all played by Brian May.



Walkthrough

Intro
In this instrumental six measure intro we can find two classic Brian May trademarks. The  first one: an intro that is a shortened version of a later section (here it is the Verse) where the omitted measures are located in the middle of the original section. More accurately: the first four and the last two measures are taken from the beginning and the end of the Verse respectively. See this gambit used not much earlier in '39 and The Prophet's Song. The second trademark is the "pedal" bass.

Verse (+ Spacer 1)
This eleven measure section has 4+5+2phrasing, where the last pharse is instrumental (Spacer 1), and measure 7-8 is a close variant of measure 3-4. The harmony is characterized by pedal bass (on piano,is not ) and predominantly step-wise moving parts. The whole second phrase can be treated as being "enveloped" by the tonic Dm chord.

d:
| Dm   | Gm/D  | Dm   | Gm/D 6 |
| i    | iv    | i    | iv     |

                                        | A (lead vocal)
        | F  E   | -    | F    | F      | E     |
        | D  D C#| -    | D    | D      | D     |
        | A  A#  | -    | A    | A#     | A#    |
"pedal":| D ....................................|
chords :| Dm  ...| -    | Dm   |        |       |
     d :| i   ...| -    | i... |        |       |


| A    | -    |
| V    | -    |

First Verse is for accompained by only piano with simple four in the bar chords. Second Verse adds harmonium and melodic bassline with mellow treble figures behind Freddie's sustained last syllables. Last measure of the second verse has slow down crescendo piano figure reinforced by crescendo snare drum roll, the first time the drums appear in this song. The slow down is compensated by a 3/4 long measure.
Second Verse adds octave guitar harmonies kind of sustituting the melodic bassline that is omitted here.


Chorus (and Spacer 2)
The eight measure Choruses have square phrasing and basic harmony. The frequent use of inversions make it more colorful. The predominantly four-in the bar bassline slawishly follows the chord progression. The key is D-major.

D:
bass D G #F D | D  D  | G  A     | D  A A |
   | D G  D   | G  D  | G  A(7>6)| D  D A |
   | I IV I   | IV I  | IV V     | I    V |

bass D   C# | B    | A   A A | D   G  A |
   | D    A | G    | D   G A | D   G* A |    G* : G(maj7>6) vocal apoggiatura
   | I    V | IV   |"V"      | I   IV V |

The second Chorus is added a one measure instrumental Spacer that is the minor version of the preceding (8th) measure:

 ...G A | D  Gm* A || Dm...              Gm* : Gm(7>6)
D: IV V | I (iv  V...)
         d:  iv  V || i...

Note that the iv > V  is "valid" cadentical progression in both major and minor keys, but the use of F (min7th of Gm) instead of F# complete the feel of modulation.

The first Chorus has Freddie's voice doubletracked, moreover the first section of the song with drums. The second chorus adds japanishe lyrics and counterpart-style vocals. This style of two part harmonies is very unusual for their songbook, so let's see it more closely in this degree-notated sketch:

5>6 8  9  10>9  11 10 | 11 11  11>10 10  | 5 >8  10 9>10 8  6>8 | 10  10 9 9>8 8>7 8 |
1   4  5  5     8  5  | 8  7   6     0>1 | 5,>1  1  5    4  4>5 | 8>7 6  4 4   5   5 |

You can find a variety of intervals including some open fifths and fourths. Similar counterpoint like harmonies can be find in 39' too (with more than two parts).
The third Chorus adds a third vocal part in harmony that crosses the lead vocal upwards/downwards depending on how much place is between the above discussed two vocal parts. (My Beatles-trained ears make me associate here with I Saw Her Standing). The fourth Chorus starts with unisono/octave "multitrack choir" the lead vocal joins in the middle of the fifth measure. Harmonium is played too.


Bridge
This section is approximately eighth measure long. Both phrases start with the same melody with a half measure upbeat. The parsing of the measures is ambigous toward the end of the section.
In this song Brian uses one of the usual techniques to make contrast for the Bridge putting the harmonic centre of gravity on the dominant chord (A). This gambit executed so effectively that one is tempted to interpret the Bridge being in A (mixolydian) major due the strong cadentical flavor of the G > D > A progression (double plagal cadence in A Major). (In the ABBA song "Mamma Mia" the same chord progression before the chorus has not double plagal flavor)
 
          m.1
 ...G  D || A    | Bm  G  | A   D | A    G D |
D: IV  I || IV   | vi  IV | V   I | V   IV I |
A:bVII IV|| I    | ii bVII| I  IV | I bVII IV|


Chrom. lead:   A G#  A   A#  | B
Inner voice 1: E E   E   E   | D
Inner voice 2:C# B   C#  C#  | B
bass:        | A G#  G   F#  | B   A  |
chords:| A   | A E  A(7) F#7 | Bm  Bm | G   A(7,4>3,9) ...
D:     | V   | V...          | vi     | IV  V
A:     | I   | I...      V-of| ii     |bVII I
        half

The arrangement adds tamburine and backing vocals, simple guitar harmonies. The climax is the sixth measure where we can find a nice chromatic contrapuntal harmony changing from syllable to syllable. This is definitely something "classical" in approach but before we'd say "wow!" note it's only one measure. Huge amount of classical pieces are written entirely in this style. For start check out the opening harmonies of God Save The Queen.
The section ends on the fourth beat.


Outro:
It is the instrumental version of Chorus' second phrase with piano and harmonium. Bass and drums enter for only the last two notes. It is seued into the Esher-esque album outro which is going to be discussed with "Tie Your Mother Down".