QueenZone discussion #499024

Lester Burnham wrote: I read somewhere (I think Sebastian's site) that Freddie played whatever was handed to him. I might be wrong, but between 1979 and 1982 he played an Ovation 12-string acoustic, and between 1984 and 1986 a cream Fender Telecaster. Something I noticed was that he would play the intro, and then once Brian joined in, Freddie's guitar seemed to be mixed down. He would still be playing away, but the many live versions of 'Crazy Little Thing' that I've heard don't have Freddie very present except for the intro. That said, I really don't think Freddie was as adept a guitarist as many make him out to be. Brian said Freddie was a weird guitarist, in that his fingers would fall in odd places, but I get the feeling Freddie was just frustrated and would pound out chords to get the desired effect. Of course, I'm of the belief that Freddie only played guitar on 'Crazy Little Thing' and that's it; certainly, it would've been mentioned elsewhere, and there's a quote John gave about them all playing guitar on record, which somebody I believe mistranslated to meaning they all played guitar on the new record (which was Hot Space at the time). But, in my opinion, Freddie played on 'Crazy Little Thing' and nothing else.

Scott_Mercury wrote: Freddie is/was not a guitarist. When you see Freddie playing guitar...he is a fish out of water.... he just looks odd holding a guitar. There is nothing correct about his technique. Freddie was a very high strung, easily bored person...and this showed big time in his paino playing... he played piano like someone with Adult A.D.D. Freddie's guitar playing was ok for the D and G chords on the beginning of Crazy Little Thing, but thats about it...he was a Elvis guitar player... he could strum a little to accompany himself, and thats about it. -Scott

Scott_Mercury wrote: Arlene- You are 100% correct...many fantastic musicians have their own technique that is not the proper to the schooled way. Eddie Van Halen holds his pick wrong, and makes up his own scales that make no sense in the realm of music theory....he carried a "C" average in music class. Brian May said himself during the Star Fleet project he did with EVH that "No one, including me, is even in the same building with that guy". ....Thats quite a compliment, as we know our Brian is no slouch. But there is a difference between Eddie Van Halen playing wrong...and Freddie playing wrong. When we hear in an interview that "Freddie wrote the heavy riff of BoRhap/Hitman/Stone Cold Crazy...or ________ ....here is what happened. Freddie picked up a guitar, played for about 30 seconds, bent notes out of tune, .....then went over to piano and showed Brian what he wanted. Brian has stated many time in various guitar mags I have that this would happen all the time, and that it was...and I quote Guitar FTPM Feb. 1992 " he was hysterical, because he had all these ideas in his head, but poor Freddie couldn't play the guitar at all....he was intrigued by it, he'd say, darling how the hell do you do that?" Freddie was a BELOW AVERAGE guitar player....trust me dear!! Keep in mind Freddie is one of my top 5 favorite musicians who ever lived, but the guitar was a novelty to him. He could not have played guitar in a bar band...he wasn't good enough. Freddie was to guitar how I am to piano. Arlene, I can take my knowledge of the guitar, which I have been playing in front of audiences since I was 9 years old....walk over to a piano RIGHT NOW and make it boogie. I can figure out scales on piano, I can construct chords within seconds....but guess what... I AM A RANK AMATURE PIANIST. Freddie was this type of guitarist... He could transfer a few thing he knew from piano and apply it on guitar. If technical guitar playing was rated on a 1 to 10 scale.... with Steve Vai being a 10, and a beginning guitar student being a 1... Then Freddie was a 1.5 Its that simple. Arlene, I can have YOU...yes YOU...playing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" complete, except for the solo ....in 1 hour. Assuming you have heard the song, and are reasonably intelligent, with properly functioning hands and at least an average attention span.... I could have you as good as Freddie (technical wise) on guitar in 1 hour...GUARANTEED. Now... as far as Freddie's music theory, and the way he thought musically in his head.... NO ONE BUT FREDDIE could understand that... and that can be said of any musician. Make no mistake, Freddie was a pianist. On "Crazy" live, he could have been unplugged, and no one would know the difference. He strums 3 chords on Crazy live at Wembley, D, C add 2nd, and G.... I have 7 year olds more advanced.

Bohardy wrote: I basically agree with all that Scott said except for: - Crazy has 7 chords. All of which Fred plays (regardless of whether you hear him doing it live or not). D, G, C, Bb, E, A, F. - Bri's Chuck Berry-esque double-stop licks are in D, not A. - 1 hour, although not wildly inaccurate, is a slightly optimistic time-scale for teaching someone to play the whole of CLTCL to Fred's standard on The Game. Yes, you could teach someone the chord-shapes and get them to remember them, but all but the most brilliantly adept learners would not be able to get the strumming down, or be able to hold and change through the shapes (particularly the Bb and F) cleanly and comfortably for the 4 or so minutes of the song. I also agree with Lester in that if Fred had played on anything other than CLTCL we'd know about it specifically.

Bohardy wrote: Well you've misconstrued the point of my post really, but I'm off to bed now, so can't be bothered re-explaining. Maybe tomorrow.

Scott_Mercury wrote: Arlene- You do understand that music is music. Freddie doesn't have to formulate a different "theory" for approaching the guitar then he did the piano. Its this simple.... All of the music that is in Freddie's head simply flows out of him on the piano....it is an absolute struggle for him to play it on guitar. I am the opposite... I am to a level where I can whip out 6 string Malmsteen sweeps on guitar without even thinking about it.... but, for example, if I try that level of technique on piano...I would fumble, and trip... whereas Freddie, and certainly someone like Liberace would played 26 notes before I pull up the bench. By the way, Liberace was hardly touched by anyone on piano from a technical standpoint....he was so good, that in fact, Elton nor Freddie, for example would NOT be in Liberace's league "technically". But then again.... how many smash hits did Lee (Liberace) write?? So technical brillance doesn't always mean smash hits. Take my word on this.... Brian May is a great player, but more importantly, Brian May is a good teacher...(I know his guitar instructional videos note for note).... And to be quite to the point... Freddie and Roger both should have been better guitar players JUST FROM BEING AROUND BRIAN. Brian is a very patient person, super intelligent, and he explains himself quite well... had Fred or Roger taken the time to learn guitar from him....they would be much better. My first guitar teacher was a young blues musician who was on the road opening for Stevie Ray Vaughan from 1981-1983, up until SRV played on Bowie's "Lets Dance". This guy was an amazing guitarist just from being around SRV... and many of his students (including me) have went on to very nice, well paying career's in the music business. Anyone people who spend 100 hrs a week with Brian May... are only "poor guitarist" by choice, not because the knowledge isn't avalible. Does that make sense?

Scott_Mercury wrote: Arlene-
I am not a Malmsteen fan...but when it comes to technique, blues greats such as Lightning Hopkins, BB King..etc..etc..
Aren't even in the same league... Malmsteen would embarrass them in 12 seconds. [Quote]
Arlene answered:
I doubt that highly Scott. Go ask Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan, Keith Richards who the better guitarist is..Malmsteen or Lightnin' and B.B King. They would LAUGH YOU out of the room at even the mention of Malmsteen's name.
Scott Wrote:
[Quote]Personal tastes will vary....and this may be hard for YOU TO BELIEVE....AND I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH THEM.... but as I type this, I am sitting in a room with 5 musicians, who have 73 years of playing various instruments....and 3 out of the 5 prefer CC Deville's guitar playing over Brian May's.[Quote]
Arlene Answered:
Yeah and 50 Cent and Britney Spears are the number one top selling artists in the USA selling MILIIONS of recoords and concert tickets...so I guess since Millions of people love 50 Cent and Britney, they must be musical geniuses.
Scott Wrote:
[Quote]Your fucking delusional.
Arlene Answered:
Oh so when you don't get your own way with a rational, intelligent discussion of different opinions, first you try Ramming it and forcing it down other people's throats...then you resort to cursing insults and name calling ...instead of just continuing with a sensible line of debate.
Scott, also apparently you DON'T Carefully read through my posts.
Again I said Freddie was NOT technically proficient on guitar as a player...Gee I think I've said that several times already. I said that what he conceptualized in his head when he was composing on guitar...translated into genius...You also did NOT read what Sebastian posted on HIS WEBSITE that I copied on my last post about Freddie writing the flamenco guitar solo on Innuendo.

arlene wrote: And how many times do I have to repost this statement before any body properly reads it and realizes that I know this? Again I said Freddie was NOT technically proficient on guitar as a player..and he was NOT a great guitar player. Gee I think I've said that several times already. I said that what he conceptualized in his head when he was composing/songwriting on guitar,...translated into genius...You also did NOT read what Sebastian posted on HIS WEBSITE that I copied on one of my posts about Freddie writing the flamenco guitar solo on Innuendo.

Sebastian wrote: I don't think CLTCL is the only one he played on. Apart from John's quote, take in account that never somebody said that Crazy had been the only one. Still, if he did more than that, I'm 99% sure it wasn't much big of a deal, perhaps some short rhythm part here or there and that's it. To play 5 minutes of guitar in one song each concert doesn't make someone a guitarist, but for the same effect it isn't fair to judge him just because of that. From what I've heard from other people in interviews and stuff, he could play well and write on guitar. Perhaps kind of like Bono or Bon Jovi, although I can't draw such deep conclusions out of imagination only.

Sebastian wrote: I don't think CLTCL is the only one he played on. Apart from John's quote, take in account that never somebody said that Crazy had been the only one. Still, if he did more than that, I'm 99% sure it wasn't much big of a deal, perhaps some short rhythm part here or there and that's it. To play 5 minutes of guitar in one song each concert doesn't make someone a guitarist, but for the same effect it isn't fair to judge him just because of that. From what I've heard from other people in interviews and stuff, he could play well and write on guitar. Perhaps kind of like Bono or Bon Jovi, although I can't draw such deep conclusions out of imagination only.

wstüssyb wrote: Pretty sure it's listed at seb's site.

Scott_Mercury wrote: Arlene, Thanks for the info, let me tell my 8 months pregnant wife here that I am cruising for some Queen hotties here on the chat room. C'mon. Arlene, your 27 page chapters on various topics are interesting to some, and boring to others. I typically find them interesting. This one I did not, as I felt it was written from a point of view of lack of knowledge. I could care less if you are a woman or not. I feel men and women are EQUALS in this world. So if you piss me off, I am not going to pull any punches....I'll cuss you out whether you are a man or a woman. Thats what we do in an equal world. I feel that anyone that "wouldn't talk like that in front of a lady" is more or less saying... "this dumb, inexperienced female can't handle my macho langauge". We are adults, and you aren't stupid. I said what I said because I knew you could handle it. Blah, Blah, Blah.... there have been many topics on this website where we have been right on par with each other. This one we clashed on. So what?? Lets move on, I'll catch you on another topic.

Scott_Mercury wrote: Yes, all the licks of Brians are in D...why did I write A??? (typo) The song is in the key of G major/ Eminor

dragonfly.trumpeter wrote: I am genetically identical to Freddie Mercury and I hold a grade 8 with merit on the electric guitar.

The whole idea of Freddie being crap on guitar came down to marketing and greed in the 1970s etc and is complete bollocks.