QUEEN: Freddie Mercury & The "Loser" Chord
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- We Are The Champions contains an incredibly complex chord sequence, join me to figure out the most difficult chord of them all... and one that I've never seen anyone else get right
I love a wee puzzle!
There’s two answers. The obvious one is that it’s an accidental polychord. That’s how it sounds, unintended crunch.
Then there’s the pragmatic approach. The mistake people love to make is naming minor chords with #5s… any time you do that you’ve gone wrong. It’s never that, that’s a major chord in 1st inversion. Functionally that’s what it’s doing, Eb/G moves up to Ab. The harmonies in the voice are just “out” (but cool)
If you think of it as a true polychord Fmaj/Ebmaj, you can get all 6 notes and in the right inversion.
3 1 1 2 1 1 - G Bb Eb A C F
But playing all the notes doesn’t make the chord! You gotta play the function!
I agree, but this comment will be buried under "They are all geniuses" comments. After all the whole video is trying to make use of the genius cult whereas the easy answer is: they just tried out some notes (or just continued them from the chord before) over Eb and put the G in the bass...
@@mcarra4072 even more so when you ignore the mix. In the section in question the piano is 1/3 as loud as the BVs and guitar, and should be considered as such.
Exactly. Just sounding out all those notes within those two beats does NOT MAKE IT ALL ONE CHORD !!
Answers from the master himself.
Right! Everything can be reduced to triads, and to my ear this is a Eb(with 6th) in first inversion. I would add that what Freddie did is simple passing notes in the bass line (from f to c) while keeping the C Eb F in the right hand, then harmonized accordingly.
It's a smart way to come back from f major to f minor.
"No time for losers"sounds like the nah nah na nah nah thing kids sing when they are teasing each other.
Seems appropriate to mock the loser, now doesn't it?
That’s literally what it is
Kinda like the "nah nahs" at the end of Lovin touchin squeezin by Journey. Right after the line "now it's your turn girl to cry"
Came here to say that!
Totally.
Freddie was an absolute titan of a frontman...charisma, voice, great songwriting, great playing, vision and dedication, truly a shooting star deserved the highest praise
Queen are creative genius. How they came up with those masterpieces is beyond comprehension.
Mercury and May are up there with Lennon and McCartney in my book
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Deacy and Roger also. Think about how the bassline in another one bites the dust gels with Mercury’s vocal. Then how the drums don’t overpower either. Skilled musicians with classical training.
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Well beyond Lennon and McCartney in my opinion.
Are you from Europe?
Americans say “Queen is… “
Because the group, Queen, is singular
Of course, if you changed it and said “the members of the group queen ARE….”
Then you be saying that modified statement like an American would.
@@chezchezchezchez Strange how you didn't comment on the associated fact the OP mixed singular and plural in the same sentence i.e. 'Queen _are_ creative _genius_'.
Incidentally, mixing a group name with a plural verb is certainly a common occurrence in British English, but it's just as grammatically incorrect as it would be in the USA. I can't say as I've noticed any particular prevalence of the correct form in American English, but I'll take your word for it. In the UK, though, I'd hazard a guess the erroneous form is more commonly seen than the correct one.
There is a much simpler way of analyzing/thinking about this progression. "No time" is an F major, and "losers" is simply that F major sustained over Eflat major. G and Bflat in the piano is part of a 1st inversion Eflat, not G minor, and the vocal harmony also includes F, which makes that chord more of an F7 than an Adim.
Yep. It’s an Eb major triad and an F major triad, sounded together over G in the bass. IMO, the simplest and most straightforward way to name that chord is F11, with the second scale degree in the bass.
I was hearing exactly a f/ to f7. The same way most progressions use the 7th chord.
Yep, #5 cant be right. That note must be Eb not D#. Also a way to look at the progression is an F chord going to an Eb chord going to a Db chord using inversions to make a climbing bass line under a descending chord sequence. I think it's possible Freddie had this in mind because how would he have thought to use Db/Ab instead of the more obvious F7/A? The idea that he used major chords that descended in consecutive steps whilst the bass rises is more elegant and ingenious than any idea that involves thinking about a Gmin chord.
it is a eb69(#4)/g
So I would hear it as an F11th with the G at the bass. It could be a Eb but the presence of an A makes it too convoluted. Better go with F11 with G at the bass which moves step-wise.
Someone has already correctly identified this chord as an F9 with the supertonic (G) in the bass that momentarily becomes an F11 chord so I'm not going to add anything further to that. What I would like to do however is comment on your conclusion that the chord was a Gm11#5. Something that drives music theorists mental, and something that causes widespread confusion for people trying to learn music theory, is the incorrect 'spelling' of notes within chords. Whether you believe that chord to sound correct enharmonically, there is NO #5 note contained within it. The sharpened 5th note in that chord (if there was to be one) would be spelled as a D#, NOT an Eb.
This might sound like I'm being completely pedantic but this distinction is incredibly important in terms of understanding scale and chord construction and flagrant disregard for these age old conventions leads to a lot of confusion for people trying to get their heads around music theory. It is impossible to have a 5th note of any quality (perfect, augmented, diminished) within a G scale that isn't spelled as a note D. The Eb you're referring to is on the 6th degree of the scale and that would have to be reflected in the way you label the chord. As it stands though, your identification of the chord is incorrect anyway (as is your conclusion that the backing vocals are singing an A dim chord).
thank you for pointing out such an important thing and such a common mistake
Thank you so much. So much is wrong in this analysis... The loser chord is F11 in 4th inversion (9th at the bottom), though the real way to interpret it would be to ignore the G as a filler between F and A flat at the bass.
@@mmez442 You're welcome. It's a critical part of music theory that often gets overlooked, or worse - abused, by amateur musicians. It results in total confusion when trying to understand more complicated music theory applications further down the line.
I'm curious- if this were actually a G minor chord in the context of a song would you write it at Gm13? The chord has the minor 7th, maj 9th, 11th and minor 13th
@@TheLetterH111 The Gm13 chord would have an E natural, not an Eb, in the chord though. That's what steered me away from it in the first instance.
I hear mostly FMaj on "no time for" and F7/G for the "losers" chord. The bass is going upwards on each strong beat towards the climax at "champions" and that's why it plays the second grade of F7 in "losers" which creates tension and sounds just right. It seems like a natural pianistic thing Freddie did there in the middle of his flow while composing it.
Perhaps you mean F7? It’s definitely not an Fmaj7 because that would require the presence of an E (the major seventh relative to an F root), rather than the Eb that’s there (the MINOR seventh relative to an F root).
It definitely has all the notes of an F7 present, but if it’s a kind of F chord (and I agree that is a far more intuitive way to think of it than to think of it as some kind of overly-complex G chord) it’s actually an F9 with the second degree (the G) in the bass, and which very briefly becomes an F11 just for the tiny moment Freddie hits the Bb in the arpeggio.
The description of the chord in the video is wildly over complicated.
@@fromchomleystreet Yeah stupid me. Definitely a F dominant 7. Corrected.
@@SaccoBelmonteyou do actually have a point. There is no 7th in the chord over 'No time for', but if there was any 7th implied it would likely be the maj7th, not the dom7. I'd say that it's right that you hear Fmaj7, it's the I chord after all at that point.
@@fromchomleystreet Oh, I didn't read your comment and I wrote the same thing.
Pianistic... 😅
I’m liking this concept of you trying to find weird chords in popular songs! Really cool
Black dog. Jimmy plays A & G whereas John Paul Jones clearly goes from a to f#sharp
It’s just an F9 chord (with the second degree, the G, in the bass) which very, very briefly becomes an F11 chord for the passing moment Freddie’s right hand hits the Bb as part of the arpeggio, which momentarily rubs against the A in the vocals.
I disagree that he’s playing a Bb with his left hand. All I hear is the G (possibly in octaves), so that passing Bb in the arpeggio is the only time the note appears. It barely counts as part of the chord but, again, to the extent that you could argue it does, it just briefly adds one more extension onto the chord, adding the eleventh to the flat seventh and ninth that are already there, and momentarily turning an F9 into an F11.
The ways you’re interpreting even the composite parts of the chord are really counter-intuitive and and needlessly complicated. For example, describing 4:58 as an Adim, when in context those three notes would be clearly functioning as the third, fifth and minor seventh of an F9, even if the F root wasn’t clearly audible in the vocal stack (and it is), is just perverse.
The simple explanations are usually the best. “No time for” is a simple F major chord, and all three of the notes that make up that triad remain for the next chord. They are just joined by others. That’s the first clue that we are still in some kind of F, but are adding extensions to it.
EDIT: listening again, I think there actually is a Bb in the vocal stack, which would make it F11/G throughout.
It means you have all three notes of an F major triad, and all three notes of an Eb major triad. So it would make some kind of sense to analyse it as some kind of Eb, but NO sense to analyse it as some kind of Gm.
I totally agree with you here. Also, the initial observation from James that the backing vocals were singing an A dim chord had me scratching my head. They're singing the notes F, A and Eb which when combined with the supertonic in the bass completes the F9 chord. The video completely over complicates what's going on.
What a fantastic deconstruction! I was blown away when I realized how dense ALL of their vocal harmonies are. I mean, it's obvious that they're HUGE but they sound like Queen because there are so many augmentations layered in there that go beyond typical vocal arrangements. Simply brilliant.
I had no idea this was even a mystery, and I am now totally satisfied with your solution. Great stuff man!
Great analysis. Gotta love the sheer musicality of Freddie and Queen.
I remember the first time I heard this song when it came out, I was only 12 or 13 years old and even then I realized THAT chord was something special. You really broke this down wonderfully. My thanks. Cheers from Ottawa, Canada🍁
Wow, wish some Queen content was regular on your channel!
I’d actually love to do more stuff on Queen, I think they’re a top band. If this vid does ok, I may do more 👍👍
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar oh please do. Your documentaries are always a great watch.
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar
I'm not a massive fan but I think that they were very good at what they did, so some analysis of the band's methods etc would be really interesting.
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar This is my first visit to your channel and it must have been fed to me because of the Queen in my algorithm.
What a fascinating video, James! I’m going to try playing this later. My interpretation, from “no time for…” (in the key I play it) has always been:
E Dsus2/F# G A7 B-9
I’m looking forward to experimenting!
Have a great day.
M
Dsus2/F# sounds correct. 2-x-0-2-3-0.
Nice video. One thing i think i should point out is that there is no A in the backing vocals. From what i hear, it's 4 notes, G-Bb-Eb-F, in that order (The Bb is a bit hidden, but you can clearly hear it if you focus on the melodic movement of that voice during the whole section).
The only A in the chord comes from the melody, however i wouldnt really consider it as a part of the chord, but more like an appoggiatura. To me the chord feels like a Eb/G with like the 6th and the 9th (i guess its a Eb6/9 over G)
Edit: I forgot there was also a C on the vocal harmony. And another thing, there is no Bb on the left hand of the piano; Freddie, as usual on his style of playing, just plays a G octave with his left hand
To my ears, there is an A in the backing vocals, along with an F and an Eb.
This. Kind of. Should definitely consider A part of the chord. It happens right on the downbeat, and it is the primary sound that is stuck in our ear.
Also, there is no C in the vocals. He said there was, but that’s not correct. If it is there, it’s much much quieter than that B♭ you said was hidden. And by the way, the B♭ really isn’t hidden in volume, it’s just hard for our ear to hear the fifths of the chords as their own thing sometimes, and I find that people often mistake a note for being an octave away when it’s actually a major seventh away (in this case from the melody).
Really the overarching sound is the F backing singer holding on between both chords and the lead holding an A both times as well, for a continuous “F major” sound, all while the rest of the band is moving upward to an inversion of E♭.
One other thing: it does SOUND like there is a C in the vocal harmonies, but if you listen closer, it’s really an auditory illusion from the higher C harmonics in octaves ABOVE the note. This probably combines in effect with the overtones of the G note to sound like C and G overtones of a lower, sung C note.
Something like that. You can definitely Cs ringing out, but nobody’s singing one
Queens equivalent to the hard days night chord
I was thinking the same!
The Hard Day's Night chord is Gm7 add 11. It doesn't contain all the notes but for one guitar player, it's very close.
@@leonardhevia5452 I do not remember a b flat being anywhere inside the hard days night chord. It’s a Dm11 if I remember correctly (Dminor and C major up top)
@@Bottled-SoapAlways played it as F6/9 but the D (the 6) is lower in bass so - 100213 (FADACG)
Great deep dive as always! I'm interpreting this as an Eb in first inversion with added 6, 9, and #11.
Same here. It’s and F over Eb with an ascending bassline.
Lmao, I should have checked the comments first, I came here to say this as well. I provided a voicing though. 😛
G Bb C Eb F A - Eb is the root. Eb with 9 #11 13
Or Eb chord and F chord
It’s effectively an Eb major triad joining the F major triad that carries over from the previous chord. For me, the simplest way of analysing the resulting chord is F11/G. Thinking of it as some kind of Eb chord makes some kind of sense too. Thinking of it as some kind of Gm makes none.
Queen was the reason I wanted to learn guitar. They were also the reason I almost quit playing guitar as I thought there was no way I'd be able to do any of that. Thankfully Oasis came along at the right time and kept me going. Nice seeing this on your channel James!
this level of dedication to figuring out 'wtf is going on here' is something Dr. May would definitely approve of 🎉 hats off!
and yes, Freddie was a genius ❤
This song is a perfect illustration of how harmonic complexity of the #1 hits degraded throughout decades.
It doesn’t feel like something cumbersome and dissonating but still has complex series of smart modulations, precise voice leading, great melody, rememberable hook and funny quote in the same single song, greatly performed as the cherry on the top. I can’t name a single today’s hit even close to compare.
The 5 notes (Eb,Bb,F,C,G) are consecutive on the cycle of 5ths and make the Eb pentatonic or the core of Cm blues minus the F#. This is being played over a G (iii). Now swap the Bb(V) for the A (bV) so that ii-->II Those 5 notes (Eb,F,C,G,A) form a F9 (V9 in the key of Bb) for a Lydian vibe.
I came here to say exactly the same. 🙃
It’s really just an F9 over G in the bass, which very briefly becomes F11/G when the passing note Bb appears in the piano arpeggio and again in the lead vocal on “(be)cause”. The explanation in the video is needlessly complicated and wildly counter-intuitive.
Your content is so unique & insightful. Loved every second of this video, brother!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I think the confusion is because in part of the bass note involved. can't underestimate the importance of a well placed bass note!
Remember, Brian May is an astro physicist and Fred is an absolute genius so working out that cord would be difficult. I think they relished being difficult and different.
I also think they just sang the notes that came to their heads at the time
They have such a lot of uncommon and quirky harmony in their music. There's plenty to learn from their catalogue. My guess is that it is piano-based rock, not guitar-based, so the chords tend to be harder if you want to do that on guitar to sing along. Them all could play at least a bit of piano, so it makes sense to me. If you want to get into chord inversions, Queen will scratch that itch for a long time. In my teens it was my favourite band but it took me a while to be able to figure out chord changes and overall harmony to do that on the guitar. After having jazz guitar lessons for a couple of years, I went back to Queen, and it was much easier to wrap my head around it. It is still challenging, because a lot of their harmonies are straight out of classical music, old timey British music... "what kind of music you play lads?" - YES!.
I always considered this chord as an F7/G, so in standard tuning it'd be G (Bb) Eb A C F which can be played like this 3(1)1211 but if we want to simplify it we can consider this chord as an F with an added G in the bass to prepare the Ab chord. Nice video, I really appreciated the way you dissected this chord :))
I consider it an F chord over a 1st inversion Eb chord. How can G Bb Eb really function as Gmin in this situation?
@@nostromissimo Considering that the Ab chord is targeted, you might be right since Eb is the dominant chord of Ab. I think the purpose of naming this chord Gm11#5 was to make it easier to visualise
@@timotherubini-bressolles6274 it can't be a Gm11#5 chord anyway because that would require a D# note to be present as opposed to an Eb. That might sound like I'm being pedantic but it's a critical detail within the harmonic context.
This video is brilliant. 👏🏻
All of us who watched will appreciate this one chord in a wildly different way every time we hear it for the rest of our lives.
I find some analysis videos boring but this is fascinating, it's like a quest for the holy grail. Brilliant video, not too long, not too short, just right.
This is a piano song. I play this on the piano all the time as Freddie played it, and he was just a musical genius. It isn't really a chord but rather G minor going down from f and e flat major. Really cool arpeggios as Freddie played around with the chords he knew, he wasn't governed by imaginary rules that music teachers tell us. His music is so simple yet complex. He really knew how to make catchy melodies. I love to hear him accentuate those notes! That's how he wanted it.
Great video. Always up for knowing more about Queen's music.
I'm so glad you're bringing this up. I always heard the vocal in piano but never a guitar. Thank you for confirming this
very nice. and I have to say that within the full context when you play it at the end, it sounds very natural and unassuming - which is remarkable given how unusual this chord is. Anyway, great video (and I'm a pianist)
I saw Queen perform this song November 3, 1978 at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Florida. As anyone can see from the many live versions that exist, Freddie Mercury leaves the piano for the very last chorus, relying on Brian to finish the chords on guitar. He does some variation of it, although not precisely what the piano does. Great job of breaking it down!
I thought it was a 'specific chord' but that the bass note keeps changing. This was a great exercise in critical thinking with music.
I got it in one. Tip: identify the bass note, then listen for the type of chord playing over it. Bass moves up from F to G, chord is an Eb major with F on top (ignore the melody)
In D, the loser chord sounds to me like a D/C, and is very simple to play in the guitar ( D chord and your pinky in C in the fifth string).
Hey! I managed to play the chord with the original voicing you thought was impossible with every note ringing out!
me too (but my hand ... oouch !!)
so cool. I've always wondered if its possible to make up a chord using different instruments, or to even have different tracks play different chords and have it sound nice
This whole video is the answer to my frustrated guitar musings of a lifetime!!! Thanks.
The progression is mindblowing in itself.
The chord doesn't have to be seen as Gmin11#5. In fact with the #5 theoretically meaning D# it's a bit illogical, since in a minor chord that note must be Eb, the b6. It can more accurately be seen as an Eb chord in 1st inversion with extensions that have resulted from the sustaining of notes from the previous F chord, making it Eb69add#4/G. If there isn't a D in the chord yet there is an Eb, it can't be a Gmin chord, it has to be an Eb.
One thing I don't think has been pointed out is that after recording it Freddie rarely sang "Losers" that way again. Because when singing live he would sing certain words much lower.
Listen to how he sings "Losers" live.
It still works melodically within the chord but is totally different.
Tbf to Freddie this is most likely because he had to keep his voice fresh on a long tour. You can't belt out the high notes to every song every night. Even Freddie had to save his voice.
Couldn't it also be seen as a Cmin#13 in 2nd inversion??? Either way, love these short forensic deep dives into pop's great mystery chords...you're quite the sleuth!!!
Simple is best. It’s just an F9/G, momentarily becoming an F11/G when the arpeggio plays the passing note Bb.
It could also just be seen as a polychord too. So then it would be F7/Gm, as in F7 over Gm
In isolation, It's F11 in the fourth inversion with the 7th and 11th flat when it's stacked in thirds (common practice harmony analysis). Another way to look at this chord though is to think of the melody notes as somehow separate from the chord (I know this is incorrect analysis but bear with me) and then think of the chord as a C minor-minor 7th (or just Cm7 in jazz theory) in the second inversion. The A isn't sustained through the whole chord anyway so in that respect it might have more in common with a (pop theory) Cm7 add4 with a passing A in the melody. I don't think Freddie was thinking about the name of the chord and quite probably never did, but he just knew it sounded good. According to the composer Mike Moran (who does know theory and worked on Barcelona with him), he wasn't bothered about the names of chords and just added notes to make them sound bigger and better, and Mike said he got it "right" every time even if it was unconventional.
Agreed! I've basically reiterated the same in my own analysis.
The chord for me is not a chord by its self, it’s in the context of an ascending line. In this sense one can play it even with a single bass note and it still would sound right. Of course, I’m sure you’ve found the correct notes that formed it.
You mean arpeggios. He says that in the vid.
2 0 0 1 0 0 with capo fret one. Here’s how to get it in the right order. Every note will have the right pitch except for the note on the D string which will need to be an octave up. What you need to do is put your pointer finger (picking hand) over the 12th fret of the D string (13th with capo being accounted for) and tap it down lightly to create a harmonic. At the same time flick outwards with the other fingers to strum the chord. The chord changes for the other chords should also be strummed over the 12th (thirteenth fret). When the I need to go on and on part happens put the pick in your mouth like Eddie Van Halen. Voila.
This is all hypothetical and is physically possible but I don’t see why they would go to the work when you can do it with a full band and just play Brian May’s original guitar parts. It’s not like killer queen where there’s a bunch of impossible harmonies split between tracks. If you don’t have a piano player do your best to combine Brian and Freddie’s parts
This whole thread was kinda just me figuring out how to do it on a single guitar and then telling people I’m just having fun and it’s way more practical to A. Arpeggiate it like the piano B. Play Brian’s part or C. Do both in a way that doesn’t make you look like you’re trying too hard
Doing a harmonic trick like that is not practical for a lot of players tho
This video really highlights the extra difficulties guitar players face in understanding harmony compared to keyboardists.
This is all very Rick Beato. Love the analysis of some of these masterpiece opuses. I’ve been a queen fan since I heard Killer Queen when it came out (I was about 15/16) and as a musician (keyboard and bass player) I totally appreciate what goes into writing the great songs that stand the test of time.. by anyone!
The quite brilliant Rick Beato. Legend!
Guys, It's a simple Ebadd9 (not dominant) with a G on the bottom (2nd inversion). The tension 9 is F in Eb major. There is no F7 there; a secondary dominant wouldn't make logical sense in the context. You're all getting bogged down by the A note Freddie sings (on the lo- syllable) which has no bearing on the progression. The progression is (with Jazz analysis) F: I, bVII(add9)/G, bIII(6), IV7, V9sus4, I-. Some of these are modal interchange/borrowed chords. Freddie may not have had formal training, but he was one of (if not the) biggest geniuses in pop music and knew what he was doing instinctively. He keeps the F with an ascending bass line and fills out the chords.
Great analysis! I find your style of presentation very insightful, flowing, interesting, and focused.
As for why C turned out to be the best note to sacrifice, my music theory knowledge leads me to think that's because it's not an essential part of the F7, and not a part at all of the implied Gm. What I mean by "not essential" is that a dominant chord is defined primarily by the tritone between the third and seventh, the fifth only serves to _reinforce_ the root of the chord, which itself is less defining than the tritone. In fact, if I play a tritone (say, B & F) and then move both notes closer together by a half-step to make a major third (C & E), that will feel like dominant five (G7) resolving to major one (CM)! Your mind still perceives the functions of the chords implied by their most defining parts.
Love it. And I don't think you have to worry about playing the entire thing on the guitar-that's what the band is for.
And dividing the chord between instruments is more professional sounding anyway, IMO.
I know Queen created the chord and are absolute geniuses for it, but for you to work it out is mind blowing too. I understood none of it 😂
What a band, great breakdown & analysis/theory
It‘s F7sus/G. Brilliant progression, but no rocket science as it’s a clear tonic turned into a dominant chord by going down to Eb while moving up the bass line to G. You could fret it like Gm11 in standard tuning (3-1-3-3-1-1). The modal interchange on the chord right after it is way more interesting to me 😀 Thanks for doing a 10min breakdown anyway! It is super interesting for me where your starting point is to figure it out, as my own ear just seperates notes, audiates and finds chords on the spot, so I - as a music teacher - sometimes struggle to understand the struggle of others to find the right chords.
This is interesting. On Piano, I always played it as an F/G chord
That’s precisely what it is, just with the flat seventh added. In other words, an F9 (with two fleeting moments where a passing note could be argued to briefly turn it into an F11). There is nothing remotely complicated about this chord, unless you try to interpret its root as something other than an F. Then you end up doing the kind of mental gymnastics James does in the video.
The piano and the vocals are not separate and do not need to be “smashed together”. The whole thing can be played on the piano, or faked on the (easy peasy) guitar.
really nice breakdown. Keep it up!
Rick Beato's son would be able to name every note in the chord instantly
So satisfying to work out the Magic Chord/Harmony 👍
So… it’s an F9sus4 with the G in the bass (rubbing against the dissonant A that is taken care of by the vocal - so you don’t actually have to play it)
That's the interpretation I got. When analyzing chords, I go with the fewest "extensions" needed to explain it. F9 is pretty common in jazz, so you are really only adding the sus4. The A is covered in the melody as you mentioned. All of this will sound "off" played on only guitar, of course, because it's the wrong instrumentation; there was a piano in the original recording. It's more of a "score reduction".
@@JohnPrepuce Yeah, it just seems really counter-intuitive to think of it as anything other than some kind of F major chord. We start on a simple F major for “no time for…”, and then all three of the notes that make up that triad remain for “loser” - they are just joined by additional notes.
Actually, now that I’ve had another listen, it’s even simpler than that. It’s just an F9 chord with the second degree (G) in the bass. There is no Bb in the left hand piano, so the only times the note appears are as a fleeting passing note in the arpeggio, and then again right before the next chord change when it appears in the lead vocal on the word “(be)cause”. For those two brief moments, the F9 simply gains one more extension and becomes an F11, but it barely counts as part of the chord. Playing a dissonant Bb (fourth degree of F, rubbing against the third, A, which is constant throughout) through the whole chord would just be incorrect, when for the most part it’s really not there.
@@fromchomleystreet - In my other comment I meant to say IV going to IV7 as the key (or at least the target chord) seems to be Cm.
@@JohnPrepuce Not sure I understand what you mean. The verses begin in the key of Cm, but the key changes several times in this song, and the chorus seems to me to be pretty unambiguously in F major. The line “no time for losers, ‘cause we are the champions” would, therefore, be:
F / F9 / Ab/ Bb7
Or
I / I (9) / bIII / IV (7)
I managed to play the chord but it hurts, index on the bottom string, pinkie on the fourth, ring finger on the third, middle on second.
Great job figuring this out
Edit: my wrist is still aching half an hour in
In your key signature, it's best playable on guitar as D min 7
I think it makes much more sense to think of this as a really dense Eb major chord in first inversion. If you play the song that way with simplified voicings, just "F - Eb/G" it still functions or reads as "playing the right chord". But just my opinion.
Gorgeous guitar.
the root of the chord is eb. it is just an inversion. the g is in the bass and if you need to omit a note , choose bb and not c! the most important note of this particular chord is the A (augmented 4th). c and f are extensions (6th and 9th)
Love this channel! Keep up the good work. Would be nice to see a few oasis song tutorials if you have the time!
cheers! which songs were you wanting to learn?
@JamesHargreavesGuitar it's totally up to you james...I'm a beginner, so something that's not too tricky to start off with...I'd like to learn half the world away. I've been looking into a few oasis tutorials, but most people play them in slightly different ways and I'd love to hear you take on some of there songs. 🎶
Brilliant analysis!
Any chance you could post a full chord sheet of the chords your playing?
Fantastic musicians and astrophysicists all, including James Hargreaves!
I think since you're singing the A, you can omit that in the guitar chord, capo it or barre it on the first fret and fret the low E string on the 3rd fret to make a G and the G string on the 3rd fret to make a Bb. The resulting notes would be
G, Bb, Eb, Bb, C and F.
If you're dead set on having the A in the guitar, you can fret the G string on the 2nd fret instead but I personally think the first version sounds prettier.
Edit: I also think it would be better analyzed as an Eb6/9add#11, 1st inversion. As others have said, there's never much use for a #5.
I love that you took the time to make this. My initial feel of the chord though is that it's still an F. In my head initially without listening to the song, I remembered it as though it was an F with the bass walked up to the 3rd on the bottom, like F/A - but then when I listened I heard it as F with the second (G) on the bottom. I heard the 7th, then the 4 which kinda gave it this suspended feel to it. So to me, it's an F11/G. It's got 1,3,5,7,9,11. I'm probably biased because I never used a ton of sharp 5s when I was studying/playing, so I wouldn't hear that first. Hope this makes sense!
I think the chord you chose to play on the guitar at the end is the right one - ultimately I don't think Queen were thinking about "what" the chord was when they played it, but how it was functioning with what came before + where it should ultimately lead. Your guitar version does the same.
Queen is the best!
If you would have clicked reverse play when extending Freddie voice . It would have been perfect.
RUclips doing what it does best. Thanks!
"Nobody has hands that big".
"Hold my beer", said Vyr Cossont.
Brian plays from bottom to top 3x534x - it works fine :D Eb/G and adds the f note on the b string six fret as a small up step with pinky
What note is the sung melody on the word losers? Is it A? Can you ditch the A on guitar because your singing it?
I've heard Eric Morecambe's estate have asked for this video to be demonitised.
Would be iteresting to hear Andrew Preview's rendition. I gather he can play a bit.
I'm stealing this "the loser" chord 🤫
If you like this “loser” chord, check out the Kenny Barron voicing. It’s a spatial chord made up of 2 sets of perfect 5th intervals in each hand separated by a minor 2nd. Basically an open min11...
@@seanonel I'm not aware of who Kenny Barron is or what a spatial chord even is...but I know what I will be researching, thanks ;)
Fantastic video, cheers!
Love this mate! Thanks!
My friend to understand a chord you gotta listen to the root note which is usually played by the bass player. If he plays inversions that would also tell us something about the chord. In this particular example it is a pretty simple EbMaj9(#11)/G . Bass goes to G with guitar as the inversion if you listen carefully . In Jazz we usually prefer F6 then F7(13)/Eb and this is what it supposed to be but the bass goes to 3rd in this case... And the scale is Eb Lydian ...
I believe Eb/G is sufficient.
From Oasis all the way to teaching music theory and chord construction. Please keep this up! Thank you, James 😊
0:34 "I loov a beeh uh Queen"
More Queen content please!
May have to oblige…
Agree!
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar ruclips.net/video/-2B2rwu4wqw/видео.htmlsi=zm8nNH1n39gz3AtW the chords at the start of father to son are in my ears just stunnnng. Specially after 2:12. Dive into that song. Would enjoy that! There is an AI instrumental out there..
Just do a minor#5 voicing then (G-X-F-Bb-Eb-X), sounds fine, guitar really doesn't need all of the extra voices to sound accurate, we have fewer strings than a piano so just get the most important colour tones in there and we're golden.
The best voicing I've heard for it is an Ebadd9/G (G-Eb-G-Bb-F-X). Makes sense as an Eb69 chord with the 3rd on the bass, the A in the vocal part would just be a #11 and so doesn't clash.
Ahh 2020, remember it well.
I might be totally wrong, but I believe that Freddy first recorded piano part harmony with the main melody line as guide, but when they were later doing additional vocals at that place he arranged/added those vocal parts by making a bit different vocal harmony which he liked. In final result we got that combination of two chords - one that comes from piano, and the other one that comes from the choir. Maybe that's why it is not so easy to recognize which chord it is 😁
That is an obvious chord why are you insinuating. It is called a backdoor dominant, a chord played on bVII .
Eb13#11
Freddie was such an underestimated piano player.
What about sacrificing the F ? Since the Vocal note is an F.
I say that from experience. When I do open mic alone vertions of our songs tat have two guitars and a bass, I don’t do the Melodie’s of I e of the instruments needed, because the singing tune is doing it.
Congratulations on the video, excellent listening capacity, but I can't agree with the chord name. See:
The target of the frase is a B flat. The chord's name is F dominant 9th (minor 7th and 9th) with 11th on 3rd inversion (G on the bass). This chord is dominant to the B flat chord but, as a loser, doesn't resolve. Instead it goes to a simpler F minor 7th (also minor), resolving on B flat (the champions chord), preparing the final cadence of the refrain.
If you see it like this you can appreciate the true genius of Queen. Actually, the loser is complex and beautiful and evolves resolving even in sadness. But... the "champions" chord, representing those who have no time for losers, isn't even the true resolutions. Is just a passage chord to the real conclusion of the frase.
Absolutely beautiful, poetic and rhetorical perfection... It's Freddie's signature!
But... tel me what do you think of my analysis.
Great video, thank you! Believe it or not, my left hand is actually big enough to finger that chord but I doubt I could pull that off in real time at a gig.
Haven't finished watching the video but the 'loser' chord is C-6/G with a chromatic line cliche from the G walking up to the Bb flat with the C- resolving to G#∆ - A°(half diminished ) - Bb resolving back to your F, I'll watch to see if you come to the same conclusion but it's not that significant just a common chord modulation: F sub for D- resolving to C-. Any other conclusion is wrong, sorry. Will watch rest
A is the 6 of the C-6/G
It's not it's own chord with its own identity
Finished watching, you're wrong
exactly! a line cliche
What a weirdly hyper specific video. I love it
There are many songs that leave out the 5th of a chord if it's impossible for a guitar to play it, and the important chord extentions at the same time. I think they are called 'shell voicings' or 'shell chords' and they occur mostly in jazz.
I learned Deacon's bass part a long time ago and it does the same as Freddies right hand, so I knew the important notes are G C Eb F. This being said, in the voca' stems I hear a low Bb rather than a low A, I hear a high F, and I don't hear a C although I would bet it's there.
I don't have as many thumbs as I would like to hold up