Year 7 Classroom Music Booklet – 2003
TEMPO
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (Queen)
Queen were one of Britain’s most successful
rock groups of the seventies and eighties.
They were launched as a glam – glitter band
and performed with great showmanship
during their performances. The band included
lead vocalist Freddie Mercury who died in
1991.
Bohemian Rhapsody was written in 1975 and
is a six minute piece in three sections. It was
one of the first singles whose success was
closely linked to its music video. The piece
was a British No. 1 hit for 2 months. In 1986
the song was featured in the film Wayne’s World and again became a big international hit
Introduction
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I’m just a poor boy,
I need no sympathy
Because I’m easy come,
easy go
A little high, little low
Any way the wind blows,
doesn’t really matter to me,
to me
1. The introduction to this song is performed by
a.
solo voice with guitar;
b.
several voices unaccompanied;
c.
two voices and synthesiser.
2. The group of singers perform without instrumental accompaniment.
What is the name given to this style of singing?
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3. What is the name of the accompanying instrument heard throughout
this section?
Section A
Mama just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head,
Pulled the trigger now he’s
dead
Mama life has just begun,
But now I’ve gone and
thrown it all away
Mama oooooooooooh
Didn’t mean to make you
cry
If I’m not back again this
time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on,
Cause nothin really matters
4. Which of these patterns matches the piano accompaniment in the first
verse?
a
b
c
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Section One: Tempo (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Year 7 Classroom Music Booklet – 2003
Too late,
My time has come,
Send shivers down my spine
Body’s aching all the time
Good-bye everybody
I’ve got to go
Got to leave you all behind and
face the truth
5. What is the name of the solo instrument heard at the end of this
section? Why have Queen chosen to use this instrument here?
Mama ooooh…(anyway the wind
blows)
I don’t wanna die
Sometimes wish I never been born
at all
Section B
I see a little silhouetto of a man
SCARAMOUCHE
SCARAMOUCHE!
Will you do the fandango!
Thunder bolt and lightening
Very very frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo
Gallileo Figaro
MAGNIFICOOO
I’m just a poor boy and nobody
loves me
He’s just a poor boy from a poor
family
Sparing his life from his
monstrosity
6. Is the number of instruments heard at the start of this
section
a.
more,
b.
the same number or
c.
fewer
than what was heard in the previous section?
7. Describe the tempo of this section.
8. What recording techniques are heard in this section?
Easy come easy go – will you let
me go
Bismillah!
No – we will not let you go – let
him go
Bismillah!
We will not let you go – let him go
Bismillah!
We will not let you go – let him go
Will not let you go – let me go
(never)
Never let you go – let me go
Never let me go – oooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no –
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama
mia let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for
me
For me
For meeeeee
9. The style of music in this section resembles
a.
Classical music
b.
Opera
c.
Jazz
d.
African
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Section One: Tempo (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Year 7 Classroom Music Booklet – 2003
Section C
10. Describe the mood of this section.
So you think you can stop and spit
in my eye
So you think you can love me and
leave me to die
Ooooh baby,
Can’t do this to me baby
Just gotta out
Just gotta get right out of here
11. What style of music is heard here?
12. List as many characteristics of this style as you can.
Ooooh yeah, Ooooh yeah,
13. What happens to the tempo during this section?
Section D
14. Section D is similar to which other section of music?
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters
To me ……
15. What is the tempo of this section?
16. Describe what happens to the tempo at the end of the piece.
(Anyway the wind blows)
17. An orchestral instrument is heard at the end of the piece. Name
this instrument and the family that it belongs to.
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Section One: Tempo (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Year 7 Classroom Music Booklet – 2003
Terminology
Rhythm
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Beat
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Tempo
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There are many different Italian words that describe the tempo of music. Here is a list of the main
words.
Italian word
English meaning
Grave
Very slow
Largo
Slow and stately
Adagio
Slow
Moderato
Moderate speed
Andante
At a walking pace
Allegro
Lively and fast
Presto
Very fast
Now define the tempo in each section of Bohemian Rhapsody
Sections
English meaning
Italian Meaning
Section A
Section B
Section C
Section D
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Section One: Tempo (Bohemian Rhapsody)