Brian May's piano skills

I agree with Sebastian. I have no doubt that Freddie was a better piano player, although I find it very odd that Freddie has a wrong way of holding his hands.

I do think Brian has a very nice touch to his playing. As someone pointed out earlier, he does great variations during playing and little extra icing on the cake every now and again. Freddie's approach is much more straightforward. Except when he really tries to be a piano player (My melancholy blues for example.


So for more delicate songs I'd rather hear Brian play than Freddie. Same goes with a lot of the singing. Freddie does it, and nails it. But Brian actually means it.

The whole 'wrong way / right way' thing is indeed very odd: the textbook technique is an established approach, and regardless of all the physiological and acoustic evidence to support, they're still *one* way to perform, but not *the* way. Mercury's hand position could be 'wrong' for us, 'right' for him. It's not a B/W area and it's definitely not grey either.

As for 'meaning it', we can't possibly know unless we read minds.

But I agree: for certain arrangements, Brian's more natural, in his own songs, with certain exceptions of course. The opposite also happens: [i]Crazy Little Thing [/i]has a more appropriate sound when Freddie plays the intro (also with an 'odd' right hand technique), that neither May nor Rodgers have quite matched.

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[b]FriedChicken wrote: [/b]

I agree with Sebastian. I have no doubt that Freddie was a better piano player, although I find it very odd that Freddie has a wrong way of holding his hands.

I do think Brian has a very nice touch to his playing. As someone pointed out earlier, he does great variations during playing and little extra icing on the cake every now and again. Freddie's approach is much more straightforward. Except when he really tries to be a piano player (My melancholy blues for example.


So for more delicate songs I'd rather hear Brian play than Freddie. Same goes with a lot of the singing. Freddie does it, and nails it. But Brian actually means it.
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I completely disagree about the singing:-) Freddie's delivery of about every song he sang was passionate and with emotion. Brian, even though he's had great moments, is certainly not a great singer(I prefer Roger anytime). Brian has the most incredible guitar tone but his singing, no. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy his solo stuff though.

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[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]

The whole 'wrong way / right way' thing is indeed very odd: the textbook technique is an established approach, and regardless of all the physiological and acoustic evidence to support, they're still *one* way to perform, but not *the* way. Mercury's hand position could be 'wrong' for us, 'right' for him. It's not a B/W area and it's definitely not grey either.

As for 'meaning it', we can't possibly know unless we read minds.

But I agree: for certain arrangements, Brian's more natural, in his own songs, with certain exceptions of course. The opposite also happens: [i]Crazy Little Thing [/i]has a more appropriate sound when Freddie plays the intro (also with an 'odd' right hand technique), that neither May nor Rodgers have quite matched.
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Freddie's unique way of doing things is something which I find wonderful. That goes from his piano skills, over his vocal skills to his skills as a live performer or songwriter. He does it HIS way, and that's what makes him a legend. Being unique, that's what it's all about.  And Freddie and Queen in general are unique.

I'm happy you point out the intro to CLTCL, it's just fantastic. People who are a million times better on the guitar can indeed not play it like him:-)

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[b]on my way up wrote: [/b]













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[b]FriedChicken wrote: [/b]















I agree with Sebastian. I have no doubt that Freddie was a better piano player, although I find it very odd that Freddie has a wrong way of holding his hands.

I do think Brian has a very nice touch to his playing. As someone pointed out earlier, he does great variations during playing and little extra icing on the cake every now and again. Freddie's approach is much more straightforward. Except when he really tries to be a piano player (My melancholy blues for example.


So for more delicate songs I'd rather hear Brian play than Freddie. Same goes with a lot of the singing. Freddie does it, and nails it. But Brian actually means it.













[/QUOTE]
I completely disagree about the singing:-) Freddie's delivery of about every song he sang was passionate and with emotion. Brian, even though he's had great moments, is certainly not a great singer(I prefer Roger anytime). Brian has the most incredible guitar tone but his singing, no. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy his solo stuff though.





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I disagree with both of you! :D I think that Freddie's interpretations were nothing short of magical in terms of emotion, and I was always convinced that he [b]meant[/b] it. Made In Heaven is a perfect example in that it contains several songs (such as Mother Love and TMLWKY) in which his interpretations[b] [/b]really touch me.

I also think that Brian was a magnificent singer. I think he was the second best singer in Queen; his performance on Sleeping on the Sidewalk was arguably among the best vocal performances of ANY Queen member, and I think that most of his vocal performances were superb. When I was younger, I didn't like him all that much, but now I love his voice. His line in Keep Yourself Alive is IMO the highlight of the song and I love his verse on Let Me Live. Roger is very good, but I think he's a better 'guest' vocalist than 'lead' vocalist. That is to say, with a couple of exceptions (Fight From the Inside being the major one), I generally don't like him singing lead. However I love his verses in Let Me Live and No-One But You... and his line in The March of the Black Queen is one of my all-time favourite Queen moments.

Thinking about it, I believe that Brian had a magnificent ability to write songs for his vocals, while Roger was better in contributing lines and/or verses to songs written by other members. Both are very talented vocalists, but I prefer Brian.

Melody-wise, I think May was perfect at writing lines for Mercury, that Brian himself probably wouldn't be able to pull-off equally well (e.g. [i]Prophet's Song, Show Must Go On, Save Me [/i]- chorus, [i]Who Wants to Live Forever[/i] - ending, [i]Mother Love[/i]).

Brian is a fantastic singer, but his instrument isn't to everyone's tastes.  There are parts of his range that sound thin; you either love that, or hate it.  Me, I'm willing to look the other way because his vocal performances are (on a good day) fantastic, for someone who calls himself a guitarist first and a singer second.

Great discussion.

I'm a bigger Freddie fan than Brian... and a little biased in that respect, but Brian's live Save Me tenderness in piano followed by Freddie's more "violent" use when he takes over (a la Rock Montreal) is nothing short of breathtaking...I can't get enough of watching Save Me in RM. Brian does though sound better (to me) in his live piano in certain cases... Teo Torr including... although he does fuck up a lot of keys ha ha (not that Freddie didn't ever lol... his face in japan 82 to roger having fucked up bo rap scaling up the piano or is it down is priceless).

Singing wise, as Zebonka said, Brian does pass very well having honed his trade as a guitarist. When his voice is in good form (live) it really shines... same with Freddie really (live). Loved hearing Brian in Glasgow last year.
It's pretty obvious compared to Freddie's singing that he's in different league... but he can hold his own... far better than a lot of other band' leads.

Be interesting to know what songs Brian played is studio... either keyboards or piano parts... sorry if i've missed it in this thread!!!

I believe Sebastians excellent website has a who played what



That´s what I belieheeeeeeeeeeve *insert piano chord and cymbal rolls*

i love Brian's playing for more of a well slow ballad but i would prefer Freddie's for more of a rock'n'roll feel.

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[b]Zebonka12 wrote: [/b]



Brian is a fantastic singer, but his instrument isn't to everyone's tastes.  There are parts of his range that sound thin; you either love that, or hate it.  Me, I'm willing to look the other way because his vocal performances are (on a good day) fantastic, for someone who calls himself a guitarist first and a singer second.

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I completely agree. Brian's voice can sound thin at times, and there are songs in which it sounds like hs's got a cold (such as his contribution to Keep Yourself Alive), but where I once disliked it, now I love it. Sleeping on the Sidewalk, '39, Leaving Home Aint Easy and Sail Away Sweet Sister are songs I really love, in large part due to Brian's vocals. Particularly Sleeping on the Sidewalk, in which Brian's enthusiasm and extraordinary storytelling is irresistable IMO.

Brian was very intelligent in writing vocal parts for himself when he wanted to, just as he wrote excellent vocal parts for Freddie and Roger (and Anita, etc).

As for the songs he played piano on:

- Doing All Right (you can tell the difference between live and studio)
- Father to Son (but probably not all parts, since piano bits are probably overdubbed separately)
- Now I'm Here
- Dear Friends
- God Save the Queen (guide track)
- Teo Torriatte
- All Dead All Dead
- Save Me
- Flash's Theme
- Las Palabras de Amor
- Forever

And of course loads of post-Queen things.

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[b]Zebonka12 wrote: [/b]

Brian is a fantastic singer, but his instrument isn't to everyone's tastes.  There are parts of his range that sound thin; you either love that, or hate it.  Me, I'm willing to look the other way because his vocal performances are (on a good day) fantastic, for someone who calls himself a guitarist first and a singer second.[/QUOTE]

As much as I adore Brian's abilities as a guitarplayer and musician, I really feel his voice was never great. He has great moments on records and there are for sure examples of great singing during shows but a great singer, I'm afraid not.
His (many)qualities lay elsewhere.

I think very few people outside the Queen world will agree with you. There are other guitarplayers with better, more interesting voices like Eric Clapton or Gilmour from Pink Floyd.

Having said all this, he's my favourite guitarplayer:-) His tone and the emotion he puts in his playing are one of a kind. Like Freddie's voice, I'll probably never get tired of listening to his guitar playing.

Hi, guys! Thank you all for the replies and the thoughtful discussion. It was great to read it. 

And thanks a lot, Sebastian, for giving such a kind and detailed reply. 

I hope you're all doing just fine. 

There are many newbies who I think still don't know Sebastian's website on Queen and music in general. So here's a tip just in case some of you have any trouble finding it: user Sebastian has a great website ([url=http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com]http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com[/url]) on Queen's music and has also been contributing with precious info about the instruments used by Queen to [url=http://www.queenconcerts.com]www.queenconcerts.com[/url], which is Mr. Scully's (Martin's) wonderful and all-encompassing website on Queen's live record.  

Thank you all again. I've been enjoying the thread a whole lot!

Yara

What about Sail Away Sweet Sister?

Did Brian play piano on this song?