Recommendations for Book to learn Brian May style playing

thecolourbox · June 2022

Hi all, as per the title I'd like to develop some technique on guitar and fancy learning some Brian May style playing. I wondered if anybody knew of a good book which could serve as a tutorial type guide? I've seen similar for Hendrix playing where they sort of analyse the techniques and give info on how to do it yourself. Both rhythm and lead playing really - hoping to channel some of that style of playing, probably simplified a bit to be fair, as an alternative to the usual stuff I play.

I'm a music reader, not great just with tab, I tend to like both notation and tab for guitar.

Any thoughts would be great, thank you!

thecolourbox · June 2022

I think this is the Queen equivalent of the Hendrix one I'd seen, so I suppose it's also a question of whether this kind of thing is really any better than just getting a tab book of Queen songs

https://www.halleonard.com/product/695097/the-best-of-queen

mart · June 2022

If you check that book out on amazon you can look at some of the pages and see if it'll do what you want.

EricTheWeary · June 2022

I know that Brian did a Star Licks tutorial back when VHS guitar tutorials cost £25. It’s on YouTube. I don’t know how useful it is without accompanying TAB but it’s only 40 minutes so might be worth a watch. He also did little YouTube tutorials on his own channel during lockdown that are still on there.
There will be a million play like Brian May things on YouTube, I’ve no idea how useful they are.

roberty · June 2022

digitalkettle · June 2022

Not a book...and no dots/tab either...but this YouTube channel is great at 'show & tell':

Rocker · June 2022

I think I have a tab book of Queen hits. if that is any use, PM your address.

CaseOfAce · June 2022

Is there such a thing as a Brian May technique?
There are certain chords (such as that Kinda Magic hammer on A chord thing at 14th fret he's fond of) but his vocabulary is for the most part blues rock isn't it - with his individuality coming from his unique AC30 / Red Special / treble booster tone?

He does have a very nice way of using major scales in rock guitar solos that I have not heard anyone else use...
and he doesn't always use a pick on solos...instead tapping the string with his first finger... but...

Personally if you want to pick up his vibe I'd learn some Queen numbers...

viz · June 2022

CaseOfAce said:

Is there such a thing as a Brian May technique?
There are certain chords (such as that Kinda Magic hammer on A chord thing at 14th fret he's fond of) but his vocabulary is for the most part blues rock isn't it - with his individuality coming from his unique AC30 / Red Special / treble booster tone?

He does have a very nice way of using major scales in rock guitar solos that I have not heard anyone else use...
and he doesn't always use a pick on solos...instead tapping the string with his first finger... but...

Personally if you want to pick up his vibe I'd learn some Queen numbers...

Lots of inversions, also the way he writes secondary vocal lines.

PAL · June 2022

I wouldn't waste money on a book or TAB . Use your ears or as mentioned the guy in the video is really good.
Queen sounded different live from their recordings for obvious reasons so watching and listening to Brian May live will give
you his stripped down approach to playing in his style it's also worth looking into his influences to understand his
approach to playing. Hope this helps.

thecolourbox · June 2022

Thanks everybody for the thoughts and tips. I will need to watch videos but I did forget to mention I am not a visual learner so whilst I might enjoy watching videos, I don't find the information within them sticks very well. I like books, I like reading stuff and working from there - particularly with music, as I'm originally a pianist so while I can easily play by ear on that, guitar is secondary so I like to have stuff written and explained.

There is definitely technique in there, the combination of techniques is what makes his style for me. Obviously I can hear the chords and could probably play most of their songs on piano or just boring strumming, but I want to be able to understand the fills and lines he uses, get a bit of his musical vocabulary I suppose. I've generally done this before with Jack White, Jeff Buckley, Paul Simon etc and then I can get to playing in their styles but not necessarily just playing their songs, if that makes sense.

@Rocker thank you that's very kind, the book with the explanations and stuff is on its way to me so I shall see how I get on with it then if it goes well, I may well take you up on your offer, thank you!

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Recommendations for Book to learn Brian May style playing

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