Bohemian Rhapsody consists of six episodes: introduction; ballad; guitar

solo; opera; hard rock; and outro. This format, with abrupt changes in
style, tone, and tempo was very unusual to rock music. The piece is
through composed, which means that each section is not repeated, it has
different music for each episode.
Episode 1
The first episode begins with an a cappella four-part harmony of all band
members. This part is monophonic- meaning it has a single melodic line
without harmonies or melody in counterpoint. The time signature begins
with 4/4 but in bar 3 it changes to 5/4. This allows the music to follow the
rhythm of the words. This part is written in Bb major.
The piano accompaniment enters in bar 5 playing the chord of G minor,
with the harmony between the four voices continuing until bar 8. The
main vocal line in this section is sung by a male baritone. The
accompaniment of a syncopated right hand piano melody imitates that
main vocal line. The other three voices continue to sing counter melodies.
At this stage, the texture is homophonic. The lead vocals are always
most prominent but are backed by the piano and the backing vocals.
Repetition is present from bars 10 and 11 in the vocal line, right hand
piano and left hand piano. Towards the end of the introduction episode,
the right hand plays octaves while the left hand plays the chord of Bb.
Episode 2
This section of the song is repeated twice in a verse. Everything is the
same except for the lyrics. It continues in the key of Bb major and is kept
at the same tempo.
In the first six bars, of this section, the left hand plays broken chords while
the right hand piano plays the melody. During the repeat of bar 19 there is
word painting. This emphasises the lyrics in the song. It is heard after the
line send shivers down my spine where there is a descending glissando
played on tubular bells to highlight the word shiver. There is another
example of word painting heard in bar 24. It is heard after the line thrown
it all way where there is a crash on the cymbals. Bars 30 to 31 end in a
IV-I cadence. This is an example of a plagal cadence.
At this point, irregular meters are used with brief time changes. It changes
from 4/4 time to 2/4 time then back to 4/4 time. In bar 38, right hand
piano plays a repeated descending chromatic scale, which is followed by a
repeated ascending chromatic scale.
Episode 3
The Guitar solo section is a heavy rock style section. It is written in the key
of Eb major. There is a short instrumental on the lead guitar. It plays a
guitar lick based on the pentatonic scale. In bars 49, 53 and 54, there is a
descending chromatic line in the overdubbed (where an original voice is
played under another recording of the voice in a different style) which
accompanies the lead guitar, the left hand piano and the bass guitar. In
bar 50, there are {[power chords]-give example of these} used by the
guitars, this consists of the root chord and the 5th above. This section
ends on the chord of A major.
Episode 4
The Operatic Section begins with an abrupt change in tempo and style. It
is written in the key of A major. In this section, there is a whole range of
instruments including the piano, lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and
cymbals. There is a 2 bar piano intro which has the right hand playing
staccato chords on each beat. This creates a contrasting section. The lead
vocal enters at bar 45. At the chorus, the backing voices are contrapuntal,
which means two things are interweaving. There is a form of repetition in
bar 51, it is a question and answer between the male vocal line and the
backing vocals.
Irregular meters are used at bar 54 but soon returns to 4/4 time. Each of
the four voices descend through the chord of Eb holding each note
individually. In bar 56, there is modulation to Eb major. This begins the
introduction to the next section.
In bars 57 and 58, there is a chromatic pattern in the melody. This is
similar to the chromatic pattern in the opening section. Another example
of word painting is seen in bar 61. It is witnessed after the lyrics thunder
bolt and lightning with the use of percussion. Falsetto voice is used in
bars 61-66; Mercury uses this method of voice production to sing notes
higher than his normal range. In bars 63/64, Antiphonal Singing (alternate
singing) is heard, on the words GA-LI-LE-O. The singing is
unaccompanied at this stage.
The Question and Answer returns in bar 65. This builds up to a crescendo
then into a rallentando at the end of the section (bar 82). There are also
triplets played by the piano.

As the song moves to the next episodes, there is a dramatic change in

both tempo and accompaniment; the tempo accelerated and the main
accompaniment changes to the electric guitar with a short solo. This is for
the first four bars with the piano playing dotted rhythms using scotch
snap. In bar 87, the vocal line and right hand piano are both present and
sing a repeated sequence of triplets to round of the last section. It finishes
with variation of the dotted rhythm used previously and the piano playing
a descending scale.