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Bohemian Rhapsody Chords

Words and Music by Freddie Mercury

Bohemian Rhapsody Chords Transcribed by Shane McDonald

Watch the Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Tutorial
Want to know How to Play Bohemian Rhapsody? All 3 Piano Tutorials are viewable at the bottom of this page

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Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the first songs I transcribed the piano chords by hand back in the mid 1990s. Bohemian Rhapsody is actually not too hard to learn if you have a decent understanding of piano, chords and chord progressions. One of the trickiest things to learn is the stylish and signature Bohemian Rhapsody hand cross-over which everyone sees Freddie Mercury play on the video. Once you master that you will look the part. I hope you enjoy these Bohemian Rhapsody Chords and best of luck!


Bohemian Rhapsody is probably one of the most difficult pieces to master. Not because it uses difficult chords, the chords for Bohemian Rhapsody are fairly easy for an intermediate pianist – it’s learning all the intricies. You can just play chords for this song, unless you are playing an easy version. If you are not used to reading chords you may need the Bohemian Rhapsody Sheet Music as you will get to see the timing of the crossovers.

The technical details are as follows; Firstly, there are 3 different keys in the song, starting in Bb, changing to A in the middle of the Opera Section and then finishing in Eb. Then, from a timing perspective, the song is mainly in 4:4 time but there are 2 or 3 occasions where 1 bar is 2:4 time and it changes back to 4:4 time the bar after it. Finally, the playing of the piece on piano requires the cross over technique you may have seen in live videos of Freddie playing Bohemian Rhapsody and some very quick and awkward chord changes ,e.g. in the No No No No bit of the Opera Section ; as well as having to remember all of the Bohemian Rhapsody Chords.

Bohemian Rhapsody Chords – Notation Details

* The Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Riff requires a crossover of hands and is Bass note, followed by an arpeggio of the chord, followed by the crossover and the two high notes. Play this piano riff using the above technique where you see the *

 

Concert Intro : Freddie used the following intro during one of the concerts and its an effective intro ! Use these chords in arpeggios on the lower & upper registers (listen to the concerts and you should pick it up) Each Chord is about 4 beats, medium tempo with the exclusion of the G Ab G Ab combo which is 1 beat each.

                                      -- Faster --
F     Eb/F     F     Eb/F      Ab      G Ab G Ab      C (slows) 
then start on the Bb Riff of 'Mama, just killed a man'
 
Album Intro : The start of this song has no chords, and is in the key of Bb.
Piano starts on the first Gm below.
Bb6         C7    Bb6   C7 
Is this real life, Is the just fantasy?
 F7         Cm7 F7         Bb        Cm7 Bb 
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.
Gm
Open your eyes
     Bb7                 Eb   Ab  Eb
Look up to the skies and see
Cm     Cm7 Cm        F7
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
B    Bb    A    Bb  B      Bb    A      Bb
easy come, easy go, little high, little low
                                                             [Bass Guitar starts here]
Eb             Bb/D        C#dim            F7/C      F7/Eb      Bb *
Any way the wind blows, doesn't realy matter to me     to me.

 

Bb          Gm
Mama   just killed a man
      Cm                              Cm7               F7
put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Bb             Gm              Cm               Cm/B   Eb/Bb  Abmaj7  Eb/G
Mama  life had just begun, but now I've gone and thrown it all away
Eb   Bb/D  Cm          Fm     C/E  Ab/Eb Ddim    Bb           Bb6        Bb7    Eb
Mama Ooooo____  didn't mean to make  you cry, if I'm not back again this time tomorrow,
     Bb/D       Cm       Abm            Eb       Ab/Eb   Eb   Adim/Db   Bb7sus4b9   Bb
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters.

 

Bb           Gm
Too late, my time has come
     Cm                            Cm7            F7
Sent shivers down my spine, body's achin' all the time,
Bb                      Gm
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go,
      Cm             G+5/B    Eb/Bb     Adim    Abmaj7   Eb/G
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.
Eb   Bb/D  Cm      Fm      C/E Ab/Eb Ddim  Bb                   Bb6       Bb7      Eb
Mama Ooooo____     I don't want to   die,  I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all.

 

Guitar Solo : Each Bar 4 Beats, terminated by ;
  Eb   Bb/D  ;  Cm  ;  Fm   C/E   Ab/Eb   Ddim  ;  Bb   Bb   Bb6   Bb7  ;  
  Eb   Gm/D  ;  Cm  ;  Fm   C/E   Ab/Eb   Ddim  ; Db Db/C Db/B Db/Bb ; A ... (opera section)

 

Intro to Opera Section : A  A  A  A  A  A  A  A   staccatto
D/A  A      Adim    A     D/A   A     Adim
I    see  a little  silhouetto  of  a  man
A   D/A    A   D/A    A         Adim      A  D/A  A
Scarmouch  Scarmouch  will  you  do  the  fan-dan-go?
C#                 G#/C        C/E         E/G#         A
Thunder  bolt  of  lightning,  very  very  frightening  me
No Chords
Galileo  Galileo  Galileo figaro    Mangnifico_oh_oh_oh
B    Bb        A    Bb   B    Bb   A    Bb
I'm  just  a  poor  boy  nobody  loves  me

Ab/Eb Eb      Ebdim  Eb   Ab/Eb     Eb  Ebdim  Eb 
He's  just  a  poor  boy,  from  a  poor  fam-ily

Ab               Eb/G              F7       Bb      (3 Bb notes ... then Ab/Eb  Eb  Cdim  Bb7sus4b9 
spare  him  his  life  from  this  monstrosity

B      Bb   A     Bb  B          Bb      Bbdim
Easy  come  easy  go  will  you  let  me  go?

Bb5 Eb  Bb5   Eb   Bb  Bb  Bbaug  Bb7 Bbaug Bb
Bis-mil-lah   No,  we  will  not  let  you  go

Let  him  go

Bb5 Eb  Bb5  Bb  Bb  Bbaug  Bb7 Bbaug Bb
Bis-mil-lah  we  will  not  let  you  go      Let  him  go

Bb5 Eb  Bb5  Bb  Bb  Bbaug  Bb7 Bbaug Bb
Bis-mil-lah  we  will  not  let  you  go      Let  me   go

Bb   Bbaug Bb7 Bbaug Bb                 Bb   Bbaug Bb7 Bbaug Bb
Will  not  let  you  go   let  me  go   will  not  let  you  go

         F#7
Let  me  go oh  oh  oh  oh oh

Bm  A5  D   Db  Gb Bb5 Eb5  ---                     Eb   Ab Eb N.C.     Bb
no  no  no  no  no  no  no  Oh Mamma Mia Mamma Mia  Mamma Mia  let  me  go

Bb Eb  Ab           D7          Gm          Bb       Bb5      Bb  B7
 Beelzebub  has  a  devil  put  aside  for  me   for  me  for me            Hard Rock Section
Eb   Eb    Eb    F7  (each chord to the left of this is 1 bar)
Bb7       Eb(BbBass)    Bb           Eb         Bb          Db
  So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye.______

Bb7       Eb(BbBass)    Bb          Eb          Ab  Ab/G
  So you think you can love me and leave me to die.______

Fm        Bb       Fm                       Bb   
Oh,_____  baby,_____  can't do this to me,  baby.______

Fm7            Bb   Fm7            Bb          Eb           Bb7 
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here.______  

(slowly, a tempo)
Eb  Bb(Dbass)  Cm  G  Cm  G7  Cm  Bb7  Eb  D  Gm  Ab  Eb
Cm               Gm       Cm        Gm
Nothing really matters, anyone can see
Cm               AbM     Ab/Bb                     Eb      Ab/Eb   Eb
nothing raelly matters,  nothing really matters to me

Ebdim   Bb/D    Dbmaj13    C    Dbdim7    C     F    

Bb     F      Fdim  C7sus4     F
Any way the wind blows

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Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Tutorial – Part 1

Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Tutorial – Part 2 (The Opera Section)

Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Tutorial – Part 3 (The Rock Section)

About Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody is the second last track on the 4th studio album by Queen, A Night at the Opera. The album, A Night at the Opera was released on 21 November 1975. It was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release. The style of songs on the album are varied, ranging from ballads and rock to vaudeville and back into the prog rock styles. A Night at the Opera gave Queen their first number 1 album and topped the UK Albums Charts for four non-consecutive weeks. One of the reasons for the success of the album is the band’s most successful single in the UK, “Bohemian Rhapsody“. Bohemian Rhapsody was their fist number 1 and one of the best-selling singles in both the UK and the world. Bohemian Rhapsody is the ONLY song to be Christmas Number 1 twice with the same version (Band Aid did it bit it was 2 different versions of the song). Other hit songs on the album include You’re My Best Friend, Love of My Life and I’m in Love with my Car which although not a commercial hit, was a hit with fans.

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Click here for the Bohemian Rhapsody Lyrics

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