Queen - Don't Stop Me Now (piano track)

…Like a tiger…defying the laws of gravity...

I believe this is the only version of “Don’t Stop Me Now“ on YouTube that truly sticks to what Freddie actually played when he recorded the song in the studio. There are many covers, sheet music and tutorials for "Don’t Stop Me Now" piano part, however I noticed that they really never stick to the exact notes that were played by Freddie during the recording session. This was the reason I decided to make this “cover“.

I used a special program that allowed me to listen the original piano track at much lower speed. This way of analyzing made it possible for me to hear the exact pattern of the super fast “jumping“ bass notes. I noticed that the bass patterns are often each time slightly different even if the same piano riffs were repeated. This indicates that Freddie slightly improvised. It means he didn’t completely memorize the track before he recorded it. Even on the right hand the patterns are not always the same but the bass part is the one where he really played quite spontaneous (improvisatory). There is even one weird bass measure that sounds like 7/8 measure (if you listen it a slow speed). At first I thought Freddie screwed up the rhythm but then I realized that this measure completely fits with Roger's 4/4 drums which means that Freddie played in this measure some sort of tuplets (septuplets or something) in the bass but because he's playing so fast you really can't hear the difference between 8th notes and septuplets. This further indicates that Freddie played the song improvisatory, that's why it also took me quite some time to memorize his left “jumping improvised“ hand.

I was so focused on creating the complete match that I even intentionally made the same “mistake“ Freddie did on the second pre-chorus “I'm travelling at THE speed of light“ where he (aware or unaware) slightly touched F#.

I made two separate recordings (first part and second part of "Don't Stop Me Now") and simply put them together in editing program. Between the both parts (bridge, where's no piano) I simply filled the “gap“ with the middle part of the original piano track recording where you can hear Freddie saying “one, two“ (instruction for the drums that start one measure before Brian's solo).

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own anything. I am not the author of the song, it was written by Freddie Mercury. I have absolutely no economic/financial benefits from putting this video on YouTube. The only purpose of the video is to share it with Queen fans who appreciate the original piano track.