Let's kick off with the most epic rock version of this song you will have ever heard! as with any Queen track, there is a lot going on, and a lot of harmonising in the guitar parts. For this particular track we are focused on two elements of it, the lead part and the main rhythm track.
Let's kick off with the most epic rock version of this song you will have ever heard! as with any Queen track, there is a lot going on, and a lot of harmonising in the guitar parts. For this particular track we are focused on two elements of it, the lead part and the main rhythm track. So, let's start by getting you a killer (Queen) Brian May tone!
![12 Days of Christmas [Hark The Herald Angles Sing] - Image 1.png](https://assets.yourguitaracademy.com/12_Days_of_Christmas_Hark_The_Herald_Angles_Sing_Image_1_8d20a8797f.png)
The base of our tone is using a VOX AC30 style preset in TONEX by IK Multimedia. This is an incredible piece of kit, and allows you to get incredibly close to an accurate Brian May tone without spending thousands on a VOX amp. You can see we have the EQ quite flat, although you could take it further and boost the mids to get even more of a honky tone.
![12 Days of Christmas [Hark The Herald Angles Sing] - Image 2](https://assets.yourguitaracademy.com/12_Days_of_Christmas_Hark_The_Herald_Angles_Sing_Image_2_52594c3c1b.png)
![12 Days of Christmas [Hark The Herald Angles Sing] - Image 3](https://assets.yourguitaracademy.com/12_Days_of_Christmas_Hark_The_Herald_Angles_Sing_Image_3_dc7d74dfcf.png)
As we don't have a Red Special knocking around the office, we decided to use this super cool Parker Fly guitar! It's an absolute beauty, and so easy to play. We used the bridge humbucker position on the guitar and rolled back the tone a little bit.
As you start working through the lead guitar section, it's really helpful to remind yourself of the key and what scale shapes we are using. So, the key is D major, and we are only using Box 1 of the D major scale, which can be found in the fretboard diagrams.
Finally, it's really worth noting the fundamental chord progression for this track. You can then start to see how we have chosen specific ways to play this progression to make it sound like Brian May. For example, using just root notes with high gain, and allowing second guitar parts to play the 5th or the 3rd of the chords (for example).
![12 Days of Christmas [Hark The Herald Angles Sing] - Chord Chart](https://assets.yourguitaracademy.com/12_Days_of_Christmas_Hark_The_Herald_Angles_Sing_Chord_Chart_dd50411058.png)
![12 Days of Christmas [Hark The Herald Angles Sing] - Image 4](https://assets.yourguitaracademy.com/12_Days_of_Christmas_Hark_The_Herald_Angles_Sing_Image_4_c011dbf655.png)
If you'd like to get more to grips with Brian may's style, get started with the Brian May Player Study today!
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