t’s been my utter pleasure in recent years to have interviewed the legendary Queen guitarist Brian May, the man you see on this very cover, on several occasions. polls such as the greatest guitarist and the greatest solo. There’s no public accolade this month, but Brian and I did get together to chew the fat and discuss 13 of Team TG’s favourite Queen songs. As ever, Brian’s insight is fascinating – and we’ve printed almost every word of the interview, occupying a huge 20 pages! If there’s one thing I think every guitarist can take away from this feature, it’s that Brian, arguably the most famous guitarist alive today, and a man who has been rocking some of the Queen repertoire for over 50 years, still finds one or two of those classic anthems a challenge. So what? Well, for one, it tells us that regular practice is vital, whatever level you’re at. Second, I get the impression that these days Brian plays, and, in fact, runs the whole Queen + Adam Lambert machine, for pleasure. A worthy reminder to us all, I feel, that the pure enjoyment of playing is why we first picked up the instrument and that we should continue to seek that buzz. Hopefully after this long read you’ll be feeling inspired to play – and we’ve accompanied our feature with bespoke technique lessons on those 13 songs, plus you’ll find in-depth video lessons on how to play three classic Queen riffs. And, with all the usual lessons, songs, features and reviews, there’s plenty to get your teeth into. Enjoy the issue, and I’ll see you next month!
