Don't Stop Me Now Guitar Lesson

If you’re after high energy, catchy rhythms, and a whole lot of fun, 'Don’t Stop Me Now' is a brilliant tune to tackle. Originally driven by piano, we’ll be translating those iconic parts to guitar - so you can capture all the song’s momentum and flair with just six strings. From rhythmic strumming to s truly legendary solo, this arrangement is perfect for solo players or anyone wanting to add a Queen classic to their setlist!

Before we get into the good stuff, I just wanted to add a disclaimer - there won't be any tabs provided in this lesson write-up. Instead, please use Dion's brilliant video lesson to nail the rhythm, and to see how he's stringing the notes and chords together. This blog post will have various chord charts and fretboards to support the material in Dion's lesson.

And with that said, grab your guitar, and let's get learning!

Intro

As mentioned above, there isn't really a rhythm guitar part in the track, instead, it's Freddie Mercury blessing us with some beautiful piano playing. Beautiful as it may be, we're going to play over it (or substitute it if you're gigging) with some guitar… sorry, Freddie…

There are quite a few chords that make up the intro, so, we're going to break it into three parts to make it a bit more digestible.

Part 1

We're pretty firmly in the key of F major for this tune, with only a handful of non-diatonic chords. Diatonic is a quick (and relatively fancy) instruction to only play notes from one scale - in this case, F major. For example, D major would be a non-diatonic chord, as the F# in the D major triad does not exist within the F major scale.

With that said, let's take a look at the first batch of chords needed:

All of the chords above are indeed diatonic chords of the F major scale, which is why they sound so smooth when put together!

You might have noticed that Dion is using his thumb to catch the notes on the low E-string for the F and Gm chords. This is purely a preference in play-style, and you're more than welcome to use a barre across all six strings instead.

As we're not replicating a specific guitar part, there's no exact pattern you need to follow when arpeggiating the chords. As long as you're playing in time and not busting out rapid sixteenth notes, picking any notes from the held chord shapes is going to sound great! To replicate the smooth, more delicate sound of the piano, use a clean tone with a bit of reverb using your neck pickup.

Part 2

The second part is a bit more harmonically adventurous, as we need to add two non-diatonic chords - let's take a look:

If you're a bit of a theory geek like me, you'll know that the two outside chords are F7 and D7. But why are these chords not diatonic to F major? Well, the seventh degree of F7 is Eb, and the third degree of D7 is F# - neither of which belong in the key of F major.

You might have also heard Dion mention that these two dominant 7 chords act as secondary dominants. This sounds like a complex jazz term, and it kind of is - but, let's try and understand it in one sentence: secondary dominants are chords that temporarily act as the dominant (V) of a chord other than the key’s tonic, adding tension and colour to progressions.

Let's look at F7 to Bb major within the progression as an example of this, by pretending that we're Freddie Mercury writing this for the first time. We know that we want Bb major in our progression - as it supports the melody beautiful, and sits comfortably in key. But, going from F to Bb doesn't quite make the Bb sound grandiose enough, we need to add more tension to make the resolution even more significant. So, by adding the V7 from the key of Bb (which is F7), we're creating the strongest cadence in music, and it allowing the Bb chord to shine.

With that all said, continue the same arpeggiated picking patterns you used over the first part. I encourage you to explore how the use of dynamics can really bring this intro to life - build the dynamics when you feel the tension is rising, and lower them when you feel that tension is resolving.

Part 3

The final piece of the intro puzzle is the part where the chords directly follow the iconic line in the vocals - 'don't, stop, me now'… The three chords needed in order are Gm | F | C | Gm.

The key to making this sound good is to stab the chords along with the vocals as accurately as you can. We need to consider muting with both hands if we are to stab the chords successfully. The best to way to make sure you're keeping the chord quick and punchy is by using both the palm-muting and dampening techniques.

Palm-muting:

Palm-muting involves lightly resting the edge of your picking hand near the bridge while playing, creating a muted, percussive sound.

Dampening:

Dampening is the technique where you release the pressure from the chord you're playing, while still making contact with the strings. For example, if you're holding an F major chord, relax your fingers so you're not touching the fretboard, but you're still holding the F major shape just by touching the strings.

Using these two techniques together is tricky, but will result in a very defined staccato chord! I would recommend prioritising the palm-mute directly after strumming the chord, then dampen the strings with your fretting hand.

The two final chords is where the energy really starts to build before flying into the up-tempo verse. Instead of stabbing these chords just once, down-strum every eighth note of the bar for each chord, all while releasing your palm-mute and raising the dynamics!

Verse

Sometimes a chord progression is just so good, that it would be musical robbery to take it away from the listeners. Freddie Mercury knew this, which is why he decided to repeat the same chord progression as the intro for the verse!

Though we're using the same chord progression, there is a very obvious shift in dynamics when we get to the verse - and we need to match it. So, instead of playing delicate arpeggiated chords, we're going full rock mode by playing powerchords! So, switch to your bridge pickup, throw on a bit of gain, and let's get to it!

As you can see, I've only provided chord charts for a few of the powerchords. That's because the shape remains the same, and it's your to move the powerchord shape around the match the chord progression of the intro.

Making use once again of the palm-muting technique, we want to continue to down-strum every eighth note of the bar for each chord. This rhythm creates a real driving, rock feel, and the palm-mutes give us scope to increase the dynamics. Dion demonstrates this perfectly as he occasionally releases the palm-mute to really let a chord roar at the end of a phrase!

Solo

Here we are - the part most of you probably came here for - the classic, incredibly memorable Brian May solo! There are quite a few phrases to this one, so we're going to break it into chunks just like we did for the intro. The write-up will follow the same breakdown of phrases as Dion's video lesson.

Phrase 1

The solo stays pretty firmly planted in two positions of the scale of F major, with a couple exceptions. I want to take this opportunity to quickly remind you that there will not be any tabs provided, and that the video lesson should be your main resource for learning this section. However, I have attached various fretboard diagrams to help you better visualise what notes to play on the board, and the scale shape they come from.

With that said, the first part of the solo is largely within box one of the F major scale. It's mostly pentatonic, but the addition of the E on the 9th fret of the G-string takes us into the full major shape.

Making sure you're hitting the right pitch with each bend is key to making this solo sound 'right'. May also injects a lot of emotion behind each bend, making each one slightly different. So, see if you can replicate his timing to the best of your ability!

Phrase 2

The second phrase stays within the same scale shape as before, once again staying mostly within F major pentatonic, but using one note - Bb - that exists in the full major scale.

Once again, make sure you're getting the right feel behind each bend, and you're not just bending to the 'right' pitch as soon as possible.

Phrase 3

It's probably not a surprise at this point, but we're staying in F major, but moving slightly up the fretboard to a different position.

Phrase 4

Coming back to the first position of F major, we're going to wrap up the main part of the solo with four bends on the 12th fret of the G-string. Don't forget to add some vibrato to really bring the melodic goodness of this solo to life!

Phrase 5

Just like us, Brian May did not want this solo to end, and he continues to play while the vocals come back in. These next few phrases are shorter and only span the course of one bar each.

The first phrase over the vocals basically mimics the very final part of the previous phrase, just an octave lower. I've provided the two positions that Dion plays below, and it's up to you to see which one works best for you! Personally, I'd choose the shape higher up the fretboard, as it's keeps me in position!

Phrase 6

This next phrase is the fastest bit of the whole solo, but it's easier than it might sound! I've provided the rhythm of the pattern below, which is repeated three times. The notes we need are the 10th (F) and 12th (G) frets of the G-string, and the 12th fret of the D-string (D).

You'll want to start on the G-string by picking the 10th fret, then hammering-on to the 12th fret, then quickly pulling-off back to the 10th fret. With no rests in-between, you'll need to quickly catch the 12th fret of the D-string then hop back to the 10th fret of the G-string to complete the pattern.

Dion uses just his third finger to catch the 12th frets on both strings. However, if you're struggling to get the needed speed with just one finger, try using your second finger on the D-string and third finger on the G-string instead. This is once again a matter of preference, and some players use this method to avoid finger fatigue.

As the vocals are now once again the focus in the mix, it's somewhat hard to hear exactly what May is playing. So, feel free to improvise around a bit with the rhythms, as long as you're capturing the right feel!

Phrase 7

You'll be very pleased to know that this penultimate phrase is the simplest of the bunch - we only need one fret! Using eighth notes, we want to pick the 15th fret of the B-string six times, making the first five notes slightly staccato. That's all it is!

Phrase 8

And finally, we've made it to the very last bit of the solo! This bit is fairly straight-forward, but can be a bit awkward to play, depending on your guitar. We need to travel all the way up the fretboard to the 20th frets on the B- and E-strings, which will probably feel incredibly cramped! Unfortunately, we can't just barre across the two strings, as we need to bend the B-string while keeping the E-string in place.

I like to use my third and fourth fingers on the B- and E-strings respectively. Not only does this help us fit into the small 20th fret, but the third finger is usually the best at bending. Once you're in position, bend the B-string up a full tone, and play it eight times to finish up the solo!

If you simply don't have enough frets, or you're finding it just too hard to fit in the small amount of space, you're more than welcome to play this exact same phrase down an octave. See above!

Once the solo ends, you're thrown right back into the middle of the verse chord progression. I'd recommend listening out for when the F major chord comes back in, and joining in again then.

Outro

And just like that, we've made it to the quiet and floaty outro. Don't panic, there's no new information or parts to learn! We simply want to repeat exactly what we played in the intro - perhaps just slightly lazier.