This time we include the second guitar part along with the main guitar part. Again, we include the bassline for the guitar, because it's fun to play, but don't worry - all the guitar parts are still included. In fact, this ActionTab actually shows how to play the song all the way through on guitar - as Brian May does it live, with the bonus of following the fun bassline at times too. The interlude in the middle of the song is skipped because there's no guitar at all during that part, which would leave a large pointless gap in the ActionTab.

Much of the guitar is the same as we showed in the first Guitar part for the song. However, the critical difference is the funky guitar part (which is significantly more difficult to play than the rest, hence the higher difficulty rating). This funky part occurs 3 times in the song. The first time is here.

The chord sequence for the funky guitar part is E minor (played at the 7th fret using an A minor barre chord shape), A minor, then a quick slide between Ab minor and A minor. Play this sequence through twice.

The strumming / muting pattern is typically funky, and the secret to practicing it is to get it in your head first. Familiarize yourself with how the riff should sound. Don't worry about the chord changes yet - stick to getting the first E minor chord strums right before moving to the next part. Keep strumming fast, and alternate between applying pressure with your fingers on the chord to get the stabs, and releasing the pressure, to get the muting effects.

The trick to funky strumming is to keep your strumming hand doing fast, constant down / upstrokes (play from the wrist, and keep it loose not tense to get a good flow). Just get a regular down / up rhythm happening. Whilst your strumming hand is going funky, simply concentrate on your fretboard hand - whether you are fretting it or muting it. Just push down (squeeze) on the strings quickly to get a chord stab, or release to get the muted strikes. Working on the squeeze / mute with your fretboard fingers is the key to getting the right funky rhythm. Practice at a slow speed and when you get the hang of it, start working towards a faster pace. Keep at it, and it will come.

When playing that E minor chord, thumb-mute out the Low E string if you want, or use the tip of your 1st finger to touch that string so overstrums won't cause the Low E to sound out. We show the latter option, as it is easier. Because your fingertip is just touching the side of the string, it works as a mute - regardless of whether you are fretting or muting the chord with the rest of your hand. Don't put your finger on top of the Low E string - just touch it from the side with your 1st finger as you fret the E minor chord.

The next part of the riff is thumb muted instead as we move between the A minor, and Ab minor / A minor slide. Again, practice on getting this little part of the riff right on its own first - then work on adding it to the previous E minor part. Do it slowly first, then work on sewing it all together. Getting the chord changes smooth at speed WILL take patience and practice! But once you get them right, you will reach an important milestone in funk playing.

The next time the funky guitar kicks in, it is exactly the same chord sequence, but the strumming is slightly different - watch the TAB to see which strokes are muted and which are stabbed. This also applies to the last funky guitar appearance - same chords, slightly different strokes.

In this ActionTab we also show the layered chords from the song. These occur at certain points in the song such as the D add 4 chord. In the original song, this is played and held whilst the next G5 and E5 chords are played on another guitar. However, playing live you need to do all 3 in sequence as shown here.

One other little layered E minor chord makes an appearance. To switch between the rockier sound and clean sound, takes a footswitch / effects pedal whilst playing. However, if that's a problem, just omit the chord whilst playing and stick to following the bassline, like here.