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Queen - Keep Yourself Alive - Guitar Tab

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Queen - Keep Yourself Alive - Guitar Tab

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Queen - Keep Yourself Alive guitar tab video
Guillaume Vrac
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Classic Rock

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At The BBC album cover
At The BBC
1973 3:48
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Queen Rock 1973 C major
Capo Advisor 0 C major · Original key

Keep Yourself Alive

"Keep Yourself Alive" is Queen's debut single, released in 1973 and written by guitarist Brian May. It opens the band's self-titled first album and established their hard rock identity from the very start. For electric guitar players, it is an essential study in Brian May's distinctive tone and rhythmic riffing style, making it a rewarding and historically significant piece to learn.

  • Written entirely by Brian May, the song showcases his signature layered guitar approach from Queen's earliest days.
  • It was Queen's very first commercial single release, with 'Son and Daughter' featured as the B-side.
  • The track appears on 'At The BBC,' capturing Queen's raw early live and session sound before their arena-rock peak.
Vox AC30
Amp

Vox AC30

Brian May stacks Vox AC30s cranked to full volume, letting natural tube breakup and the Top Boost channel create the chimey, harmonically rich overdrive that defines Queen's sound. Driven hard by a treble booster rather than pedal distortion, these amps deliver the compressed, singing tone central to May's signature style.

Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Pedal

Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

May uses digital delay as a live equivalent to the tape echo (Echoplex) he favored in the studio, adding subtle spatial depth to his solos without cluttering his famously minimal effects chain. The DD-3 provides clean, repeating echoes that complement his vocal-like tone without compromising the directness of his treble booster-driven AC30 sound.

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