Editing Brian May (section)

====Piano and other instruments====
As a child, May was trained on classical piano. Although Freddie Mercury was the band's primary pianist, May would step in occasionally (such as on "Save Me"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUyPyTn-IS4 |title=Queen Save Me (Live) |via=YouTube |date=11 May 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303064815/https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=5&list=RDf8usNj4x9NA&v=yUyPyTn-IS4&app=desktop |archive-date=3 March 2020 }}</ref> and "Flash").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sheetmusic-free.com/flash-theme-sheet-music-queen/ |title=Flash Theme Sheet Music Queen |website=sheetmusic-free.com |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> He mostly used Freddie Mercury's 1972 Steinway piano. From 1979 onwards, he also played synthesisers, organ ("Wedding March",<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es5NDQAAQBAJ&q=brian+may+synthesiser+and+organ+on+wedding+march+on+flash&pg=PT148 |title=Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic |last=Blake |first=Mark |date=12 September 2016 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |isbn=9781783237784 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> "[[Let Me Live]]") and programmed drum-machines for both Queen and outside projects (such as producing other artists and his own solo records). In the studio, May used [[Yamaha DX7]] synths for the opening sequence of "One Vision"<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAV0DwAAQBAJ&q=may+yamaha+dx7+synth+on+one+vision&pg=PA173 |title=Queen: Album by Album |last=Popoff |first=Martin|date=27 November 2018 |publisher=[[Voyageur Press]] |page=173 |isbn=9780760362839 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> and the backgrounds of "Who Wants to Live Forever"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://equipboard.com/pros/brian-may/yamaha-dx7-synthesizer |title=Brian May Yamaha-DX7 |website=equipboard.com |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626145144/http://equipboard.com/pros/brian-may/yamaha-dx7-synthesizer |archive-date=26 June 2018 }}</ref> (also on stage), "Scandal" and "The Show Must Go On".

The first instrument May learned to play was the [[Banjo uke|banjolele]]. He used a "genuine [[George Formby]] Ukulele-Banjo" in "[[Bring Back That Leroy Brown]]" and [[A Night at the Opera (Queen album)|"Good Company"]]. Occasionally, May would also record on other string instruments such as harp (one chord per take, then copied and pasted by the engineer to make it sound like a continuous performance) and bass (on some demos and many songs in his solo career, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers album). May was keen on using some toys as instruments as well. He used a [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] plastic piano in "Teo Torriatte"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/a-day-at-the-races.htm |title=A Day At The Races |website=ultimatequeen.co.uk |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115231741/http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/a-day-at-the-races.htm |archive-date=15 November 2019 }}</ref> and a toy mini [[koto (musical instrument)|koto]] in "The Prophet's Song".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZ5ZCgAAQBAJ&q=may+mini+koto+prophets+song&pg=PA189 |title=The Bible in Music: A Dictionary of Songs, Works, and More |last1=Long |first1= Siobhán Dowling  |last2=Sawyer |first2=John F.A. |date=3 September 2015 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |page=189 |isbn=9780810884526 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref>