Editing Freddie Mercury (section)

===Instrumentalist===
[[File:Queen 1984 012.jpg|thumb|Mercury playing rhythm guitar during a Queen concert in Frankfurt, West Germany, 1984]]

As a young boy in India, Mercury received formal piano training up to the age of nine. Later on, while living in London, he learned guitar. Much of the music he liked was guitar-oriented: his favourite artists at the time were [[the Who]], [[the Beatles]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[David Bowie]], and [[Led Zeppelin]]. He was often self-deprecating about his skills on both instruments. Brian May said that Mercury "had a wonderful touch on the piano. He could play what came from inside him like nobody else – incredible rhythm, incredible passion and feeling."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Inglis |first1=Ian |title=Popular Music And Television In Britain |date=2013 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |page=51}}</ref> Keyboardist [[Rick Wakeman]] praised Mercury's playing style, saying he "discovered [the piano] for himself" and successfully composed a number of Queen songs on the instrument.<ref>{{cite news |title=Perspectives: Freddie Mercury Saved My Life with Alfie Boe, ITV, review: 'an interesting reflection on raw talent versus technical virtuosity' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/10837091/Perspectives-Freddie-Mercury-Saved-My-Life-with-Alfie-Boe-ITV-review-an-interesting-reflection-on-raw-talent-versus-technical-virtuosity.html |date=18 May 2014 |first1=Ceri |last1=Radford |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/10837091/Perspectives-Freddie-Mercury-Saved-My-Life-with-Alfie-Boe-ITV-review-an-interesting-reflection-on-raw-talent-versus-technical-virtuosity.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=11 June 2021 |newspaper=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> From the early 1980s Mercury began extensively using guest keyboardists. Most notably, he enlisted [[Fred Mandel]] (a Canadian musician who also worked for [[Pink Floyd]], [[Elton John]], and [[Supertramp]]) for his first solo project. From 1982 Mercury collaborated with Morgan Fisher (who performed with Queen in concert during the Hot Space leg),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenconcerts.com/live/queen.html|title=Complete Queen live concertography|last=Mr.Scully|website=Queen Concerts|access-date=8 January 2018|archive-date=24 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424131632/http://www.queenconcerts.com/live/queen.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and from 1985 onward Mercury collaborated with [[Mike Moran (music producer)|Mike Moran]] (in the studio) and [[Spike Edney]] (in concert).<ref name="LesleyJones"/>

Mercury played the piano in many of Queen's most popular songs, including "[[Killer Queen]]", "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]", "[[Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy]]", "[[We Are the Champions]]", "[[Somebody to Love (Queen song)|Somebody to Love]]", and "[[Don't Stop Me Now]]". He used concert [[grand piano]]s (such as a [[C. Bechstein|Bechstein]]) and, occasionally, other keyboard instruments such as the [[harpsichord]]. From 1980 onward, he also made frequent use of synthesisers in the studio. Brian May said that Mercury used the piano less over time because he wanted to walk around on stage and entertain the audience.<ref name = "Longfellow_2006"/><ref name="Independent 5 Things">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/freddie-mercury-death-anniversary-25-years-queen-things-you-may-not-know-a7436266.html|title=Freddie Mercury 25th anniversary: 5 things you may not know about the Queen legend|date=24 November 2016|first=Roisin|last=O'Connor|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=21 January 2019|archive-date=21 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121232439/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/freddie-mercury-death-anniversary-25-years-queen-things-you-may-not-know-a7436266.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Although he wrote many lines for the guitar, Mercury possessed only rudimentary skills on the instrument. Songs like "[[Ogre Battle (song)|Ogre Battle]]" and "[[Crazy Little Thing Called Love]]" were composed on the guitar; the latter featured Mercury playing rhythm guitar on stage and in the studio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/interviews/queen/circus-1980/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426075034/http://www.queenonline.com/en/the-band/interviews/queen/circus-1980/|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 April 2011|title=Lights! Action! Sound! It's That Crazy Little Thing Called Queen|publisher=Queenonline.com|access-date=27 September 2014|year=1980}}</ref>