Rocket Man is the classic space-themed song by Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. In this sing and play tutorial, you'll learn the authentic arrangement of this song. Sound like Elton John with my insider tips and tricks!
Lyrics and Chords printable for Rocket Man
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Rocket Man was written by Elton John with lyrics by John’s longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. It was released on the classic 1972 album Honky Chateau.
Rocket Man was inspired by Rad Bradbury’s short story of the same name from his book The Illustrated Man. The story follows a professional astronaut who is forced to be away from his family for months at a time. This same theme was explored in David Bowie’s 1969 song Space Oddity, which was also produced by Gus Dudgeon. Taupin denies being influenced by Bowie, but he did acknowledge borrowing from another song by Tom Rapp.
In this The Tide is High piano tutorial, we follow the usual four step protocol for learning to sing and play songs.
Step #1: Learn the chords
Step #2: Learn the accompaniment strategy
Step #3: Learn the fills
Step #4: Put it all together.
Step #1: Learn the chords to Rocket Man
Lyrics and chords to Rocket Man
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Chord voicing strategy
Step #2: Rocket Man Accompaniment Strategy
I like to start Rocket Man out with the Charleston Rhythm, which starts the song out strong rhythmically but doesn't get in the way.
The bulk of the song stays in this Pop Rock Ballad groove.
Step #3: Rocket Man fills
As I show you in the video, Elton John likes to play a lot of different fills. He also likes to do a lot of “chord pounding”. His fills consist of arpeggios of the chords, which you can experiment with. As for chord pounding, you can experiment with repeating the chords using a variety of rhythms. Do some listening to Elton to get some ideas!
Step #4: Put it all together
Remember that you can (and should!) customize this to fit your skill level. If the chord inversions are too challenging for you, then play them all root position. If you want to level it up, try altering the groove or adding some solo fills.
Try to avoid getting stuck in the little details! The goal is for you to learn to sing and play more songs - not drown in a pool of perfectionism. Have fun - it’s only music!
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