Chords for Elton John - Rocket Man Piano lesson tutorial (How to play)

This is how to play a very simple chords only version of Rocketman by Elton John.
In this tutorial we're in the original key [Bb] of the original recording which is B flat.
But [Eb] I'm going to be keeping all the [Gm] playing nice and simple and we're just going to be focusing on the chord shapes
so you can sing this great song over the top.
Let me show you a quick demo now of what we're going for in this tutorial.
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[Gm] She packed my bags last night, [C] pre-flight, _
_ [Gm] zero hour, nine [C] AM _ _
_ [Eb] And I'm gonna [D] be [Cm] high [Eb] as a kite [F] by then
And _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] I think it's gonna be a long, [Eb] long time, the touchdown brings me round again [Bb] to find
I'm not the man they think I am [Eb] at home, oh no, [Bb] no, no
[C] I'm a Rocketman, _ [Eb] _ Rocketman, burning out his fuse [Bb] up here alone
_ _ [Eb] _ _ _
_ [Gm] _ So for the first chord in this song you [Bb] want to play a B flat in the right hand.
This is a standard B flat triad but we add [Gm] a G note in the bass
giving us a chord which is called a G minus 7.
I like to think about the separation of the [Bb] two hands.
We're playing a B flat in the right [Gm] hand and then adding the octave if possible
but if not just one [G] G, one note in the left hand is absolutely fine.
Second [Bb] chord, this B flat chord just adds an E instead of an F
So we have 1, 2, 3, [Gm] 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 in the right hand and it's a G to a C
[Bb] and _ [C] _
_ [E] if that's an [Gm] octave, _ _ _ [C]
and I've just played everything on the beat
using the sustain pedal and lifting off of that sustain pedal when there's a change of chord.
So as soon as I hit the [Gm] new chord down, lift, 2, 3, 4, [C] lift and it's straight back down again.
_ [Gm] She packed my bags last night, [C] pre-flight, _ _ [Gm] _ zero hour, _
[C] 9am.
E flat next, I would play [Eb] that like this and I would be thinking about this B flat chord
sorry this E flat chord to [Bb] B flat kind [Eb] of shape [Bb] [Bb] all the [Eb] time
but what we're actually going to do is this [D] bass [C] note is going to come [Bb] down
_ [Eb] 1, [D] 2, [C] [Bb] 3, [Eb] 4 and I'm going to [Bb] be _ [Cm] high [Eb]
as a kite by then
You could even just keep this right hand still and just put the bass note down
[Cm] It [Eb] really does give a good impression of that part but keeping strict
We've got E flat, _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
the B flat [D] chord in the right hand, D in the bass, [Cm] _ C minor, _ [Eb] E [Bb] flat over the B [Eb] flat
and then [F] kind of staying strict to the original, it being A in the bass but it does move about a little bit
[Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
[Eb] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Again
Then we move on [Bb] to the chorus and we have that same B flat chord in the right hand as we started the song with
but we hit B flat in the left hand
and I think it's going to be a long, [Eb] long time
to E flat, the one chord to the four chord in this key _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
_ _ _ [Eb] _ _ That's a bar of each
[Bb] You could
It's going to be a long, [Eb] long time
Hit that D note as a kind of passing note in the left hand
_ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] OK
[Bb] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
And the C7 or C9 chords _ _
and then it's an E [Eb] flat
_ _ _ [Bb] _ And _ [Eb] the chorus always happens twice
[Bb] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ And I think it's going to [Bb] be a long, long time
And that would be your ending [Eb] just to E flat
2, 3, 4, [Bb] to B flat, 2, 3, 4
[Eb] Until it fades out
And that is a [G] basic way, although there's some advanced things like the octaves in the left hand
some chord shapes with the right hand
That is a [Eb] very doable [Abm] song
You can follow the chord sheet that I'll link to in the description below
We're in the key flats, key of B flat
So the first two chords are the G minor 7 and the C7 or C9
Hopefully that's helped you guys
Please let me know your song requests in the comments [Gm] below
And please subscribe to this Andy Piano YouTube channel
And I will see you again
Bye for now _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _