Search

Related Music Theory Alchemy

“Rocket Man” by Elton John, released in 1972, is a melodic and harmonically sophisticated example of his pop/rock style. The piece is in the key of G, and the chord progression of Verse 2 introduces some harmonies that exploit john’s expertise in using extended and altered chords, which lend colorfulness and a feel of departure and return. The use of slash chords like G/B and D/F# creates a descending bass line that is very characteristic of pop and rock music, creating a sense of melodic movement within the chords themselves. Verse 2 is navigated skillfully between simplistic and complex harmonies.

“I’m Still Standing” is a pop rock song by Elton John, from his 1983 album “Too Low For Zero”. The song is up-tempo, featuring energetic keyboard playing from Elton John, and has become one of his most enduring hits. The song is in the key of E Major.

Here’s the chord progression analysis of the coda and the full chord names with their roman numerals:

**
The overall use of chords highlights Queen’s blending of rock with more complex harmonic structures, moving beyond simple major & minor chords and incorporating 7th and inversions. Despite its pop/rock surface, “Somebody to Love” includes interesting modulation and chord choices that could be seen as more typical of more ‘classical’ forms of music.

**

The chord progression in the verse of Beck’s “Paper Tiger” can be considered a combination of common and non-diatonic chords. The progression moves from a major chord to its dominant 7th and then resolves to the relative minor. Stylistically, this progression is used in rock, pop, and jazz music to create tension and resolution while maintaining a sense of movement or flow.

David Bowie’s song, “Space Oddity,” is typically interpreted as being in the key of C Major. It’s an interesting song harmonically, featuring not just Primary Triads and Secondary Dominants but also uses Borrowed Chords, non-functional harmony, and chromatic chord changes. The kind of harmonic movement might be called Bowie’s deviation from the traditional harmonic patterns, which is part of what gives his music its characteristic ‘alien’ vibe. This progression has a more modal feeling due to the use of borrowed chords and the shifted tonal center.

Elton John – Rocket Man – Verse 1

Add To Favorites Remove From Favorites

< All Analyses

Chord Progression

[‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘Asus4’, ‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘G/B’, ‘C’, ‘G/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘D/F#’, ‘Dsus2’, ‘D’, ‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘Asus4’, ‘Em7’, ‘Asus4’, ‘G/B’, ‘C’, ‘G/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘D/F#’, ‘D/A’, ‘D’, ‘C/D’]

Chord Progression Analysis

Formatted like “Full Chord Name (‘Roman Numeral’)”:

“`plaintext
Em7 (‘ii7’),
A (‘IV’),
A (‘IV’),
Asus4 (‘IVsus4’),
Em7 (‘ii7’),
A (‘IV’),
A (‘IV’),
G/B (‘I6’),
C (‘vi’),
G/B (‘I6’),
Am (‘ii’),
C/G (‘V6’),
D/F# (‘V64’),
Dsus2 (‘V’),
D (‘V’),
Em7 (‘ii7’),
A (‘IV’),
Asus4 (‘IVsus4’),
Em7 (‘ii7’),
Asus4 (‘IVsus4’),
G/B (‘I6’),
C (‘vi’),
G/B (‘I6’),
Am (‘ii’),
C/G (‘V6’),
D/F# (‘V64’),
D/A (‘V43’),
D (‘V’),
C/D (‘VII7/IV’).
“`

In this code block ‘I6’, ‘V64’ and ‘V43’ denote different inversions of the tonic and dominant chords (G and D respectively in this context), ‘VII7/IV’ indicates a secondary dominant chord. ‘ii7’, ‘IV’ and ‘Vi’ are standard numerals for minor and major chords. ‘IVsus4’ indicates a suspended 4th chord.

Similar Chord Progressions

Interestingly, the 1975 song “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc uses quite a similar harmonic progression. The verse of “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton also features a number of chordal similarities. Also, some harmonic moments can be found in The Beatles’s atmospheric “Across the Universe”. In all these pieces you can find a similar use of complex chords, including sus and secondary dominants that give the sound its “floating” and varying feeling.

Musical Analysis

The chord progression features varied inversions for truelly outlining the harmonic motion. The use of suspended chords (Asus4, Dsus2) gives the song its light, floating atmosphere — somewhat matching the lyrical theme of space travel.

Overall Analysis

“Rocket Man” by Elton John and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin is a standout song in Elton John’s discography, well known for its memorable melody line and masterful chord progression that was very innovative for its time (1972). It showcases his trademark style of combining rock with various other genres such as folk.

Overall, the harmony in this song is quite rich and a clear example of Elton John’s ’70s songwriting style: using complex chords and a lot of borrowed chords from other keys that add extra color to the harmonic progression.

Style Analysis

Elton John’s writing style is renowned for its unpredictability, striking a balance between the rock and pop genres while leaning heavily into more complex songwriting strategies typically found in classical music. In ‘Rocket Man,’ he uses this to create an atmospheric, ethereal sound that perfectly complements the song’s space-bound subject matter.

Chords in the Verse 1 section of Rocket Man by Elton John are:

[‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘Asus4’, ‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘A’, ‘G/B’, ‘C’, ‘G/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘D/F#’, ‘Dsus2’, ‘D’, ‘Em7’, ‘A’, ‘Asus4’, ‘Em7’, ‘Asus4’, ‘G/B’, ‘C’, ‘G/B’, ‘Am’, ‘C/G’, ‘D/F#’, ‘D/A’, ‘D’, ‘C/D’]