Learn How To Play "Your Song" by Elton John On Guitar!

In this lesson, we'll learn how to play Your Song by Elton John on the acoustic guitar. Bernie Taupin is the co-writer of this beautiful song, and the original recording mainly uses piano. It makes for a lovely ballad on the guitar!

Many fun guitar elements are going on in this, with loads of intricate chords. And there's a fingerpicking pattern that helps replicate that beautiful piano arrangement. There are a few options for playing it, some that might be easier than others. Let's dive in first with the fundamentals. :)

💡 This song suits Intermediate Grade 6+ guitar players. If you're not there yet, and you're a big fan of Elton and this song, this is a great dreamer song to add to your repertoire.

Chords Progression

It requires quite a few stretchy jumps and barre chords. There are some lovely chord movements in it, some challenging bits, so take your time and practice them independently.

We start with the D chord for half a bar for the intro. Then, we're playing the G with an open D bass, and we move that shape to A over D. We finish the opening back to a G chord over D. For the verse, you'll also encounter a G major 7. After that, you'll move on to A with C# sharp bass - told you there was a lot of movement!

Since there are a lot of chords happening, the best way to help memorize them is by writing them down yourself. Or, you can make things a bit easier for you and follow along with the Chords & Tabs using the JustinGuitar Tab website feature. :)

Fingerstyle & Strumming Pattern

Rhythmically, you can get away with strumming this tune! You'll get away with it, and the chords will still sound beautiful. Use all downstrums to start, and then you could add upstrums later on.

To replicate what's happening on the piano, you can apply a fingerstyle pattern. You'll need to hit the bass note of the chord with your thumb on the chord change. This usually happens on beats 1 & 3. The rest is pretty free - so you can really your personal spin on it.

For guitar players, it's unusual to have freedom in a fingerstyle pattern. It takes some practice to get out of the pattern and explore outside a set structure. But you can do it - use the basic fingerstyle form, have fun, and experiment! It's a great exercise to develop your musicianship.

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