Song With Great Chording, Episode 1 – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John

I believe if you want to be a good composer, the first thing we should focus on more is Chording. When writing the original song, we often stick with common chordings that have already been used on millions of songs. 

In this “Song with great Chording” Series I will suggest songs with some exotic/uncommon chordings and hopefully you will learn new chords and their uses:)

Suggest me more songs in the comment box, please ;) 

In This Episode We selected Classic “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” a Ballad Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin from the album with the same name. This song was released on September 1973. It was in the top 10 in both US And Uk top charts and Rolling stone listed this song in no 390 of its 500 greatest songs of all time.

Tuning: Standard Tuning

Key: F

Chord used in this song :

And here is the transcription :

In Intro, In piano those chords are played: F C/E Dm Dm/C Bb Bb/C C F

Here is verse 1: This verse of “Yellow Brick Road” is primarily in the key of Gm, with the chords C, F, Bb, Eb, and F being used. Which mainly derived from the I-IV-V chord progression. The use of Gm as the tonic chord (the chord built on the first note of the scale), gives a sense of sadness and longing that aligns with the lyrics of the song which talk about regret and longing for the past. The use of C7 at the end of the verse is a dominant chord, which leads the listener to the next section of the song, and creates a sense of motion and forward momentum.

Chorus: Chorus is the most interesting part to me, Those 7th chords are very nicely used.

Verse 2: And here is verse 2 same as verse 1 chording

What is the mening of Good Bye Yellow Brick Road By Elton john:

“Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John is a powerful and emotive song that tells a story of a person who is on a journey to success and fame. The yellow brick road symbolizes the path that this person is following, leaving behind their past life and the people they once knew, however, as they continue to walk down this road, they start to realize that the fame and success they were chasing is not what they truly wanted. They begin to long for their past and the people they left behind. The lyrics of the song suggest that this person has made a mistake in leaving their past life and that they regret it, overall, the song is a commentary on the idea that fame and success do not always bring true happiness and that one should be mindful of what they wish for.

If you didn’t listen to this masterpiece yet , do it now : ) Here is the youtube link

Here is another chording article – Everything About Cadd9 Chord

Check here Coolest Chord Progression Ever.

Check 5 songs with Interesting Rhythm Pattern