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Elton John

6 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Pop

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Artist Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Elton John emerged as an iconic singer-songwriter and pianist from the early 1970s British pop-rock scene. While his piano provides the harmonic foundation, legendary guitarists like Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, and Jeff Beck crafted essential guitar parts that define songs like 'Tiny Dancer,' 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' and 'Rocket Man.' These guitar contributions add texture, warmth, and emotional weight that many guitarists initially overlook in his catalogue.

Playing Style and Techniques

Davey Johnstone, Elton's primary guitarist since 1972, embodies versatility through acoustic fingerpicking, clean electric arpeggios, slide guitar, mandolin, and restrained rock leads. His approach prioritizes melodic phrasing over flash, featuring singing bends, well-placed double-stops, and lush open-string voicings. His electric tone combines warm, slightly overdriven humbuckers with clean channels for ballads, creating deceptively rich harmonic detail throughout.

Why Guitarists Study Elton John

Elton John's music serves as a masterclass in tasteful accompaniment, sophisticated chord voicing, and arpeggiation. Guitarists learn the critical skill of serving the song rather than overplaying it. His catalogue teaches musicality, dynamic control, and how to translate piano-driven harmony to guitar, developing artistic maturity that surpasses technical flash alone.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Elton John's songs span beginner to intermediate levels. 'Your Song' and 'Daniel' teach open chords and basic fingerpicking for beginners. 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and 'Rocket Man' introduce sophisticated chord movement and arpeggiated picking. 'I'm Still Standing' explores rhythm guitar in synth-pop territory. This progression builds essential musicianship fundamentals throughout the learning journey.

What Makes Elton John Essential for Guitar Players

  • Davey Johnstone's acoustic work on songs like 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Your Song' relies heavily on open-position chord voicings with added color tones, suspensions, add9s, and major 7ths. Practicing these songs builds your ear for sophisticated harmony beyond basic open chords.
  • The electric guitar on 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' uses clean arpeggiated picking with a warm, round tone, likely neck humbucker with the tone rolled slightly back. It's a great exercise in pick-hand dynamics and letting each note ring clearly within a chord shape.
  • On 'I'm Still Standing,' the guitar part is a tight, rhythmic strumming pattern with palm-muted 16th notes that lock in with the synth-driven groove. This is excellent practice for right-hand consistency and keeping time against a driving pop beat.
  • 'Rocket Man' features layered acoustic and electric textures, the acoustic carries a gentle fingerpicked or hybrid-picked pattern while the electric adds ambient, reverb-soaked swells. Learning both parts teaches you how to approach guitar layering in a studio or band context.
  • Davey Johnstone frequently employs slide guitar and open tunings across Elton's catalogue. His slide work is melodic and vocal rather than aggressive, ideal for guitarists wanting to develop expressive slide technique without venturing into full-on blues or country territory.

Did You Know?

Davey Johnstone originally joined Elton's band as a multi-instrumentalist playing mandolin, sitar, and banjo on the 'Madman Across the Water' album before becoming the full-time lead guitarist, his eclectic string background deeply influences his guitar voicings.

Caleb Quaye, Elton's early guitarist on the self-titled album and 'Tumbleweed Connection,' played a Gibson Les Paul through cranked Marshall amps, giving those early records a grittier, more blues-rock guitar tone than the later catalogue.

The iconic acoustic guitar intro to 'Tiny Dancer' was originally played on a Martin acoustic, and Johnstone has said he spent considerable time crafting the fingerpicked pattern to complement Elton's piano rather than double it, a lesson in arrangement discipline.

On 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting,' Davey Johnstone plays one of the most aggressive guitar riffs in Elton's catalogue, a crunchy, power-chord-driven rock riff that could sit comfortably alongside The Rolling Stones or The Who. It was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in France.

Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' album features some surprisingly complex guitar overdubs, multiple acoustic and electric layers stacked to create an orchestral guitar texture, making it a fascinating study in studio arrangement for any guitarist.

Davey Johnstone is known for using a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe with mini-humbuckers during the mid-1970s, those pickups gave a brighter, more articulate tone than standard PAFs, which suited the melodic clarity his parts required.

Bernie Taupin's lyrics and Elton's piano demos were typically completed before guitar parts were arranged, meaning Johnstone had to find creative ways to add guitar to compositions that were already harmonically complete, a common challenge for guitarists in piano-driven bands.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album cover
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 1973

This double album is the definitive Elton John guitar experience. The title track teaches clean arpeggiated picking and chord inversions, 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' delivers crunchy power-chord rock, and 'Bennie and the Jets' has subtle electric rhythm work. Davey Johnstone's layered acoustic and electric arrangements make this album a clinic in tasteful guitar production.

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Honky Château album cover
Honky Château 1972

Davey Johnstone's first full album with Elton, featuring 'Rocket Man' and 'Honky Cat.' The guitar work here is a blend of acoustic fingerpicking, clean electric textures, and slide guitar. It's an ideal album for intermediate players learning how to fill space around piano and vocal without overplaying.

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Madman Across the Water album cover
Madman Across the Water 1971

Features 'Tiny Dancer' and some of the most beautiful acoustic guitar work in Elton's catalogue. Johnstone plays mandolin and acoustic guitar with intricate fingerpicked patterns that challenge your right-hand technique. The arrangements are sparse enough that every guitar note matters, making it perfect for developing dynamic awareness.

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Too Low for Zero album cover
Too Low for Zero 1983

The album that produced 'I'm Still Standing' marks Elton's foray into 80s synth-pop-rock, and the guitar parts require tight rhythmic muting and the ability to lock into programmed drum patterns. Davey Johnstone adapted his style brilliantly here, making it a great study in how to evolve your guitar approach for different production eras.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Davey Johnstone's primary electrics include a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (mid-1970s, with mini-humbuckers) and various Gibson Les Paul Standards. For acoustic work, Martin dreadnoughts and jumbo-bodied acoustics are prominent, the Martin D-28 and D-45 feature heavily on classic tracks like 'Tiny Dancer.' He also uses Ovation acoustic-electrics for live performances and has been seen with Fender Stratocasters for cleaner, single-coil tones on select tracks.

Amp

Johnstone has relied on a variety of amps over the decades. In the classic 1970s period, Marshall heads (JMP and early JCM models) paired with 4x12 cabinets were the go-to for overdriven rock tones. For cleaner work, Fender Twin Reverbs and Vox AC30s provided the shimmering, warm clean tones heard on ballads. Modern live rigs have included Mesa/Boogie amps for their versatile clean-to-crunch range. The key is moderate gain, never heavily distorted, always articulate.

Pickups

The mini-humbuckers on Johnstone's Les Paul Deluxe are a signature element, they output around 6-7k ohms, brighter and more articulate than standard PAF humbuckers, which allows melodic lines and arpeggios to cut through Elton's piano-heavy arrangements without getting muddy. On his Les Paul Standards, stock PAF-style humbuckers deliver a warmer, thicker tone suited to rock tracks. The tonal balance between clarity and warmth is essential to replicating this sound.

Effects & Chain

Johnstone's effects usage is restrained and musical. Core elements include spring reverb (from the amp or a dedicated unit), subtle chorus for clean arpeggiated parts, and a wah pedal used sparingly on select leads. Slide guitar passages sometimes feature a touch of delay for added sustain and atmosphere. There's no heavy pedalboard philosophy here, the tone comes primarily from the guitar, the amp, and the player's touch. For recreating the studio sound, a good analog-style delay and a quality reverb will cover most of the territory.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Davey Johnstone uses the Stratocaster's single-coil brightness for cleaner, articulate passages that cut through Elton's piano arrangements without muddiness. The guitar's twangy character provides textural contrast to his heavier Les Paul work on select tracks.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

The Les Paul Standard's warm, thick PAF-style humbuckers deliver the rich, full-bodied rock tones essential to Elton John's classic arrangements. This guitar grounds the band's sound with sustain and presence that complements both ballads and uptempo rockers.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul Custom's thicker body and refined PAF humbuckers produce a warmer, more controlled tone that suits Elton's sophisticated chord work and melodic lead lines. Its construction provides the articulate clarity needed when guitars share sonic space with prominent piano.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

The Twin Reverb's shimmering spring reverb and warm clean headroom create the lush, spacious tones heard on Elton John's ballads like 'Tiny Dancer.' Its natural breakup and size deliver the full, rich clean sound that defines his softer arrangements.

Vox AC30
Amp

Vox AC30

The AC30's chime and natural harmonic breakup provide the warm, glassy clean tones Johnstone uses for atmospheric accompaniment on ballads. Its built-in reverb and subtle breakup character add vintage character without heavy distortion to Elton's intricate arrangements.

How to Practice Elton John on GuitarZone

Every Elton John song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Your Song - Guitar LessonPractice I'm Still Standing - Guitar LessonPractice Rocket Man - Guitar Lesson