When it comes to pop music, few artists have had as big an impact as Elton John. From timeless classics like "Rocket Man" and "Tiny Dancer" to heartfelt ballads like "Your Song", Elton John has written some of the most beloved songs of all time. Over the course of 50 years, his career has included more than 4,000 live performances, 70+ Top 40 hits, and over 300 million album sales. With his unique style – as well as his signature sunglasses – crafted with lyricist and long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin, he is widely regarded for his ability to create contagious melodies on the piano that give space for lyrics to truly shine. 

To celebrate his 76th Birthday, we take a look at his best songs to learn on piano, which are available to all Piano M users — even if you don’t know how to read sheet music just yet — with your Piano M and the ROLI Learn app.

The Best Elton John Songs to Learn on Piano

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is a classic Elton John, released in 1973, it captures feelings of nostalgia and longing for adventure, and is a great song for beginners to learn, since it has a relatively simple piano arrangement.

I'm Still Standing

“I'm Still Standing” is another timeless Elton John hit. Written in 1983, the song is an empowering anthem about resilience and coming out from hard times. The strong use of the piano to add rhythm creates layers of groove and syncopation in and around the drum kit and bass guitar that are perfect to train your ear on rhythms.

Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be A Long Time)

“Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be A Long Time)” is one of Elton John's most renowned songs. The anthem paints a vivid picture of an astronaut surrounded by stars and soaring through space, backed by keyboard riffs and loved for its emotional lyrics. "Rocket Man" also uses one of Elton John's signature harmonic devices — using slash chords where a chord in the right hand is paired with a different note in the left. It adds a unique mood and to give playing added complexity.

Tiny Dancer

“Tiny Dancer” is another one of Elton John's most popular songs. Released in 1971, the song is synonymous with a romantic picture of Los Angeles’ life on the road, backed by keyboard riffs and full-hearted lyrics. Deceptively simple, the song's melody is actually created by its clever use of Arpeggios. Rather than playing them simply up and down, "Tiny Dancer" creates a pattern — middle note, low note, middle note, high, middle, low, high etc. By breaking up chords to their individual notes rather than playing them in sequence, the melodies are built from chords.

Your Song

“Your Song”, recorded in 1970, is one of the all-time fan favorite Elton songs — showcasing some of his finest work as a masterful musical storyteller who is able to evoke a huge emotional range from his compositions. 'It may be quite simple' Elton sings, but “Your Song” is some of Elton’s most clever writing, using what has become his signature sound of rhythmic anticipation: hitting the chord on the upbeat before the downbeat and then holding it through the downbeat. Despite its cleverness, “Your Song” is comfortable to play — as it was written in the key of Eb. Any key that includes 2 or 3 black notes matches up very well anatomically with the human hand. The pianist can keep their shortest digits, the thumb and 5th finger, on white keys and keep their longer fingers on black keys. It’s a much more natural feeling than the key of C, which uses all white notes, and which forces you to contort the hand a little more. Luckily for Elton, who went on to play “Your Song” live over 2,000 times!

Tips for playing piano like Elton John 

While Elton John may have learnt to play piano by ear at the impressive age of 5 and become classically trained at the Royal Academy of Music by 11, his songs are some of the most popular to learn first on the piano, as they were written for the piano, rather than a pop song written first on the guitar or drums. So, how can you play more like Elton?

Discover playing Elton John’s classic songs with Piano M today.