Songnotes
the hand-crafted music library of @davidpots
Intro
Fmaj7 ... Em ... Fmaj7 ... Em ... (repeat)Verse
C Em Ground Control to Major Tom C Em Ground Control to Major Tom Am Am/G D/F# Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground Control to Major Tom Commencing countdown, engines on Check ignition and may God's love be with youChorus
C E7 This is Ground Control to Major Tom F You've really made the grade Fm C F And the papers want to know whose shirt you wear Fm C F Now, it's time to leave the capsule if you dare This is Major Tom to Ground Control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different todayRefrain
Fmaj7 Em For, here---- am I sitting in a tin can Fmaj7 Em Far---------- above the world Bb Am G F Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can doInstrumental Section
C → F G → A A x2 Fmaj7 ... Em ... A ... C ... D ... E ... x1 Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much, she knowsBridge
G E7 Ground Control to Major Tom Am Am/G Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong D Can you hear me, Major Tom? C Can you hear me, Major Tom? G Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you... Here---- am I sitting in my tin can Far----- above the Moon Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do (instrumental section, end)
Here is the basic way to play the guitar chords used in this song. Note that many of these chords can (or should, some would argue) be played in different ways, specifically when playing this song -- but I offer these primarily as a simple foundation and starting point. Add flourish and variation as you desire; otherwise roll with these and you'll do just fine.
e-|---0---0----0---------0---2----2-----0---0---0----1----1----0------3---- B-|---2---1----1----3----1---3----3-----0---3---0----1----1----1------0---- G-|---2---2----2----3----0---2----2-----1---1---0----2----1----2------0---- D-|---2---2----2----3----2---0----0-----2---2---2----3----3----3------0---- A-|---0---0----x----1----3--------0-----2---2---2----3----3----3------2---- E-|------------3------------------2-----0---0---0----1----1-----------3---- A Am Am/G Bb C D D/F# E E7 Em F Fm Fmaj7 G
In order to play the recognizable guitar riff heard twice in the song (just after the refrain section both times), refer to this tab. This is how I play it -- though you could surely use the typical open positions for the C, F, G, and A chords if desired. Listen along for the rhythm -- the tab below merely shows an approximated strumming pattern.
e-|---8----------1------3------------5-----5-----------
B-|---8----------1------3------------5-----5-----------
G-|---9----------2------4------------6-----6-----------
D-|--10---x-x----3--x---5--x-x-x-----7--x--7--x-x-x---- x2
A-|--10---x-x----3--x---5--x-x-x-----7--x--7--x-x-x----
E-|---8---x-x----1--x---3--x-x-x-----5--x--5--x-x-x----
C F G A
In this YouTube clip featuring Mike Masse covering this song, you can see & hear him do an interesting take on the intro chords by mixing up the Fmaj7 chord (by leaving the B string open) and adding a simple walk-up riff before each Fmaj7. The chord he uses is shown below, as is the walk-up. Very nice way to spice it up a bit.
e-|----------0--- ... ---0--- ... ----------0--- ... ---0---
B-|----------0--- ... ---0--- ... ----------0--- ... ---0---
G-|----------2--- ... ---0--- ... ----------2--- ... ---0---
D-|-------0--3--- ... ---2--- ... -------0--3--- ... ---2--- etc.
A-|---0h2----3--- ... ---2--- ... ---0h2----3--- ... ---2---
E-|----------1--- ... ---0--- ... ----------1--- ... ---0---
Fmaj7* Em Fmaj7* Em
Here is the official version of this song as per the David Bowie album. Listen along here for reference if you don't have a recording of the song otherwise.
Here is a fantastic acoustic cover of this song by the wonderful Mike Masse. You can learn a ton from watching this. He has a load of other great covers available on his YouTube channel as well.
There are numerous instructional videos showing how to play this song online -- but I recommend this one via Marty Schwartz. He is nicely thorough in breaking down all the chords used throughout each section of the song. Recommended highly, and be sure to check out his other lessons if you like his teaching style.
Here is astronaut Chris Hadfield covering this from the International Space Station! So awesome.
| Fmaj7 . . . | Em . . . | Fmaj7 . . . | Em . . . |
| C . . . | Em . . . | C . . . | Em . . . |
| Am . Am/G . | D/F# . . . |
| C . . . | E7 . . . | F . . . | | Fm . C . | F . . . | | Fm . C . | F . . . |
| Fmaj7 . . . | Em . . . | Fmaj7 . . . | Em . . . |
| Bb . Am . | G . F . . . |
| C . F G | A . . . | x2 | Fmaj7 . . . | Em . . . | A . . . | C . . . | D . . . | E . . . | x1
| G . E7 . | Am . Am/G . | D . . . | C . . . | G . . . |
Song: Space Oddity
Artist: David Bowie
Album: Space Oddity
Year: 1969
Label: RCA
Want to support Songnotes? If you would like to donate a dollar or few, that would make my day. I've spent over 1000+ hours building this site and transcribing these songs -- and happily make everything available freely. Visit my PayPal page if you'd like to toss something back my way.
Thanks so much!
Here are some of the video lessons I have made recently. I typically aim to create 3-4 lessons per month. Subscribe on YouTube to be sure you never miss a new lesson.
View my notes & tabs for Dead Flowers →
View my notes & tabs for Issues →
View my notes & tabs for 2U →
View my notes & tabs for Uh Huh →
View my notes & tabs for Meet Me in the Hallway →
View my notes & tabs for Stairway to Heaven →
View my notes & tabs for Wish You Were Here →
View my notes & tabs for Shape of You →
View my notes & tabs for Simple Man →
View my notes & tabs for Highwayman →
View my notes & tabs for Audition (The Fools Who Dream) →
View my notes & tabs for Strangers →
View my notes & tabs for A Lovely Night →
View my notes & tabs for this song →
Here's a list of the 173 songs I've added to the site since December 2012. Each song was added by me personally.
Songs are grouped by the year they were released.
My name is David Potsiadlo, and I created Songnotes to share my collection of guitar tabs, chords, and lyrics for my favorite songs.
Since I started playing guitar over 10 years ago, I've often been frustrated by the preponderance of mediocre and incomplete song tabs littered across the internet. To combat this, I started keeping my own collection of notes for each song I learn -- always taking the extra time to make sure accuracy and completeness are never compromised. Years later, my collection grew to the point where I knew I had to share it online with fellow aspiring musicians.
In December 2012, I began designing & developing a website that became Songnotes. Here, I share my personal collection of hand-crafted music notation with all those online. I hope you enjoy.
You can also view my personal website or follow me on Twitter / Dribbble / GitHub / LinkedIn.
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