Guitar Songs

David Bowie - ‘Space Oddity’ (1)

Words and music by David Bowie Transcribed by Kevin Paluzzi

Key of ‘C’ Major

X O O O O O X O O X O O X O O X O X X O

1Ø 1 1 Ø 1 Ø 1 Ø 1 1

2 Ù 2 ÙÚ 2 Ù 2 ÙÚ 2 Ù ±
T Ø Ù 2 Ø Ù
3 3 ÚÛ 3 3 3 Ú 3 3 Ú 3 3 Ú 3 3 Ú
Fmaj7/C Em C Am Am7/G D/F< D
X X X O X O X X X X X X

1 Ø 1 ØØ 3 Ø 6 Ø 5 ØØ 3 Ø
2 Ù 2 4 Ù 7 Ù 6 4 Ù
3 3 ÚÛ 3 3 ÚÛ 5 ÚÛ 8 ÚÛ 3 7 ÚÛ 5 ÚÛ
F/C Fm/C Em7/D B=/F Am/E G/D

Intro (0:03)
Fmaj7/C Em Fmaj7/C Em

Verses 1 & 2 (0:25, 0:46)

C Em C Em
Ground control to Major T om Ground control to Major T om
Am Am7/G D/F < D
T ake your protein pills and put your helmet on
C Em C Em
Ground control to Major T om Commencing countdown engines on
Am Am7/G D/F <
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (go to Verse 3)

Verses 3, 4 (1:18, 1:43)

C E F/C
T his is ground control to Major T om You’ve really made the grade And the...
Fm/C C F/C Fm/C C F/C
papers want to know whose shirt you wear Now its time to leave the capsule if you dare
C E F/C
T his is Major T om to ground con-trol I’m stepping through the door And I’m...
Fm/C C F/C Fm/C C F/C
floating in the most pecu-li-ar way And the stars look very dif-fer-ent to-day For... (to Bridge)

Bridge (2:00, 3:41)

Fmaj7/C Em7/D Fmaj7/C Em7/D
here... Am I sitting in a tin can far... above the world
B =/F Am/E G/D F/C
P lanet earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do (go to Guitar Break)

© 1969 (ren ewed) On ward M u s ic Ltd ., Lo n d o n En g lan d TRO - Es s ex M u s ic In tern atio n al In c, New Yo rk co n tro ls all p u b licatio n rig h ts fo r
th e USA and Can ad a. In tern atio n al Co p y righ t Secu red . A ll rig h ts res erv ed inclu d in g p u b lic p erfo rman ce fo r p ro fit. Us ed b y p ermis s io n .

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 Guitar Songs

‘Space Oddity’ - Performance Notes (1)

T he original recording of ‘Space Oddity’ can be considered a semi-orchestral piece, featuring various guitars
(twelve-string acoustic and electric), b ass, d rums, and a stylophone (miniature keyboard) all played in
combination with a string arrangement. T his lesson will focu s o n the essential guitar parts for an
unaccompanied ‘strum-along’ performance .

Intro Harmo nics Example

T he song begins with an ‘Fmaj7/C-Em’ progression that ‘fades- Fmaj7 Em Fmaj7 Em
in.’ Below is the strum pattern used for each chord: 1 {12} {12} {7}
strum: ‘down down-up-down down-up-up-down down-up-down’ 2 {12}
count: ‘one one-two-three one-two-three-four one-two-three’ 3
4
A second electric guitar plays a four-note progression of 5
harmonics throughout the Intro, Verse 1, and Verse 2 (right). 6

Verses 1 & 2 (0:25, 0:46)

T he same strum pattern from the Intro will continue for the ‘C-Em’ progression that begins Verse 1.
T he ‘Am-Am7/G-D/F <-D’ progression is a suggested arrangem en t for one guitarist. On the original
recording, a more-basic ‘Am-Am-D-D’ progression is strummed on guitar while an ‘A-G-F <’ descending bass
line is played on bass. T his arrangement features the bass line played on guitar:
chord: Am Am7 D/F< D
strum: 9-989 9-989 9-989 9-9889 - 989
count: 1-123 1-123 1-123 1-1234 - 123

In Verse 2, the ‘Am-Am7/G-D/F<-D’ progression is cut short for a special effects lead-in to Verse 3. When
playing unaccompanied, strum the complete progression instead to lead-in Verse 3.

Verses 3, 4 (1:18, 1:43)

For the ‘Fm/C-C-F/C’ progression, the fretting hand remains steady and in position by ‘anchoring’ the third
finger on the fifth string/third fret. T he thumb can be used to mute the sixth string for all three chords.
C E F/C
This is ground control to Major Tom.... You’ve really made the grade And the...
9-989-9889- 989 9-989-9889- 989 9-989-9889- 989
Fm/C C F/C
papers want to know whose shirt you wear Now its...
time to leave the capsule if you dare
9 - 9 8 9 9 - 9 8 9 9 - 9 8 9- 9 8 8 9

Bridge (2:00, 3:41)

For the ‘Fmaj7/C'-‘Em7/D’ change, simply slide the same chord shape up and down between two frets.
Use the same moveable chord shape for the ‘B =/F-Am/E-G/D-F/C’ progression, except for the ‘Am/E’, which
requires the first finger to flatten across the second and third strings.
Fmaj7/C Em7/D Fmaj7/C Em7/D
here... Am I sitting in a tin can... far... above the world....
9-989-9889-989 9-989-9889- 989 9-989-9889- 989 9-989-9889- 989
B=/F Am/E G/D F/C
Planet earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do
9 - 9 8 9 9 - 9 8 9 9 - 9 8 9 9 - 9 8 9- 9 8 8 9

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Guitar Songs

David Bowie - ‘Space Oddity’ (2)

Words and music by David Bowie Transcribed by Kevin Paluzzi
Key of ‘C’ Major
X X X X X X X X X O X X O O O

8 Ø 1 Ø 3 Ø 5 Ø 1 Ø 10 Ø 1 Ø
9 Ù 2 Ù 4 Ù 6 Ù 2 Ù 11 Ù 2 ÙÚ
10 ÚÛ 3 3 ÚÛ 5 ÚÛ 7 ÚÛ 3 3 ÚÛ 12 ÚÛ 3 3
C/G F/C G/D A/E Fmaj7/C D E
X X X X X O O X O O X X O X O O O O O

Ø Ø 3 Ø Ø 1 Ø 1 Ø 1 Ø 1 Ø 1

4 Ù Ù Ú 2 ÙÚ 2 Ù 2 Ù Ú 2 Ù 2Ø
5 ÚÛ 5 3 3 Ú 3 3 3 Ú Ù Ú
G G<dim Am Am7/G D7 C G

Guitar Break (2:31, 4:03) Guitar So lo Cho rds (2:38, 4:10)

C/G 9 F/C 9 8 9 8 G/D 9 A/E 9 9 (repeat) Fmaj7/C G/D A/E C/G D/A E

Guitar So lo - 1 (2:38)
Fmaj7 G/D A/E C/G D/A E
1 5
2 5 85 10 12 10
3 5 7 5 56 6 8 10 8^J 8^J 11 12 11 10{11
4 7 5{7 5 7 5 7 7 10 10810 121012 2
5 7 7
6 5 330
1 3 1 3 1{3 3 1 3 1 3 1 31 21 1 41 23 3 1 3 1^J 3 1 3 1^J 1 2 1 1 220

Verse 5 (2:58)
C E F/C
T hough I’m ‘cross one hundred thousand miles... I’m feeling very still. And I....
Fm/C C F/C Fm/C C F/C
think my spaceship knows which way to go. T ell my wife I love her very much - she knows

Final Verse (3:23)

G G/G < Am Am7/G
Ground control to Major T om your circuits dead there’s something wrong Can you...
D7 C G
hear me Major T om Can you hear me Major T om Can you hear me Major T om Can you... (to Bridge)

Final Solo (4:10)

Fmaj7 G/D A/E C/G D/A E
1 Ñ 5 812 8 12 12----
2 Ñ3{5 3530Ñ 5 85 8 8
3 575 234 420 5{6 5{6 9 10 9 12 10 12 10 12 10
4 7 7575 2 7 10 12 12 12 12 12 10 10
5 7 10 8787 12 12
6 8
Ñ Ñ Ñ
3131 3131 1231{3 1310 3101 1{2114 1 1{2 3 1 4 11 3 2 3 3 2121 2 3 1 3 3 1 3 3 1 3 3 1 3 1 1 1.....
2 3 3
© 1969 (ren ewed) On ward M u s ic Ltd ., Lo n do n En g lan d TRO - Es s ex M u s ic In tern atio n al In c, New Yo rk co n tro ls all p u b licatio n righ ts fo r
th e USA and Can ada. In tern atio n al Co p yrigh t Secu red . A ll rig h ts res erv ed includ in g p u b lic p erfo rman ce fo r p ro fit. Us ed b y p ermis s io n .

1
 Guitar Songs

‘Space Oddity’ - Performance Notes (2)

Guitar Break (2:31, 4:03) Song Arrangement
T he same moveable chord shape is used for all chords in this section
(see strum pattern below). Note the two beat clap that syncs with ‘A/E’ Intro
chord. T he thumb can be used to mute the sixth string.
Verse 1
chord: C/G F/C G/D A/E C/G F/C G/D A/E Verse 2
strum: 9 9898 9 9 9 9 9898 9 9 9
Verse 3
count: 1 1-2-3-4 1 1 2 1 1-2-3-4 1 1 2
Verse 4
Guitar Solo Chords (2:38, 4:10) Bridge
T he same moveable chord shape is u sed for the ascending chord Guitar Break
progression, which ends with an open ‘E’ chord shape. T he same Guitar So lo
strum pattern (shown below) can be used for each chord: Verse 5
strum: ‘down down-up-down down-up-up-down down-up-down’ Final Verse
count: ‘one one-two-three one-two-three-four one-two-three’
Bridge
Guitar Solo -1 (2:38) Guitar Break
T his solo features a ‘call and resp o n se’ approach to phrasing where Guitar So lo
each riff ‘responds’ to each chord change. T he first three sections are (fade)
based from the ‘A’ P entatonic Minor scale with an added passing tone
(third string/sixth fret). T he remaining sections feature Blues riffs that
harmonize with each chord change.

Verse 5 (2:58)
Use the same chord progression and strum patterns from Verses 3&4.

Final Verse (2:58)

For unaccompanied performances, play an open 'G’, then slide the second finger/bass note up one fret to play the
‘G<dim’ chord while using the first finger to partially barre across the fourth fret.
chord: G G<dim Am Am7/G
strum: 9-989 9-989 9-989 9-989
count: 1- 123 1-12 3 1-123 1-123
chord: D7 C G
strum: 9 - 9 8 9 - 9 8 8 9 - 9 8 9 9-989-9889- 989 9-989-9889- 989
count: 1 - 1 2 3 - 1 2 3 4 - 1 2 3 1- 123-1234 - 123 1-123- 1234 - 123

Coda/Guitar Solo-2 (4:10)

T he Coda revisits the Guitar Solo section, featuring increased special effects and fading out with a repeated
open ‘E’ strum. T he solo features the same phrasing technique and scales used in Guitar Solo -1, including
a repeated ‘E’ root note that harmonizes with the repeated ‘E’ strum during the fade out.

Additional Notes
T he ‘F/C-Fm/C’ transition (shifting the ‘IV’ chord from major to minor) is a standard songwriting technique
that produces a ‘ballad-like’ resolution to a progression.