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For voice and piano (or guitar)
Instrumentation |
Piano, Voice, Classical guitar |
“Space Oddity” is an iconic song by the English pop and folk rock star, singer and songwriter David Robert Jones, better known as David Bowie. The song was written and recorded by Bowie in 1969 for his 2nd album, self-titled “David Bowie”. “Space Oddity” is now called one of the singer’s signature compositions, it was included into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of 500 songs that shaped the genre. Lyrically, the song tells a story of a certain fictional character Major Tom, an astronaut on a space flight on board Apollo 11 that landed on moon. This imaginary man also appears in other songs by Bowie, like “Ashes to Ashes” and “Hallo Spaceboy”. The song charted really well in the UK, eventually becoming a No. 1 hit in the country and receiving an Ivor Novello Award in 1970. Another wave of popularity came when a real astronaut from Canada, Chris Hadfield, covered the song and filmed a video in the space on board the International Space Station. “Space Oddity” had two more peaks of fames after that: in 2016, after David Bowie’s decease, and in 2018, after Elon Musk launched his Tesla car into the space. The ‘driver’, called Starboy (also a Bowie character) is listening to “Space Oddity” on repeat on its way to Mars.
For voice and piano (or guitar)
Instrumentation |
Piano, Voice, Classical guitar |
For guitar (very easy version)
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Difficulty |
Easy |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Type of score |
Tablature |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Type of score |
Tablature |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Type of score |
Tablature |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Classical guitar |
Instrumentation |
Piano |
Genre |
Pop |
Instrumentation |
Piano |
Difficulty |
Easy |
“Space Oddity” is one of the most popular songs by David Bowie, perhaps his main signature song. Written by Bowie in 1969, it became the 1st track on his 2nd self-titled album. The song was written at the time when space exploration was just starting to unfold. “Space Oddity” preceded Apollo 11 space mission and was released 5 years prior to the human’s landing on the moon. The main character of the song is Major Tom, an astronaut invented by Bowie who would also appear in his later space-dedicated songs like “Hallo Spaceboy” and “Ashes to Ashes”. In 1975, the original album “David Bowie” was re-released and renamed after its main song “Space Oddity”. The song had two waves of popularity, first on its release, and the second after Bowie’s death in 2016, serving one of the strongest associations with the famous English rock musician. One of the most popular covers of the song was made by the astronaut from Canada Chris Hadfield who recorded it in the space, which made it the 1st music video made off the earth. “Space Oddity” was named one of the 500 songs that shaped rock’n’roll.
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Genre |
Rock/Alternative |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Voice |
Type of score |
Lead sheet |
Instrumentation |
Alto Saxophone |
Instrumentation |
Tenor Saxophone |
Alexander Shanton 27 Mar 2018 12:18
The interest in David Bowie's music has been greatly and justly revived during the past few years which is pretty logical. To my shame, I never expressed too much interest towards his songs earlier but now I've looked at songs like Space Oddity from a completely different perspective. I've found immense pleasure playing them on my guitar and I'm glad I did re-discover this music now.
Greg Sullivan 07 Feb 2018 14:01
I couldn't imagine a more iconic song to mark Elon Musk's achievement. Although I'm a big fan of classical music and that's what I normally play and listen to most of the time, I think The Starman looks perfect in his Tesla looking over the Earth and listening to Bowie's masterpiece. I listened to this composition at a completely different angle today, in a deeper and more meaningful context.
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