Lesson: David Bowie

EXPAND YOUR REPERTOIRE AND REBOOT YOUR CHORD VOCAB AS YOU LEARN THIS ALIEN-THEMED CLASSIC FROM BOWIE’S ZIGGY PERIOD.

Released in 1972, “Starman” marked the end of a fallow period for Bowie – well, in terms of hits, at least. Although continuing to release material in the meantime, David’s previous hit had been as far back as 1969’s As it would turn out, “Starman” was perhaps the most important release of Bowie’s career, paving the way for a wave of chart-topping singles and albums that would catapult the singer-songwriter into new realms of superstardom.

You’re going to need 17 chord shapes to play the song – and yes, five of them are barre chords. But before you groan, spare a thought for David himself, who played them all on a 12-string acoustic – quite the finger workout for any guitarist! We’ve printed the chord shapes here for you, but don’t feel like you’ll need a 12-string guitar to make them work. It’s a great song to strum along to, so play it on any guitar you like.