Chords for Rocky Mountain High Lesson - John Denver

_ Hey y'all, [E] _ _ we're going to do a quick lesson on, as quick as I can make it anyway, on Rocky Mountain High.
_ _ [B] And if you can play [E] Norwegian Wood [B] or that Faces [E] song, Ooh La La, if you can play those
you can [Em] play this because [E] the riff is very similar.
So the first thing to know is it's standard tuning except the low E string which is tuned
down to D [A#] and then you capo at the second fret.
[E] So you get this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
John [D#] Denver tuned his low E string down to [F#] D for quite a few songs actually and this
is one [E] of them.
So it starts like this with this little riff.
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [B] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ [B] _ _ So you do this, you're going to need your pinky [Em] on this one.
So play regular D, _ _ _ _ _ _ just starts with that, with your [G#] pinky on the G string up two frets,
[Em] _ on and off.
Then _ _ _ _ _ _ the second part is, _ [F#] _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _
so _ _ _ [E] that [F#] second part is D at the second fret [G#] to D at the fourth
fret and then back [E] to a D chord.
_ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ _ So [F#] it's two, four, it's [E] hammered on. _ _
_ [D#] Then back again to [G#] the D string at the fourth, to second, to [E] off. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ So it's so far.
Alright _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ [A] _ _ so hammer [G] on the low E string which is now down to D at the second fret [A] _
and the
A string at the second fret, both.
So you end up with an E minor [E] 7 chord on [F#m] that.
_ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ [A] So that's _ the three, E, A and D at the fifth [E] fret to seventh.
[B] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ People keep complaining that [C] I'm not showing enough of how to do the picking [E] strumming
part but I'm not teaching beginners.
I'm teaching people who can figure [G] that out and have a grip [A#] on picking and if you _ [G#] can't
learn from my videos then watch [E] somebody else's.
_ _ [B] That should be intuitive, you shouldn't have to be taught that but that's just my opinion.
Learn it the way you want but this is what I'm teaching.
So we got this so far.
[Em] _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ _ [B] _ And [E] you'll notice the one thing about the picking that I can tell you is you're pretty
much picking full chords out of this whole thing.
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ [F#m] _ _ _ [B] Alright so now it's into the [E] song proper with the verses so it starts with the same thing
and _ then [F#m] _ it goes C, A [B] _ _
[E] _ back into it again.
_ _ [B] _
And the [A] second time through it does the, [B] _ [A] you can actually do it [B] _ [E] if you want to play an
A chord for that. _ _
_ So the first time through [B] it goes C, A [E] back to the beginning.
The second time through it goes [B] _ G, A basically G, [E] A.
So, so far we're going like this.
Intro. _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ [B] _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _
So now it's starting, song and lyrics.
_ [F#m] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ [F#] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ C to [E] A. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
So when we go into [A] the chorus it's Colorado [B] Rock.
[E] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
That's just those _ E, _ A and D.
Three of them at the fifth fret.
And I kind of [F#] play all those except for the high E on that because you'll end up with
[A] it's okay, I [A#] guess it's okay if you do but you end up with a G6 chord [D#] instead of a full
G which is alright.
But [Am] I usually play E, A, D, G, [A] B.
_ _ [B] _ _
And on that one I [B] keep it to just the three E, A, D's
unless you want to play a full chord [A] down here.
_ [B] Colorado Rock, you're [E] my mama.
_ _ _ [A] I've seen it rain and fire.
[E] _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ [B] Da da da da.
[E] _ _ _ _ [F#] Right?
So that part is D.
[A] Soft as the shadows [B] on the_
I [E] don't know how it goes.
Softer [A] than a lullaby.
[E] So that's a D.
_ _ _ You can play all four of those D, G, B and _ _ E strings.
[Am] So it's E at the third, B at the fifth.
[E] _ _ [A]
Move them both up two. _ _ _ _ _
Whichever two fingers you want to use for that.
But that now becomes [Am] _
_ _ _ eighth fret [E] on the B, tenth fret, [C#] which is twelve I know, but tenth
fret on the [A] high E. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Rocky Mountain [E] High.
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [B] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ [E] _ [D#m] And so you can see what I mean.
It's [E] very similar to_
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [Bm] And how does [E] the face go? _
_ _ _ _ _ _ I don't even know how it goes anymore.
_ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
[C#] It's very similar to those two other songs.
Ooh La La and Norwegian [E] Wood.
But that's the_ That's the_
Chording of [D#] it.
Again, this part.
_ Work on it and you'll figure it out.
It's not [E] too tough.
_ _ [G] But if you have any trouble, let me know.
I think if you work on it for a few