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25 years ago I was in a bookshop in London when someone I was with said, 'Elton John has just gone upstairs!'. I didn't believe them so went upstairs. There was this small man, dressed for tennis with diamond ear-rings and a large 'body-guard' nearby! I wasn't sure if it was him, so I actually queued up in line with him to pay. When the cashier said, 'Shall I put those on your account Mr John?' I knew! We chatted for 5 minutes about The Royal Academy of Music, Princess Diana and 'Song for Guy', plus something he was working on for Disney! I got an autograph and a photo too. He was charming, funny and 'interested'. One of the best days in my musical life!

I always preferred when he played a Steinway and Sons piano like in the 70s.

Came for the analysis, stayed for your playing 🎹😃

Much better in his early days with a normal piano sound. I hate that clangy noise.

You are correct, these 2 MIDIs make up the majority of his sound.  It’s about 70% Roland, 25% Yamaha… and remaining 5-10% is from some mics in the piano, as well as a Technic WSA rack unit.  I’ve personally seen Elton’s piano rig multiple times, and during his Farewell Tour, it had 2 Rolands, 2 Technics, and 4 Yamahas.  One Yamaha was used for the PowerGrand voice, and the other for the EPs and Strings layers.

Hi, I’m piano tuner and I have Tuned for Elton John. His Yamaha CF3 is extremely hard sounding by it self. The hammers are really hard. And then he is using Roland and,,,, with it.

That Yamaha Motif is literally the sound for 'Your Song'....SOOO GOOOD!!!!

The Motif alone sounds way better than adding the MKS to my ears.

Holy crap - my jaw dropped once you started playing - your playing is so flawless. Amazing!

I am a sound engineer, and Elton's piano sound was very similar to this BEFORE we had all these electronic bobbles. in old videos/films of elton the piano was mic'd with AKG D441 microphones. I had a chance to try this out with some borrowed 441's at a show, and I was surprised and delighted to find that I was very close to that sound. It is a great sound for "cutting through" a full band, but honestly doesn't really sound like a full range piano. I have heard that he has used a Helpinstill pickup which also has a very similar sound. But now with Yamaha's Midi integration in their pianos, it is easier to get a very consistent sound electronically. However it takes some of the "art" out of the sound mans job because micing many different pianos and getting the same "sound" is one of the most difficult and rewarding tasks a sound engineer can undertake.

My bet is this:
When it came to making the acoustic piano more stage sound & road worthy, the folks at Roland & Yamaha worked towards Elton's tone instead of Elton using their equipment to replicate what he got in the studio!
Elton John had recorded most of his hits way before these machines came into being and his piano sounds were highly recognised.

I have been lucky enough to briefly tour with Elton including playing his piano and working closely with his piano tech Peter Mills. The stage piano he uses is triggered by fiber optics and sent to a midi box set at a very high curve. I hope this helps in some way.

Your playing is quite  impressive.  I could listen to you for hours.  All my best,  JIm.

I'm 38 years old and when I was in middle school Elton released "Dream Ticket" at Best Buy. One of the DVD's was Live at Ephesus, with just Elton and the piano and it changed my ife. I bet I watched that DVD 200 times at least. I was already in my fourth or fifth year of private piano lessons at that point, but that DVD made me want to play like him so bad that I studied piano all the way into college. He's had a big impact on my life.

Just like Elton, fantastic playing !

It is no secret that Elton uses a highly-modified Yamaha CFIIIS and the iconic “Million Dollar Piano.” Both of these pianos feature MIDI capabilities, allowing them to trigger external sounds and blend acoustic tones with electronic layers like strings or electric piano sounds.  I think you nailed it.

1st time saw  him he was unknown in England 55 years ago
Don't think he was even playing his own piano
He played Give Peace A Chance

I felt like the Roland MKS-20 alone had a sound more familiar to how I hear Elton.  With just the Yamaha or them both together I didn't think it was as close.

Sounds almost like a CP-80 to me.