Few songs have the power to inspire hope and change within a person as much as John Lennon’s “Imagine.” This relatively simple song manages to talk about complex issues like war, religion and world peace in an unabashedly optimistic way. I’m going to walk you through how to play an adapted version of this song for guitar.
Verses
The Imagine chords in the verses are C-CMaj7-F, but you won’t play the full, open-strumming chords here. With your right hand, you’ll use your index and middle fingers together on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats along with your thumb to play the low notes between the beats to mimic the piano part for this section. The chromatic line at the end of each chord progression is a slur played on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th frets.
Choruses
The chorus sections, which can also be felt as pre-chorus sections, feature the following chord progression played four times: F-Am-Dm-G-G7. At this point in the song, feel free to break out into full chord-strumming.
Bridges
The song’s bridge sections include the following chord progression:
F-G-C-E7
F-G-C-E7
F-G-C-E7
F-G-C-C
At the end of each bridge, you’ll end with a C chord rather than the E7.
This is a great introductory song for beginners looking to break into material that opens up the right hand for fingerpicking. You might think that the Imagine chords for guitar can be a little challenging in the verse sections, but this is an incredible song that is well worth the time and effort it takes to master.
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