Well I didn't tab this song out but I was listening to the acoustic version that John Lennon did on his Acoustic album and I wondered if these chords would work for a similar strumming version. Now Lennon is using several strumming patterns but if you just vary a basic D u d u D u d u and use the chords below it sounds quite good. The capital "D" is a hard downstrum and the lower case "d" & "u" is a lighter downstrum/upstrum. (It should sound sorta like DA da da da DA da da da...think of the original song for the beat) I am still working on the other strumming patterns used in the song but this will get you started.
I can't believe I finally contributed to the Easy Song Database! Even though I didn't tab it out it still feels awesome!
Mxtabs [ http://www.mxtabs.net ]
Artist: John Lennon
Song: Imagine
Tuning : Normal EADGBe
Tabbed by: Simon Webb
Email me here at [email protected]
Chords used:
C – X32010
CMaj7 – X32000
F – XX3211
Am/E – XX2210
Dm7 – XX0211
F/C – X33211
G – 320003
C/G – 332010
G7 – 320001
E – 022100
E7 – 022130
Intro
| C Cmaj7 | F | C Cmaj7 | F || x2
Verse 1
C Cmaj7 F
Imagine there's no heaven,
C Cmaj7 F
It's easy if you try.
C Cmaj7 F
No hell below us,
C Cmaj7 F
Above us only sky.
F Am/E Dm7 F/C
Imagine all the people
G C/G G7
Living for to-day.
Verse 2
C Cmaj7 F
Imagine there's no countries,
C Cmaj7 F
It isn't hard to do.
C Cmaj7 F
Nothing to kill or die for,
C Cmaj7 F
And no religion too.
F Am/E Dm7 F/C
Imagine all the people
G C/G G7
Living life in peace.
Chorus 1
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
You may say I'm a dreamer,
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
But I'm not the only one.
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
I hope some day you'll join us,
F G C
And the world will be as one.
Verse 3
C Cmaj7 F
Imagine no posses – sions,
C Cmaj7 F
I wonder if you can.
C Cmaj7 F
No need for greed or hunger,
C Cmaj7 F
A brotherhood of man.
F Am/E Dm7 F/C
Imagine all the people
G C/G G7
Sharing all the world
Chorus 2
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
You may say I'm a dreamer,
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
But I'm not the only one.
F G C Cmaj7 E E7
I hope some day you'll join us,
F G C
And the world will live as one.
And may John rest in peace
Thank you.
Here are a couple of quick soundbytes I recorded to show 2 strumming patterns you can use. The first one is the one I explained above and the second one adds an extra downstrum.
I like to play this song with those chords (haven't in a while). Didn't know lennon did an acoustic version of this i'd love to hear it
A nice little riff to follow all the F chords in the verse is
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|-2-h3----
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hi mike first of all my greetings
secondarily if i can add a bit of info for beginners:
a) chord changes: every measure in the verse except for the G chord at the end of the verse which lasts 2 measure, half-measure in the chorus
b) strummin pattern:
verse: it is all eight note downstrums except for the the seocnd part of every 2nd measure where you play 2 sixteen followed by an eight note, so it is
C
dd/dd/dd/dd
F
dd/dd/dd/dud
chorus: it is dd/ddu for each half measure, so it is
F
dd/ddu
G
dd/ddu
C
dd/ddu
E
dd/ddu
Of course you could also play all the song with the same pattern choosing between
dd/dd/dd/dd
or
dd/ddu/dd/ddu
Matteo
sorry I forgot to say that the pattern employs what I'd call a "reverse strum and bass" approach. In strum and bass styile (just think to country) first you pick the bass note then you play the chord, with this song it is exactly the opposite: first you strum the chord then you pick the bass note. So the first pattern that I gave you would be (i.e. for C measure)
DB/DB/DB/DB
If you listen to the original version played on piano you cleraly hear that the bass note is played after the full chord
Matteo
Matteo..
Thanks for the feedback but remember I didn not tab this song out. It's someone else's tab and I just did a basic strumm pattern. I like the patterns you added and I will try them when I can...
Thanks
Hey thanks for this! This is one song I've always wanted to play but never could. I've nailed it on my first attempt with these chords. Thanks! :D
Never assume the other fellow has intelligence equal to yours. He may have more.
Matteo..
Thanks for the feedback but remember I didn not tab this song out. It's someone else's tab and I just did a basic strumm pattern. I like the patterns you added and I will try them when I can...
Thanks
hi mate
that's the same for me..i usually take ca chord sheet from Internet check with the recfording and then I post the chord changes and the strummin pattrens but I'm not able to find out the chord sequence
Matteo
b) strummin pattern:
verse: it is all eight note downstrums except for the the seocnd part of every 2nd measure where you play 2 sixteen followed by an eight note, so it is
Try the slow quarter notes DuDu and you get a similar effect. Of course you can add more fill-in strums and experiment. I did in one of my examples. I played it this way at camp the past few days and everyone recognized the song...
A nice little riff to follow all the F chords in the verse is
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|-2-h3----
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That's the little RIFF I was searching for - thanks!
Bob Jessie
Nice MIke. I was just sitting out on the porch wondering about this song and came to take a peek......and here it is. Sounds nice.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
