Published:
2026-03-06
Updated:
2026-03-06
Learning Ukulele with Curt
Imagine
A song by John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, beginning with living without religion and its concepts, without economic materialism, and without borders separating nations. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017, she received a co-writing credit.
Author(s): Curt Sheller Publisher: Curt Sheller Publications Code: ULHA-YB-125
Main Category: Songs Main Instrument: Ukulele
Subjects: Chords
2026-03-06
A song by John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, beginning with living without religion and its concepts, without economic materialism, and without borders separating nations. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017, she received a co-writing credit.
Imagine
Released: October 1971
Lennon and Ono co-produced the song with Phil Spector. Recording began at Lennon's home studio at Tittenhurst Park, England, in May 1971, with final overdubs taking place at the Record Plant, in New York City, during July. In October, Lennon released Imagine
as a single in the United States, where it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was first issued as a single in Britain in 1975, to promote the compilation Shaved Fish, and reached number six on the UK Singles Chart that year. It later topped the chart following Lennon's murder in 1980.
Imagine
has consistently been widely praised since its release, while also garnering controversy due to its lyrics. BMI named Imagine
one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century. In 1999, it was ranked number 30 on the RIAA's list of the 365 "Songs of the Century", earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". Rolling Stone ranked it number 3 in its 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", re-positioned to number 19 in the 2021 revision. Meanwhile, a UK survey conducted by the Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book in 2002 named it the second-best single of all time. Since 2005, the song has been either played or performed in the final minutes leading up to the New Year's Times Square Ball Drop event in New York City. In 2023, the song was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". wikiwand
Imagine is in the The Daily Ukulele — 365 Songs for Better Living book.
Strum a different song every day with easy arrangements of 365 of your favorite songs in one big songbook! The Daily Ukulele features ukulele arrangements with melody, lyrics and uke chord grids and are in ukulele-friendly keys that are particularly suited for groups of one to one hundred to play and sing.
Ukulele Chords
These and many other chords are covered in the Learn A Chord A Day series of lessons.
C Tuning Chords
In the Daily Ukulele series of book the chords are actually listing in their order of appearance. And, are always the basic open position chords when possible.
Starting Melody Note and 1st Interval
Intervals Legend: Root=note that begins a scale of the starting key; C is C, D is D, Am is A, Em is E, etc… m=minor; M=Major; P=Perfect; D=Diminished; A=Augmented. • ↑ is up/ascending; ↓ is down/descending;
Harmonic Analysis (HA) Worksheet
Visit the Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection series of lessons for information on creating your own Harmonic Analysis Worksheet
A re-harmonization, in Red can be a simple, sticking pretty close to the original composer's intentions or complex and a whole new set of chord changes.
See the Performance Notes below for what John Lennon was playing as the intro and the accompaniment of the song..
*The Δ is an old-school shorthand notation for major and used here for spacing.
Repeat the previous three lines.
B Mixolydian: B C# D# E F# G# A B'
B Mix
The
B7
a
II7
chord on the above line looks like a Secondary Dominant but does not resolve to it's I an E major or Em chord. Although the C (C E G) does share the E and G" of an Em (E G B). So close. And Secondary Dominant don't have to actually resolve and is non-functional in this case. So the Partial Diatonic
is actually more appropriate.
The Harmonic Analysis (HA)
A Harmonic Analysis (RMA/HA) and its worksheet are intended to show the function of the chords, the harmonic principles used, the keys and tonalities the song explores. And, can be used for scale selections and chord and scale substitutions.
NOTE: A Harmonic Analysis Worksheet is NOT intended to be a lead leadsheet.
Minimal roadmap information such as repeats, fine, D.S., D.C., and codas has been used in preparing the worksheets to somewhat mirror the leadsheet in the Daily Ukulele book.
Sections, Verse, Chorus, 1st, 2nd Ending, turnbacks …
The worksheets will show 1st, 2nd Ending, turnbacks, etc. as indicated in the Yellow Book
. You should start to recognize that 1st endings typically always return to a previous verse or an 
section. With a 2nd ending, a transition to a different part of the song, a 
or chorus. Harmonic Principles are used for these repeats and transitions.
If turnback chords are not indicated for these 1st and 2nd endings in the original Yellow Book leadsheet, recommended chord(s) will be indicated in parentheses or as an alternate harmony in Red . Typically the last measures or turnbacks will be a chord that resolves to and harmonically leads you to the next section or turning you back to the same section. Typically a V or direct substitution of that next chord.
Reference Key
This is the key of the source leadsheet.
Harmonic Principles Used:
These are the harmonic principles used in Imagine.
Nashville Number System (NNS)
Nashville Numbering System always uses four bars/measures per line, no bar lines, and default is each number of the number of beats per bar/measure based on the time signature. If multiple chords in same bar then they are underlined. It can be as simple as converting the Roman Numerals above to Arabic numbers.
At its simplest you simply replace the roman numbers with Arabic numbers. e.g., I becomes 1 , II becomes 2 , etc. The only exception is the bVII7 chord becomes 7 as this borrowed chord from the Mixolydian tonality is so common and the VII (half-diminished seventh) in a major chord is so rare (actually never). And, you could go as far as saying all the modes are numbered: I II III IV V VI VII — just as in the major scale. So calling it a 7 is not that far out.
Imagine NNS Chart
1st Ending
2nd Ending
The Nashville Number System (NNS) default is a 4 measure/bar per line.
NOTE: This will give you an idea of just what the
Nashville Number System
is–basically a Harmonic Analysis (HA/RMA) using Arabic numbers vs. traditional Roman Numerals with a specific goal of creating a shorthand roadmap of a song that can be performed in ANY key. The main reason it was created in the first place in Nashville
studios was to save time and money and not have to rewrite a chart for a singer in a different key than the original chart.
Here is a good overview of the The Nashville Number System Demystified by Dave Martin (July 8, 2022) . Bottom line is you need to know your music theory and how chords work.
Check the definitive book Nashville Number System
Scale Selection
Once a Harmonic Analysis has been completed, scale selections can be made. These scale selections can be either vertical or horizontal choices. And, really, only needed if you are going to take a solo or embellish the melody with added notes.
- G Major: G A B C D E F♯ G'
- B Mixolydian: B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B'
- B Mix +4 or Lydian Dominant: B C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A B'. A bit
jazzier
choice.
Scale Abbreviation Legend
Traditional Scales: Maj: Major (Ionian), Nat Min: Natural Minor, Dim: Diminished, WT: Whole Tone, Har Min: Harmonic Minor
Contemporary Scales: Minor Pent: Minor Pentatonic, Pent: Major Pentatonic, Blues
Scale/Mode Names: Ion: Ionian (Major), Dor: Dorian (Minor), Phrygian: Phrygian, Lyd: Lydian, Mix: Mixolydian (Dominant), Aeol: Aeolian (Natural Minor), Loc: Locrian
Altered Scales: Mix+4: Mixolydian Plus 4 / Lydian Dominant, Mix-2-6: Mixolydian flat 2, flat 6
Checkout the Lesson Series: Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection or download the Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection book. And the QuickStart Series of Scale and Arpeggio books.
Performance Notes
John Lennon's Intro (Original Key: C)
Shown here in C Tuning, Low G in the original key of C. To play it in the Yellow Book Key of G. This C TUning TAB would directly transfer to a baritone in standard tuning (same fret numbers).
Intro as on the 1971 recording. This style is repeated thought the song.
At your next jam have one strong play perform the intro and the chords in this style and the rest of the group can strum along as usual. If seven play can perform this in unison that would sound awesome.
Psuedo Info got Key of G and C Tunied, Low G Ukulele
This captures the essence of the John Lennon's style on the recording for when this is performed in the Key of G on a C Tuned, Log G ukulele.