July 13

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Imagine by John Lennon Arranged for Solo Piano

By Thomas Gunther

July 13, 2019

classic pop piano

You can buy the beautifully written sheet music that includes also chord symbols, fingering, and sustain pedal markings at Sheet Music Direct.

Why I arranged this song

"Imagine" by John Lennon is one of my favorite songs. It shows the genius of John Lennon in every way. Although the lyrics are incredibly deep and important (Lennon actually said that much of the song's lyrics came from his wife, Yoko Ono) , I specifically like his genius use of simple diatonic harmony as the bases of this unforgettable song. Did you know that soon after it was released in 1971, it became one of the most performed songs of the 20th century? It seems like I am not the only one loving it!

Perfect for classically trained Pianists

This solo piano version is perfect for classically trained pianists!
"Imagine" has always been one of my favorite pop ballads. I know classical pianists that would love to play it too. So I decided to write a piano arrangement of it that is tailored specifically towards pianists that are looking for challenging arrangements of famous pop songs notated in great detail.
Although the arrangement does not look or sound very difficult at first glance, to perform it beautifully, I would expect that even more advanced pianists will have to practice it quite a bit.
 I can tell you that I had to put in hours of practicing before I was able to record it to my liking. Of course, I am not specialist in sight-reading music, nor am I performing classical concerts.

Bottom line, should you be a pianist who would like to add a beautiful pop song to your repertory, you may want to give this arrangement a closer look.

Thomas Gunther

About the author

Thomas Gunther (alias Thommy Günther) is a versatile internationally active jazz pianist and keyboardist, music producer, and music educator. Born in Germany, Thomas moved to Chicago after receiving his masters in teaching popular music and jazz, with focus on piano and electronic keyboard performance from State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart/Germany.
In Chicago he soon become the principle pianist with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble let by Stan Kanton's music arranger and composer William Russo. Soon he formed his own bands playing piano and keyboards all over town and touring Europe regularly.
He has produced and recorded lots of music as a leader and sideman, appearing on over a dozent albums. He also offers music arranging and orchestration services. Thomas currenly serves as adjunct Professor of instruction at Columbia College Chicago where he designs and teaches courses for the Contemporary Jazz & Urban Music Program. The courses he has been (or is currently) teaching include Pop-Jazz Keyboards, Music Theory, Applied Music Production, Contemporary Arranging & Music Production.
Thomas is also the creator and owner of several educational websites such as PopJazzKeys.com and MusicTrainingOnline.com. He also teaches group and private lessons on Zoom.
Visit http://www.ThomasGunther.com for more info.

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