 Lennon composed " Imagine " one morning in early 1971 , on a Steinway piano , in a bedroom at his Tittenhurst Park estate in Ascot , Berkshire , England . Ono watched as he composed the melody , chord structure and almost all the lyrics , nearly completing the song in one brief writing session . Described as a piano ballad performed in the soft rock genre , the song is in the key of C major . Its 4 @-@ bar piano introduction begins with a C chord then moves to Cmaj7 before changing to F ; the 12 @-@ bar verses also follow this chord progression , with their last 4 bars moving from Am / E to Dm and Dm / C , finishing with G , G11 then G7 , before resolving back to C. The 8 @-@ bar choruses progress from F to G to C , then Cmaj7 and E before ending on E7 , a C chord substituted for E7 in the final bar . The 4 @-@ bar outro begins with F , then G , before resolving on C. With a duration of 3 minutes and 3 seconds and a time signature of 4 / 4 , the song 's tempo falls around 75 beats per minute . 
 Lennon composed " Imagine " one morning in early 1971 , on a Steinway piano , in a bedroom at his Tittenhurst Park estate in Ascot , Berkshire , England . Ono watched as he composed the melody , chord structure and almost all the lyrics , nearly completing the song in one brief writing session . Described as a piano ballad performed in the soft rock genre , the song is in the key of C major . Its 4 @-@ bar piano introduction <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>begins</mark></a> with a C chord then <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>moves</mark></a> to Cmaj7 before changing to F ; the 12 @-@ bar verses also follow this chord progression , with their last 4 bars moving from Am / E to Dm and Dm / C , finishing with G , G11 then G7 , before resolving back to C. The 8 @-@ bar choruses progress from F to G to C , then Cmaj7 and E before ending on E7 , a C chord substituted for E7 in the final bar . The 4 @-@ bar outro <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>begins</mark></a> with F , then G , before resolving on C. With a duration of 3 minutes and 3 seconds and a time signature of 4 / 4 , the song <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>tempo <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>falls</mark></a> around 75 beats per minute . 
Lennon composed " Imagine " one mornin in early 1971 , on a Steinway piano , in a bedroom at his Tittenhurst Park estate in Ascot , Berkshire , England . Ono watched as he composed the melody , chord structure and almost all the lyrics , nearly completing the song in one brief writing session . Described as a piano ballad performed in the soft rock genre , the song is in da key of C major . Its 4 @-@ bar piano introduction begin with a C chord then move to Cmaj7 before changin to F ; the 12 @-@ bar verses also follow this chord progression , with their last 4 bars moving from Am / E to Dm and Dm / C , finishing wit G , G11 then G7 , b4 resolving bk to C. Tda8 @-@ bar choruses progress from fuc to G to C , then Cmaj7 and E before ending on E7 , a C chord substituted fa E7 in the final bar . Thda @-@ bar outro begin witfuc F , then G , before resolving on C. With a duration of 3 minutes and 3 seconds and a time signature of 4 / 4 , the song  tempo fall around 75 beats per minute .