Shawn Mendes - Imagination - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords G, F/C, C, Am, Fm, F Easy key G (capo 5)

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Capo 0

Am  F/C  C  G

                    Am                         F/C
Oh, there she goes again, every morning is the same
            C                     G
You walk on by my house, I wanna call out your name
Am                    F/C                             C
I wanna tell you how beautiful you are from where I'm standing
           G
You got me thinking what we could because

Am                       F/C
I keep craving, craving you
                       C
Don't know it but it's true
                       G                                 Am
Can't give my mouth to say the words they wanna say to you
                     F/C
This is typical of love
                           C                                    
Can't wait anymore,I won't wait I need to tell  how I feel when I
       G
See us together forever

      C                   G
In my dreams, you're with me
          F/C                     G
We'll be everything I wanna us to be
         C              G
And from there, who knows
       F/C                            G
Maybe this will be the night that we kiss
For the first time
      F/C               Fm
Or is that just me in my imagination

Am                             F/C                         C
We walk, we left, we spend our time, walking by the ocean side
                          G                                Am
My hands are gently intertwined, a feeling I just can't describe
                        F/C                           C
All this time we spent alone, thinking we could not belong
                     G                           Am
To something so damn beautiful, so damn beautiful

Am                      F/C
I keep craving, craving you
                       C
Don't know it but it's true
                       G                               Am
Can't give my mouth to say the words they wanna say to you
                    F/C
This is typical of love
                           C                                
Can't wait anymore,I won't wait I need to tell  how I feel when I
         G
See us together forever

        C                  G
In my dreams, you're with me
         F/C                      G
We'll be everything I wanna us to be
         C              G
And from there, who knows
       F/C                            G
Maybe this will be the night that we kiss
For the first time
      F/C                 Fm
Or is that just me in my imagination

Am   F/C  C  G
Oooohhh
Imagination, imagination
Oooohhh
Ohhh

      C                   G
In my dreams, you're with me
              F/C                     G
And we'll be everything I wanna us to be
         C              G
And from there, who knows
       F/C                            G
Maybe this will be the night that we kiss
For the first time
     F                   Fm
Or is that just me in my imagination

Am                      F/C
I keep craving, craving you
                        C
Don't know it but it's true
                        G                              C
Can't give my mouth to say the words they wanna say to you

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - Imagination Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – Imagination: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Am and ends on C. Its chords belong to both C major and Am, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

C major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = B (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = F (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

A minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = F (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = G (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the C major side because it comes to rest on C, it opens on Am and C is heard 18 times against 12 for Am. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from A minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to C or to Am; comparing both readings is a practice of its own.

Every chord of the key, listed 1 to 7 separately for each key. Chords played in the song show how often they appear; chords from outside the scale sit next to their own degree.

Seen from C major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	C	Tonic — home	C · E · G	18×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	—
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	—
V/vi	E	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B	—
IV	F/C	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	19×
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	1×
iv	Fm	Minor iv — borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	F · Ab · C	3×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	23×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	12×
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Am	Tonic — home	A · C · E	12×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	18×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	—
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	—
V	E	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B	—
VI	F/C	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	19×
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	1×
vi	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	3×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	23×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 6 different chords appear 76 times in total; 5 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Fm is borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

F/C C CIV → Iplagal cadence AmVI → III ×11
G C CV → Iauthentic cadence AmVII → III ×7
G Am CV → videceptive cadence AmVII → iAeolian arrival ×7
F/C G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×6

The move to watch is F/C → C, heard 11 times. From the C side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Am side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic are the same five notes (C – D – E – G – A): start from C for a brighter phrase, from A for a bluesier one.
Over G, land on G, B, D — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over F/C, land on F, A, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over C, land on C, E, G — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
On Fm, follow the chord's notes (F · Ab · C) rather than the key's scale — it's a borrowed colour.

The song on the circle of fifths

Played in the song — chord of the key
Played — the minor's harmonic V or a secondary dominant
Played — borrowed or outside chord
Home region: IV–I–V and ii–vi–iii

Empty slices are chords the song doesn't use.

Capo and easier keys

With C major shapes

No capo — open C shapes
Capo 3 + A shapes
Capo 5 + G shapes

With A minor shapes

No capo — open Am shapes
Capo 5 + Em shapes
Capo 7 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch
3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Am, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. G, F/C, C, Am carry the song: V–IV–I–vi relative to C, VII–VI–III–i relative to Am. Fm briefly darkens the picture: minor iv — borrowed from the parallel minor. Keep an ear on F/C → C (IV → I in C, VI → III in Am): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. Ending on C, the song seals C as home.

This analysis is generated from the song's chords by akorculuk's harmony engine using consistent rules. When you change key, the degrees stay the same; only the chord names change.