Imagination by Jimmy Van Heusen

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – Fm7 – B♭7
  ii7 – V7 – I6 – ii7 – V7

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – Edim7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – G7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• E♭maj7 – Edim7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – v7 – I7

Bridge

• A♭maj7 – Fm7 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – A7♭9/C♯ – Dm7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭aug7
  IVmaj7 – ii7 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – VI7 – #IV7b9 (bass C♯) – vii7 – iii7 – vi7 – II7 – V7sus4 – V+7

A Section 3

• E♭maj7 – Edim7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7♭5 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – D♭7♯11 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – Fm7 – B♭7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – bVII7#11 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Edim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Gm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
G7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m7	v7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
E♭7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Bridge
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Bridge
A7♭9/C♯	#IV7b9 (bass C♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Dm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Cm7	vi7	In the key	Bridge
F7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Bridge
B♭aug7	V+7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Bridge
D♭7♯11	bVII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• D7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.
• F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Imagination” (credited “Van-Heusen Jimmy”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Imagination (Tom's Alt Chds)” (credited “Van-Heusen Jimmy”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• 2 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.