Chet Atkins was an absolute master of fingerstyle guitar. To play his rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon pick the notes on the low E string and A string with your thumb, pick the notes on the D string with your 1st finger, pluck the notes in the G string with your 2nd finger, pluck on the B string with your 3rd finger, and pluck on the high E string with your 4th finger.

Drop D Tuning

This song is in drop D tuning. In drop D tuning the low E string is tuned down one whole step to D. This enables the guitarist to play power chords with a single finger. If your favorite band uses drop D tuning and you want to experiment with this tuning, by all means, do so. Whatever you do, don’t learn the guitar in drop D tuning-you’ll get all mixed up.

To tune your guitar to drop D tuning, first make sure you’re tuned to standard tuning. Then you’ll want to tune your low E string down two steps to D (we drop it down one step, hence the name). See the picture below. You can use the audio clip below to tune your low E string to D for drop D tuning.

Verse (part 1)