Down By The Riverside - Tutorial + Tab

 


This is my version of the traditional song Down By The Riverside. This is an upbeat song and has many different versions of it by many different artists. This version is played on a guitar tuned to Open D and is in 4/4 time. In this video, I play through the verse and chorus of the song. This just needs to be repeated for any more verses of the song you wish to add.

Below are the lyrics, some tips to help you play this piece, and links to download the tab.

Down By The Riverside Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT
 
Here are the lyrics to the song if you wish to sing along. These follow the melody line I play on the guitar. Because there are so many versions of this song, the lyrics do vary, but they are roughly the same. These are from the Louis Armstrong version:
 
Lyrics 
 
I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
I'm gonna study, study, war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
 
I'm gonna lay down my heavy load
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
I'm gonna lay down my heavy load
Down by the riverside
Gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
I ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
 
Ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
Ain't gonna study war no more
Yes, laid down Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside
I'm gonna lay down my heavy load
Down by the riverside
God is tiding on no more
No more
 Source: Musixmatch
  • Travis Picking - The song employs a standard travis picking pattern throughout with the 
bass notes alternating between the 6th and 4th strings for the entire 
song. If you need some advice on travis picking, check out my other 
video here:

 

  • Barring The 5th Fret - Although this is quite a straightforward piece to play, you have to make a barre on the 5th fret and then play other notes with this barre in place. Because of the travis picking pattern you are always playing the 6th and 4th strings. As such, you will have to barre all 6 strings to play this section. If you are struggling with this, you could make a barre across the top 4 strings of the guitar and just play the bass note repeating on the 4th string, instead of alternating between the 6th and 4th strings. It will not sound as good but it will still be in tune. 

  • Bending those Notes - I put a few bends on some of the notes when playing this piece and some of these are noted in the tab. However, in my opinion, I believe this piece lends itself to quite a lot of string bends to add emphasis to certain notes. Once you have learned to play the music, try inserting a few string bends on notes of your choosing. You could get a really nice effect.
 
This
 is about all I need to say about this piece. It is quite a straightforward travis picking piece, so if you are familiar with this playing style you should be able to learn it quite easily. If you are struggling a bit, learn to play it slowly and then gradually build up the tempo.


Thanks for Reading,

Neil

















































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