Red River Valley Guitar Chords
Key of G 4/4 96 BPM 4 chords: G D G7 C Beginner
The 4 chords of Red River Valley
Red River Valley is the cowboy ballad of campfire songbooks, and a gentle first song on guitar: four chords, G, G7, C and D, and long stretches on the same chord. Each half of the song is sixteen bars, and the verse and the chorus share exactly the same progression, so you only have one thing to learn. This chord sheet places every chord over its word for two verses and the chorus. Strum it with a relaxed country feel, bass note then strum, and slow down a little on the last line, "and the one who has loved you so true".
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right), numbers are fingers. Tap a chord for every other way to play it.
Red River Valley chords and lyrics
Each chord sits over the word where it changes. Keep strumming the same chord until the next one. Song credits: Traditional North American folk song.
Verse 1
From this Gvalley they say you are going
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet Dsmile
Chorus
Come and Gsit by my side if you love me
Do not hasten to bid me aDdieu
How to strum Red River Valley
The song is in 4/4: 4 beats in every bar. Count them aloud, and strum down on the numbers and up on the "and".
Easy
Full
Four beats per bar. A country strum: pick the bass note of the chord on beat one, strum on beat two, the bass again on three, strum on four.
Tips for Red River Valley on guitar
The chords
G, G7, C and D. G7 lasts only one bar, on "sunshine" and "valley", and leads into C.
The tricky part
The last line moves quickly: C, D, then G, a bar each. Look ahead to C while you are on G7.
Change the key
To sing higher, keep the same shapes and put a capo on fret 2, which raises the song a whole step, or on fret 4 for two whole steps. The chords on this page and the guitar above stay the same; only the pitch changes.
The story of Red River Valley
Red River Valley was sung in Canada and the United States from the 1870s, and nobody knows who wrote it. Canadians link it to the Red River of Manitoba, Americans to the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma; its words were printed as a song sheet in the 1890s.
Cowboy singers of the 1920s and 1930s made it a western classic, and it has been recorded by country, folk and rock musicians ever since.
Source: Traditional North American folk song (1870s, song sheets of the 1890s), public domain; chords in G by GOONS Studio.
Frequently asked
What chords are in Red River Valley?
In G: G for six bars, D for two, G for three, G7, then C, D and G. The chorus uses the same chords.
Is Red River Valley good for beginners?
Very. It stays on G for long stretches, uses only open chords, and the verse and chorus have the same progression.
Which Red River is the song about?
Nobody knows for sure. Canadians say the Red River of Manitoba, Americans the Red River on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. The song was sung in both countries from the 1870s.
Record your own Red River Valley
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