Red River Valley on the kalimba: tabs
Red River Valley is a easy song on the kalimba: 38 notes over 9 bars in 4/4 at 80 BPM, about 26 seconds. It uses 8 different keys. It fits the keys as it is, with no transposing.
Red River Valley kalimba tab in numbers
| r r r 51* | 3* 3*3* 3* 2*3* | | 2*1* r r 51* | 3* 1*3* 5* 4*3* | | 2* - - 5*4* | 3* 3*2* 1* 2*3* | | 5*4* r r 66 | 5 71* 2* 3*2* | | 1* - - |
Red River Valley kalimba tab in letters
| r r r G4C5 | E5 E5E5 E5 D5E5 | | D5C5 r r G4C5 | E5 C5E5 G5 F5E5 | | D5 - - G5F5 | E5 E5D5 C5 D5E5 | | G5F5 r r A4A4 | G4 B4C5 D5 E5D5 | | C5 - - |
Red River Valley kalimba tab in solfège
| r r r Sol4Do5 | Mi5 Mi5Mi5 Mi5 Ré5Mi5 | | Ré5Do5 r r Sol4Do5 | Mi5 Do5Mi5 Sol5 Fa5Mi5 | | Ré5 - - Sol5Fa5 | Mi5 Mi5Ré5 Do5 Ré5Mi5 | | Sol5Fa5 r r La4La4 | Sol4 Si4Do5 Ré5 Mi5Ré5 | | Do5 - - |
What to watch for
- The most played key is 3*, used for 12 of the 38 notes. The tune goes from 5 up to 5*.
- The widest jump is from 4* to 6 (8 semitones): slow down there the first times.
- A note is played again straight after itself 5 times: keep the beat steady rather than rushing the repeats.
How to read this tab
A vertical bar is a bar line. A dash keeps the last note ringing, an r is a silent beat, and notes in brackets are played together. It shows the melody part. The kalimba page explains the notes in more detail.