Red River Valley Kalimba Tabs (17-Key)

Red River Valley kalimba tabs

For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. This tab is one verse: 38 notes on 8 tines, from G4 up to G5.

newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/redriver/

Number tab

The number tab read aloud, one sentence per group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two. 5, high 1. high 3, high 3, high 3, high 3, high 2, high 3. high 2, high 1, high 3, high 3. high 3, high 1, high 3, high 5, high 4, high 3. high 2, high 5, high 4. high 3, high 3, high 2, high 1, high 2, high 3. high 5, high 4, 6, 6. 5, 7, high 1, high 2, high 3, high 2. high 1.

Letter notes

G₄C₅E₅E₅E₅E₅D₅E₅D₅C₅E₅E₅E₅C₅E₅G₅F₅E₅D₅G₅F₅E₅E₅D₅C₅D₅E₅G₅F₅A₄A₄G₄B₄C₅D₅E₅D₅C₅

Tines you need

The long tine in the middle is 1 (C4). Notes climb outward, alternating left and right, so neighbours on the same side are two steps apart.

How to read this tab

Numbers are steps of the scale. 1 is C, 2 is D, up to 7 for B. A dot above a number means one octave higher; two dots, two octaves higher. The song starts 5 1̇ 3̇ 3̇ 3̇ 3̇ 2̇ 3̇ (G4 C5 E5 E5 E5 E5 D5 E5).
Gaps mark bars. Each group is one bar of music. The tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it; press Listen on the play-along page to hear the rhythm.
Other kalimbas. On an 8-, 10- or 21-key kalimba in C the numbers mean the same notes, as long as the tines you need are there.

About the song

A North American folk song of uncertain origin, in print by 1896. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

What it covers. One verse (“From this valley they say you are going”); the chorus uses the same tune.
Key. C major (engraved in G major).
Source. Transcribed from Wikipedia score (melody). The tune was in print before 1931, for example in Carson J. Robison’s World’s Greatest Collection of Mountain Ballads and Old Time Songs (M. M. Cole, Chicago, 1930), p. 36, as “The Bright Mohawk Valley”; its two-note pickups and its third note differ from this tab.