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Piano sheet music for kids · Spiritual · Level 6: Moving on
Down by the Riverside
Free beginner piano sheet music: C major, 4/4, 12 bars and a pickup. Press Play to hear it on a real piano, slow it down, or hear one hand at a time; click any note to start from there; print it for the music stand.
About this arrangement
The spiritual about laying down sword and shield, with its chorus “I ain’t gon-na stu-dy war no more”. The rhythm is the thing: many beats are a short note then a long one, a semiquaver (sixteenth note) and a dotted quaver, and the pickup “I’m gon-na” is three semiquavers after a tiny rest, with a D sharp, a black key, on “na”. The tune sits in C position but dips to the G and A below middle C for “down my”, and the D sharp comes back on “the” in most of the “by the riv-er-side” lines. The left hand plays a bass note and a chord in each half bar, through C, F and G7.
Practice tip: Clap the words before you play, slowly, so the short-long pattern settles. Then the notes are easy, most of them are E, D and C.
The words
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, gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more, I ain't gonna study war no more, I ain't gonna study war no more.
A short history
Down by the Riverside is an African-American spiritual whose roots go back before the American Civil War. It was first published in 1918, in Plantation Melodies, a collection printed in Chicago by the Rodeheaver Company, and the first recording was made by the Fisk University jubilee quartet in 1920.
The words picture a baptism by the river, laying down the burdens of the world before crossing over. The chorus, “I ain’t gonna study war no more”, echoes the prophet Isaiah: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, “neither shall they learn war any more”. The verses change from singer to singer: walking with the Prince of Peace, shaking hands around the world.
Because of that chorus the song became a peace song in the 20th century, sung at marches against war, and jazz bands still play it as a cheerful stomp.
Quick facts
- Tune
- Traditional (African-American spiritual, printed 1918)
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Length
- 12 bars and a pickup
- Tempo
- With a swing, crotchet = 96
- Difficulty
- Level 6: Moving on (piece 191 of 201)
- Type
- Spiritual
- Hands
- Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
- Copyright
- Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use
Questions and answers
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