Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Down By The Riverside: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Learn it
Style

Left hand Jazz walkRight hand Hopscotch chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany Down By The Riverside without reading music. The left hand plays jazz walk (walking bass) and the right hand hopscotch chords.

Down By The Riverside accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab – Eb – Bb7 – Eb loop with jazz walk in the left hand and hopscotch chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Gb5+Ab5 Gb4+C5+Eb5 Gb4+C5+Eb5
LAb2 Bb2 Cb2 C3
Bar 2
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Db5+Eb5 Db4+G4+Bb4 Db4+G4+Bb4
LEb2 F2 Gb2 G2
Bar 3
Bb7
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 Ab3+D4+F4 Ab3+D4+F4
LBb2 C3 Db3 D3
Bar 4
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Db5+Eb5 Db4+G4+Bb4 Gb5 G5 Bb5 C6 Bb5 G5 Gb5 Eb5
LEb2 F2 Gb2 G2
Bar 5
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Gb5+Ab5 Gb4+C5+Eb5 Gb4+C5+Eb5
LAb2 Bb2 Cb2 C3
Bar 6
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Db5+Eb5 Db4+G4+Bb4 Db4+G4+Bb4
LEb2 F2 Gb2 G2
Bar 7
Bb7
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 Ab3+D4+F4 Ab3+D4+F4
LBb2 C3 Db3 D3
Bar 8
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Db5+Eb5 Db4+G4+Bb4 Db4+G4+Bb4
LEb2 F2 Gb2 G2

How to read the bar sheet

The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.

Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.

Play next

Questions about Down By The Riverside

What are the letter notes for the Down By The Riverside piano accompaniment?

Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is Ab – Eb – Bb7 – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Down By The Riverside?

The loop is Ab – Eb – Bb7 – Eb (IV – I – V7 – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Bb7 – Eb.

What key is Down By The Riverside in?

Eb major, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in Down By The Riverside?

Jazz walk: walking bass, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Down By The Riverside easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.