Red River Valley by Traditional
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 14 steps · 4 unique chords
C
No source cited for this step
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: C major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 2
Form: A Section → Chorus
Where these chords come from: a lead sheet of this public-domain song, contributed by a musician to the Wikifonia archive and preserved in the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). It describes the song as written, not any particular recording. This page shows that lead sheet as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.
Section by section
A Section
- C – G7 (×2)
I – V7 - C – C7 – F – C – G7
I – I7 – IV – I – V7
Chorus
- C – G7 (×2)
I – V7 - C – C7 – F – C – G7
I – I7 – IV – I – V7
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | I | Home chord (tonic) | A Section, Chorus |
| G7 | V7 | In the key | A Section, Chorus |
| C7 | I7 | Secondary dominant (V/IV) | A Section, Chorus |
| F | IV | In the key | A Section, Chorus |
Harmonic highlights
- C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to F.
Sources & accuracy
- Chords: the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). Community-contributed lead sheet (chord symbols over the melody) from the Wikifonia archive, MIT licence. Title and songwriter credit as written on the sheet.
- Section names: detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases; a phrase that comes back keeps its letter). Lead sheets rarely print section names.
- Not verified: only one lead sheet of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
- Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the public-domain lead sheet listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018)Community lead sheet
Chords as written in a lead sheet of a public-domain song, contributed by a musician to the Wikifonia archive; not checked against a recording.
Community-contributed lead sheet (chord symbols over the melody) from the Wikifonia archive, MIT licence. Title and songwriter credit as written on the sheet.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Section, part 1 (×2) | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 2 | A Section, part 1 (×2) | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 3 | A Section, part 2 | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 4 | A Section, part 2 | C7 | C2, G2 | B♭3, E4, G4 | — |
| 5 | A Section, part 2 | F | F2, C3 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 6 | A Section, part 2 | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 7 | A Section, part 2 | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 8 | Chorus, part 1 (×2) | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 9 | Chorus, part 1 (×2) | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 10 | Chorus, part 2 | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 11 | Chorus, part 2 | C7 | C2, G2 | B♭3, E4, G4 | — |
| 12 | Chorus, part 2 | F | F2, C3 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 13 | Chorus, part 2 | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 14 | Chorus, part 2 | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |