Down in the Valley
Folk · 1800s · Traditional American folk ballad, Appalachian roots, collected in the early 20th century
Sing Down in the Valley with pitch feedback
“Down in the Valley” is transcribed here with its tonic on C4 at 90 bpm in 3 beats to the bar. The 9 notes span G3 to E4 — 9 semitones — which rates Hard to sing, and a full 4-pass session runs about 0:40.
9 semitones as transcribed. The practice room transposes it to sit in your own range.
- One time through
- 0:10 at 90 bpm
- A full session
- 0:40 — 4 passes
- Leaps of a third or more
- 3
Down in the Valley lyrics, as transcribed here
- Down in the valley, valley so low,
The songbook transcribes the opening phrase rather than the whole song, because 4 tight repetitions of a phrase you can hear yourself improve on beats one distracted run at the full thing.
Origin and copyright status
Traditional Appalachian folk song of unknown authorship, collected and published without any copyright claim.
- Attribution
- Traditional American folk ballad, Appalachian roots, collected in the early 20th century
- Language
- English
Every melody in the songbook is public domain, which is why the whole thing can be sung in a browser without a licence. A specific recording or arrangement of the same tune can still be under copyright — this is our own transcription of the melody.
Genre, era and what it drills
Tags describe what the melody asks of a voice, not what it sounds like — “ballad” is the reason to pick it on a given day.