Down in the River to Pray (12-string/DADGAD)

Did you ever get a tune stuck in your head? Alison Krauss did a beautiful job of singing this old hymn on the soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" I was listening to it on my MP3 player while on a trip recently. I've been hearing it ever since.

When I arranged it for the guitar, I realized that I would not be able to replicate the haunting harmonies from the original soundtrack, so I kept things simple. I was thinking of a dulcimer type of arrangement.

Played on my old Taylor 555, tuned to DADGAD, lowered a step.

Tab available at:
http://tinyurl.com/2etxfbx

Below is an abbreviated version of the lyrics:

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown?
Good Lord show me the way

O sinners, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sinners, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

Category:

Music

Tags:

• 12-string guitar
• dulcimer
• O Brother Where Art Thou
• fingerstyle
• DADGAD
• CGCFGC
• Alison Krauss
• traditional
• hymn
• acoustic
• Taylor
• Flip Mino HD

[dadgadjohn]

That is a great guitar. I recently bought a Taylor GA4-12, that plays wonderfully. I've already gotten some new tunes from it. But it's still new and tone-wise, this one is much better.

[flyfifer51]

Top man. Top skill.

Beautiful guitar.

Many thanks for posting your great music.

Do you play any John Dowling? Sure it'd be amazing.

Greetings from Scotland

[dadgadjohn]

@flyfifer51

Thank you so much. No, I don't play any of his music, but I'll check his music out.

My father was from Glascow. One day, I'll get over there and meet some of my relatives.

[Tomaji69]

@flyfifer51 - This guitar sounds "thin" to me for a baritone 12-string....check out this other one (on YouTube also) that's very rare and wonderful...I've heard it in person and it has the most amazing tone and robust timbre I've ever heard from any 12 string. Search YouTube for "Oberhausen" and you'll find it...this comment thing won't let me paste a link to it here, even though it's a YouTube link, for some strange reason!! Check it out..

[dadgadjohn]

@Tomaji69 - The mic on the camera that I used (flip MinoHD) didn't help the sound. The guitar is not a baritone. It is a regular Taylor 555 with a standard scale length. I string it heavier than a standard 12-string set, and tune it a bit lower.

In this video, I think I'm tuned about 1 1/2 steps lower. These days, I tune a step low (CGCFGC).

[Duchess1972]

So touching to hear the instrumental of this song... When I hear this I get a lump in my throat and I just want to fall down on my knees to pray... God Bless!

[dadgadjohn]

@Duchess1972 - Thank you.  That means a lot to me.

[JohnnyBoxer92]

Beautiful mate! Love your visible passion as well!

God Bless,

greetings from New Zealand.

[xlbder]

@dadgadjohn Love the sound of this on the 12 string. Sent you a friend request. Like to use your song in a short film project, but I can't message you without being friends. Really beautiful!

[Tomaji69]

@dadgadjohn - thanks for the update....I see now. Taylors are great guitars, that's why I was wondering about the robustness. Yes, the baritone I was talking about is hard for most players to play proficiently, because the strings are lower guage, tuned to B...but, I'm a bass player, so one note at a time for me unless I'm writing on my classical 6-string.....LOVE that sound, so easy to play, romantic and the strings seems to last forever...(good for camping too). Play on... you sound fabulous!

[vincentwillis]

It's such a simple arrangement, but it's one of the best I've heard.

[96Z24]

Wish I could play like that. Nice.

[mvam319]

That taylor sounds sweet!!!!! Love DADGAD Big fan of celtic and folk music Great Job!!! in gonna learn this song I came so close to buyin a taylor loved their sound but in the end Martin won out But who knows maybe one day ill be able to get a taylor