Red Is The Rose chords

by Daniel O'Donnell
  • Red Is The Rose is a traditional song... Irish variant of the Scottish song, The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond.
  • This version by Daniel O'Donnell is featured on the album Moon Over Ireland.
  • Music: Key of E Major in 4/4 time at approx. 100 bpm (♩)
  • Chords: E, A, G#m, B7, F#m, C#m... charts below
  • Beginners: Play in C Major with chords - C, F, Em, G7, D, A (capo on 4 if playing with video)
Chart Legend
Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords   O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings   R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open   X: Don't play string    B: Bass Note
E Major A Major B7 F#m G#m C#m
E Major A Major B7 F#m G#m C#m

Red Is The Rose

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key
               E      A     G#m     B7      E      B7
Intro: 4/4 ‖       |     -       |      |       |      ‖
                
        E         C#m          F#m            A
1. Come o-ver the hills     My bon-ny I-rish lass
        E         C#m           F#m   B7
   Come o-ver the hills to your dar - ling
   A              G#m               F#m             A
   You choose the road love     And I will make the vow
       E            A     G#m        B7  E
   And I'll be your true  love for - e - ver

        E          C#m              F#m            A
Chorus: Red is the rose     That in yon-der garden grows
        E           C#m          F#m   B7
        Fair is the li-ly of the val - ley
        A            G#m         F#m            A
        Clear is the wa-ter that flows from the Boyne
            E          A      G#m     B7  E     B7
        But my love is fair - er than a - ny |       |

          E           C#m             F#m           A
2.  'Twas down by Kil-lar-ney's green woods that we strayed
              E            C#m             F#m    B7
     When the moon and the stars they were shin – ing
         A              G#m         F#m              A
     The moon shone its rays on her locks of gold-en hair
             E                A    G#m         B7  E
     And she swore she'd  be  my   love  for - e - ver

        E          C#m              F#m            A
Chorus: Red is the rose     That in yon-der garden grows
        E           C#m          F#m   B7
        Fair is the li-ly of the val - ley
        A            G#m         F#m            A
        Clear is the wa-ter that flows from the Boyne
            E          A      G#m     B7  E 
        But my love is fair – er than a - ny

           E      A      G#m    B7      E      B7
Instr: ‖       |     -       |      |       |      ‖

        E           C#m         F#m        A 
3. It's not for the part-ing of my sis-ter Kate
        E           C#m         F#m  B7
   It's not for the grief of my mo - ther
        A           G#m        F#m           A
   It’s all for the loss of my bon-ny I-rish lass
        E           A     G#m       B7  E
   That my heart is break-ing for - e - ver

        E          C#m              F#m            A
Chorus: Red is the rose     That in yon-der garden grows
        E           C#m            F#m   B7
        Fair is the li - ly of the val - ley
        A            G#m         F#m            A
        Clear is the wa-ter that flows from the Boyne
            E          A      G#m     B7  E
        But my love is fair - er than a - ny
            E          A      G#m     B7  E
        Yes my love is fair - er than a - ny... 

Notes:

  • Level Of Ease: Fairy Easy. There a few barre chords, but they are all easy to play.
  • Song Key: This version of the song is in the key of E Major - 4 sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#)
  • 4/4 time: 4 quarter-note beats per bar, therefore the count is:
    | ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩ | = |1 2 3 4 | or | 1& 2& 3& | etc.
  • Tempo: 100 bpm with the metronome or click track sounding on every quarter-note beat
  • The standard chord progression for E Major is E - F#m - G#m - A - B - C#m - D#º. Notice that all the chords in the song are from the standard chord progression including chord extensions, i.e., B7
  • I have kept the chord changes as simple as possible. If you listen to the guitarist, he plays a few interesting chords which blend in very well, e.g., at the end of the second line, 1st verse, he plays a B6 chord (22110x or x24444 or 224444) as opposed to a B7 chord - help with understanding written chords.

    He also plays the occasional C#m7 (446454 or x46454) instead of C#m... the choice is yours.
  • When guitarists play an E chord, they sometimes add an F# (EaddF#) to add color to the chord - 022102, or a G# (EaddG#) - an octave above the existing G# - 022104.
  • When you see a chord separated by a hyphen in 4/4 time, e.g., | A - G#m | play the A chord for 2 beats and G#m for 2 beats... the hyphen splits the beat count of the bar evenly between the 2 chords. All other chords have a 4 beat count.

Daniel O'Donnell

Moon Over Ireland album
Daniel O'Donnell

Born: Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell on the 12th December, 1961 in Kincasslagh, County Donegal, Ireland

Occupation: Singer–songwriter

Instrument: Vocals

Active Years: 1980 – present

Music Styles: Country, easy listening

Associations: Majella O'Donnell, Margo, Mary Duff

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A seasoned performer joyfully playing the guitar