PDF of Down to the River to Pray
Download MuseScore file of Down to the River to Pray
This is a beautiful hymn has been sung a lot in the Minneapolis resistance (January 2026). Though it originates in the Christian tradition, the theme of praying at a river to establish solidarity with God and one another is found in almost all religious traditions.
PDF of choir music for St. John’s Choir Members
This is a collection of music that is in the St. John’s choir’s repetoire
Download PDF of We’re Gonna Roll
Download MuseScore file of We’re Gonna Roll
This is a fun song to sing in a large group and it’s a good “zipper song”; in other words, you can make up verses on the fly, so it’s really adaptable.
If the goons get in the way, we’re gonna roll right over them…
If the scabs get in the way, we’re gonna roll right over them…
If the Gov gets in the way, we’re gonna roll it over him…
If they lie to us again, were gonna roll it over them…
If they try to lock us out, were gonna roll it over them…
If they throw us all in jail, were gonna roll it over them…
If they try to shut us up, were gonna roll it over them…
The Almanac Singers singing Roll the Union On
by Woody Guthrie
Download PDF of I Ain’t Got No Home
Download MuseScore file of I Ain’t Got No Home
This isn’t a song that can be played by a band or sung by a chorus. It’s just a guitar and singer sort of thing. Not sure why I am including it except that I can’t very well leave it out, you know? There’s nothing more to say about this. It makes me cry every time. I’m hoping that I’m not abridging any copyrights…
I put this in D minor, and fairly high; that’s because it’s the way Woody Guthrie sings it. Women folk singers (American) tend to like to use the lower part of their voices and this key probably works for them, too, if they sing it an octave lower than what is written here. If I write it out that way, it looks stupid because I have to use so many ledger lines. Maybe I’ll transpose it to E-flat minor — but not today.
Here is Rosanne Cash, singing I Ain’t Got No home — A very different, but equally moving performance.
Download PDF file of I’m Gon’ Stand
Download MuseScore file of I’m Gon’ Stand
This call and response song requires a strong, energetic leader and a back-up chorus who can hold to the harmony. When the singers can hold their parts, this is very effective but it’s not a good song for “sing-along”. I have given a bare bones version of the song and labeled the leaders part, “ad lib.” If you listen to the version by Sweet Honey in the Rock, below, you will get an idea of how flexible this can be.
Here is a great rendition of I’m Gon’ Stand by Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Download PDF of Go Down Moses
Downlosd PDF of band arrangement of Go Down Moses
Download MuseScore files (lead sheet and band arr.) for Go Down Moses
Go Down Moses! You can sing this in a straight up choral/gospel style, as a New Orleans style jazz number, with solo improvisations for band, you can write new verses to suite the needs of the moment, really there are so many possibilities that i can’t list them all. Plus, almost everybody knows the chorus and they can join in. I love the version by Louis Armstrong that I have included below.
I haven’t written a band arrangement for this and I am not sure I really am up to it. This may be one of those songs that just has to be improvised. Maybe I’ll write out a bass line with chords and the melody and let you all take it from there.
Here is the Louis Armstrong version.
Download PDF of America the Beautiful
Download PDF of band arrangement of America the Beautiful
Download MuseScore file (compressed) of America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful is the first score that we have offered in a MuseScore file. We are doing this so that band leaders can arrange parts according to what instruments they have in their bands. MuseScore is a really good music transcription application that can be downloaded free from MuseScore.org. There is also a professional level version that also allows you to download from a really big library of music that other members have composed or transcribed. As with all the music transcription software available, there is pretty stiff learning curve when you start; but, if you are going to be dealing with a lot of music for band, it is well worth the time to learn it.
Here is a wonderful arrangement by Carmen Dragon. I couldn’t resist including it. If your band is can do it, definitely play this rather than mine! (Well, maybe for marching.)
Download PDF of The Star Spangled Banner
Download PDF of full score and parts for marching band of The Star Spangled Banner
I have mixed feelings about our National Anthem. Francis Scott Key’s intention in writing the words it was, in part to proclaim victory over slaves who tried to escape in British ships during the War of 1812, and nowadays it is still very often used in offensively chauvinistic ways, ways that reinforce a kind of overbearing, masculine and militaristic ideal of what it means to be an American, and ideal that excludes women, gay men (really all LGBTQ people), native Americans and anybody who does not ally themselves with football. Still, the tune (which predates Keys’s words) is magnificent, and the sentiment in the first verse speaks to our hope that our Flag and the American ideals that it stands for will somehow withstand the shadows of oppression that are shadowing our land. Yeah, I do actually love the song. We know that the origins of our national ideals are often marred by the unthinking racism of the founders, but they laid down ideas that were a transition from the brutality of their times and have been a foundation for the liberal tradition of the past two and a half centuries.
Here is the Navy Band playing the Star Spangled Banner. (I need to listen to their arrangement carefully and see if I can’t improve the version for band given above).
Here is a really fantastic choral version by the Kentucky All-State Choir at their annual convention. It is very slow because the space they are in is so reverberant.
Download PDF of We Have Come with a Force More Powerful
Music is sometimes more effective than words This is another of the Peace Poets short chants. They call this “a Deescalation song to honor the strength of our love.” Non violence is in its essence a method of communication by taking down walls and, if possible, making friends with the enemy and convincing them to change their ways. We always hope for that possibility. Often, we can do this work better through music than we can by yelling and arguing. Here‘s an interesting clip from The Tennesseean showing a confrontation at the No Kings demonstration in Nasheville between the police, a group from The Proud Boys and a crowd of demonstrators. A lot of protestors were yelling and swearing; but a brass band stepped up and started playing O Bella Ciao. By the end of the song, the tension had dissipated and everybody, even the Proud Boys, were clapping and cheering for the music.
Listen to the YouTube Video: We Have Come With a Voice More Powerful
Download PDF of Down by the Riverside (in F major)
Score for Band: Down by the Riverside In B-flat major for band, separate instrumental parts included.
Download MuseScore files (lead sheet and band arrangement) of Down by the Riverside
Down by the Riverside is very popular at demonstrations, particularly when there is a band there. I have included a band arrangement above, but a lot of bands just take the melody and improvise on it in a New Orleans jazz style and, if your band can improvise, this is probably the best and the most fun and effective way to use it.
I just learned the term, “Zipper Song.” It means a song that is easy to add new lyrics to, on the spot. Down by the Riverside turns out to be a terrific zipper song. Aaron, who is the music coordinator at the weekly “Bear Witness” rally outside the ICE Detention Center in Burlington, MA stands there with his guitar and makes up lyrics on the fly. He says he just looks at people’s signs and turns them into lyrics!
Louis Armstrong singing Down by the Riverside (I’m Gonna Lay Down my Sword and Shield)
Bill and Gloria Gaitherr singing Down by the Riverside
