Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — Chords, Tab & Sheet Music

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About Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen is a spiritual in E♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from B♭, to B♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.

Type: Spiritual, each usually played twice
Key: E♭ major · 4/4
Range: B♭, to B♭ · first position
Notes used: C E♭ F G B♭
Level: Beginner-friendly

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — sheet music

E♭ major · 4/4

The notes

Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line

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Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — tab

Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — Tenor banjo tab

G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position

E|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
A|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
D|-5-----1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-----1-1-|-----|
G|---3-5-----|---------|---3-5-----|-5-3-|

E|-----------|---------|---------|-----|
A|-----------|---------|-1-------|-----|
D|-5-----1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|---5-3-5-|-1-1-|
G|---3-5-----|---------|---------|-----|

E|-------|---------|-------|-----|
A|-------|-1-1-1---|-1-1---|-1---|
D|-1-1-5-|-------5-|-----5-|---5-|
G|-------|---------|-------|-----|

E|-----|---------|-----------|-----|
A|-----|-1-1-1---|-1-1-------|-----|
D|-3-5-|-------5-|-----5-3-1-|-5-3-|
G|-----|---------|-----------|-----|

E|---|
A|---|
D|-1-|
G|---|

Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — Mandolin tab

G D A E · open position

E|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
A|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
D|-5-----1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-----1-1-|-----|
G|---3-5-----|---------|---3-5-----|-5-3-|

E|-----------|---------|---------|-----|
A|-----------|---------|-1-------|-----|
D|-5-----1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|---5-3-5-|-1-1-|
G|---3-5-----|---------|---------|-----|

E|-------|---------|-------|-----|
A|-------|-1-1-1---|-1-1---|-1---|
D|-1-1-5-|-------5-|-----5-|---5-|
G|-------|---------|-------|-----|

E|-----|---------|-----------|-----|
A|-----|-1-1-1---|-1-1-------|-----|
D|-3-5-|-------5-|-----5-3-1-|-5-3-|
G|-----|---------|-----------|-----|

E|---|
A|---|
D|-1-|
G|---|

Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — fiddle fingering

G D A E · first position — finger numbers

E|--------------|---------|--------------|------|
A|--------------|---------|--------------|------|
D|-3------L1-L2-|-3-3-3-3-|-3------L1-L1-|------|
G|---L2-3-------|---------|---L2-3-------|-3-L2-|

E|--------------|---------|-----------|-------|
A|--------------|---------|-L1--------|-------|
D|-3------L1-L2-|-3-3-3-3-|----3-L2-3-|-L1-L1-|
G|---L2-3-------|---------|-----------|-------|

E|---------|------------|---------|------|
A|---------|-L1-L1-L1---|-L1-L1---|-L1---|
D|-L1-L1-3-|----------3-|-------3-|----3-|
G|---------|------------|---------|------|

E|------|------------|---------------|------|
A|------|-L1-L1-L1---|-L1-L1---------|------|
D|-L2-3-|----------3-|-------3-L2-L1-|-3-L2-|
G|------|------------|---------------|------|

E|----|
A|----|
D|-L1-|
G|----|

0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — Guitar tab

E A D G B E · open position

e|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
B|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|
G|-0---------|-0-0-0-0-|-0---------|-----|
D|-------1-3-|---------|-------1-1-|-----|
A|---1-3-----|---------|---1-3-----|-3-1-|
E|-----------|---------|-----------|-----|

e|-----------|---------|---------|-----|
B|-----------|---------|---------|-----|
G|-0---------|-0-0-0-0-|-3-0---0-|-----|
D|-------1-3-|---------|-----3---|-1-1-|
A|---1-3-----|---------|---------|-----|
E|-----------|---------|---------|-----|

e|-------|---------|-------|-----|
B|-------|---------|-------|-----|
G|-----0-|-3-3-3-0-|-3-3-0-|-3-0-|
D|-1-1---|---------|-------|-----|
A|-------|---------|-------|-----|
E|-------|---------|-------|-----|

e|-----|---------|-----------|-----|
B|-----|---------|-----------|-----|
G|---0-|-3-3-3-0-|-3-3-0-----|-0---|
D|-3---|---------|-------3-1-|---3-|
A|-----|---------|-----------|-----|
E|-----|---------|-----------|-----|

e|---|
B|---|
G|---|
D|-1-|
A|---|
E|---|

Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen — Ukulele tab

G C E A (high G) · open position · played an octave up, as the tune dips below the lowest string

A|-10-1-3-6-8-|-10-10-10-10-|-10-1-3-6-6-|-3-1-|
E|------------|-------------|------------|-----|
C|------------|-------------|------------|-----|
G|------------|-------------|------------|-----|

A|-10-1-3-6-8-|-10-10-10-10-|-13-10-8-10-|-6-6-|
E|------------|-------------|------------|-----|
C|------------|-------------|------------|-----|
G|------------|-------------|------------|-----|

A|-6-6-10-|-13-13-13-10-|-13-13-10-|-13-10-|
E|--------|-------------|----------|-------|
C|--------|-------------|----------|-------|
G|--------|-------------|----------|-------|

A|-8-10-|-13-13-13-10-|-13-13-10-8-6-|-10-8-|
E|------|-------------|--------------|------|
C|------|-------------|--------------|------|
G|------|-------------|--------------|------|

A|-6-|
E|---|
C|---|
G|---|

Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.

Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen chords

E♭ major · 11 chords: E♭, A♭, A♭m, E♭/B♭, Cm, B+, F7, Fm7, B♭7, G7, Gm

E♭ A♭ A♭m

E♭/B♭ Cm B+ E♭/B♭

E♭ F7

Fm7 B♭7

E♭ A♭ A♭m

E♭ G7 Cm

E♭/B♭ B♭7

A♭ E♭

E♭

Gm Cm

E♭/B♭

B♭7

E♭

Gm Cm

F7 B♭7

E♭

One box per bar, in the same order as the sheet music. A faded chord carries on from the bar before. A slash chord like E♭/B♭ means play E♭ with B♭ as the lowest note.

Guitar chords for Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

Ukulele chords for Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

More spirituals and tunes like it

Michael, Row The Boat Ashore Were You There?Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Go Down, Moses Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho Deep River Go Tell It On The Mountain Amazing Grace

This melody comes from The Public Domain Song Anthology (David Berger & Chuck Israels), released CC0. The song is in the public domain. Tabs and letter names worked out by The Music Arcade.