Chords of: Hold Back the River by: James Bay. (F, Bb, Fmaj7, Bb6) are the main chords of the song. The chords are displayed instantly in real-time with a YouTube player, four synced views, instrument diagrams, loop practice and a built-in vocal-remover mixer.
“Hold Back the River” by James Bay is in F Major and runs at about 135 BPM, giving it an upbeat, driving pulse. Our analysis found 30 different chords across 117 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are F, Bb, Fmaj7, Bb6.
F is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 29% of the 3:54 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with Dm7b5 → Dm → F → Fmaj7 → C → F → Fmaj7 → F. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.
Difficulty: intermediate — 6 main chords including 3 extended or barre voicings. Guitar tip: put a capo on fret 1 and use E major shapes — the song stays in F Major but every chord becomes an open chord.
| Chord | Time held | Share |
|---|---|---|
| F | 1:07 | 29% |
| Bb | 0:45 | 19% |
| C | 0:20 | 9% |
| Fmaj7 | 0:20 | 8% |
| Bb6 | 0:14 | 6% |
| Dm | 0:11 | 5% |
| Bbmaj7 | 0:08 | 3% |
| Gm | 0:08 | 3% |
Dm7b5 – Em – Dm – Bb – F – Bb – Fmaj7 – C – F – C – Bb/D – Em – Dm – C – Bb6 – F – C/D – Bb6 – Dm – C6 – C – Fmaj7 – Bb – E7/G# – F – Bb/D – Dm – Dm7b5 – Bbmaj7 – F#m – Gm – C – Fmaj7 – Bb – Gm – F – Bbmaj7 – Bb6 – F – Dm7b5/C – F – Fm – Bb – C – Bbmaj7 – Dm6 – Em7 – F7 – …
