← back to all loopsheets

"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" — KT Tunstall

The song that put loop pedals on prime-time TV. On Later… with Jools Holland in 2004 KT Tunstall built it live with an Akai E2 Headrush — body percussion first, then a low-string riff, then the "Woo hoo!" hook, then she sang over the top. This sheet turns that build into a colour map.

How to read this loopsheet

  1. Learn the loops first. Each card below is a short repeating bar with its own colour. Practise them alone until the timing feels comfortable.
  2. Read the song bar by bar. Each box is one bar of music. The coloured stripes along the top show which loops should be running; the line underneath is the lyric sung over that bar.
  3. Stack and drop on the down-beat. When a new colour appears, punch that loop in. When a colour disappears, mute it.
  4. Hit play below to follow along — the active bar lights up so you don't lose your place.

The loop library

Six little bars, key of E minor, around 110 BPM. Loops 1–3 are exactly what KT records on stage. Loops 4–6 are optional layers if you have a band — drums, piano, or extra hands — to fill the song out.

110 BPM
Now: —

The song

Each box is one bar. The coloured stripes along the top show which loops should be running during that bar; the line underneath is the lyric sung over it. Verse/chorus body lyrics are placeholders — the "Woo hoo!" hook is verbatim because it is the song.

Loop structure inspired by KT Tunstall's live performance of Black Horse and the Cherry Tree on Later… with Jools Holland, 2004. Lyrics belong to KT Tunstall — grab a copy of Eye to the Telescope and sing along over the loops.
← all loopsheets