Hymn · Tonic Solfa
Amazing Grace in Tonic Solfa
Amazing Grace in Tonic Solfa (doh is G): the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all verses, and a piano you can sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- NEW BRITAIN
- Words
- John Newton
- Music
- Traditional American melody, Edwin O. Excell
The solfa with the words
| s,A-- | dmaz----mingd_ | mgrace!---rhow- | dsweet---l,the- | s,sound,---s,That- |
| dsaved---mad_ | mwretch---rlike- | sme!----- | ----mI- |
| sonce---mwasd_ | mlost,---rbut- | dnow---l,am- | s,found;---s,Was- |
| dblind,---mbutd_ | mnow---rI- | dsee.----- | ---- |
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is G · 3/4
| s, - | d - - - m d | m - - - r - | d - - - l, - | s, - - - s, - |Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That| d - - - m d | m - - - r - | s - - - - - | - - - - m - |saved a wretch like me! I| s - - - m d | m - - - r - | d - - - l, - | s, - - - s, - |once was lost, but now am found; Was| d - - - m d | m - - - r - | d - - - - - | - - - - |blind, but now I see.Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be for ever mine.
Often added
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
Not by Newton: an anonymous stanza in print by 1852 and added to the hymn in later books.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on s, (D), on the first syllable of “Amazing”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m s l — only 5 different notes, so it is a good one for a choir new to solfa. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
John Newton wrote the words for his parish in Olney, England, and they were printed in Olney Hymns in 1779. The tune most churches sing them to, NEW BRITAIN, is an anonymous American melody first printed in 1829; Edwin O. Excell's arrangement of 1900 fixed the form found in most hymn books today.
- Words, Olney Hymns (1779): John Newton (1725–1807)
- Melody, first printed in Columbian Harmony (1829): Traditional American melody
- Arranged the familiar form (1900): Edwin O. Excell (1851–1921)
Questions about Amazing Grace
What is the doh of Amazing Grace?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.
What note does Amazing Grace start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Amazing” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is Amazing Grace in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Edwin O. Excell died in 1921; the words were first published in 1779 and the music in 1829. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.