Behold the Morning Sun in Tonic Solfa
Behold the Morning Sun in Tonic Solfa to SOUTHWELL, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 8 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| l,Be-- | dhold-dthe-t,morn--t,ing- | l,sun-----dBe-- |
| dgins-dhis-rglo--rrious- | mway;-----mHis- |
| sbeams-sthro'-fall-fthe- | mna--mtions-rrun,-mAnd- |
| rlife-dand-t,light-t,con-- | l,vey.----- |
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- Key
- F minor
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (F)
- Range
- l, to s (F to E♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- SOUTHWELL
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- From William Daman's Psalter, 1579
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SOUTHWELL (From William Daman's Psalter, 1579); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). Sources and licences.
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 message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Behold the morning sun
Begins his glorious way;
His beams thro' all the nations run,
And life and light convey.
But where the gospel comes,
It spreads diviner light,
It calls dead sinners from their tombs,
And gives the blind their sight.
How perfect is thy word!
And all thy judgments just!
For ever sure thy promise, Lord,
And men securely trust.
My gracious God, how plain
Are thy directions given!
O! may I never read in vain,
But find the path to heaven!
I hear thy word with love,
And I would fain obey;
Send thy good Spirit from above
To guide me, lest I stray.
O who can ever find
The errors of his ways?
Yet, with a bold presumptuous mind,
I would not dare transgress.
Warn me of every sin,
Forgive my secret faults,
And cleanse this guilty soul of mine,
Whose crimes exceed my thoughts.
While with my heart and tongue
I spread thy praise abroad,
Accept the worship and the song,
My Saviour and my God.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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 l, (F), on the first syllable of “Behold”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 4/4 means four 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 f s l t. 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
Isaac Watts wrote these words for The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719): Psalm 19, part 2, headed “God's word most excellent; or, Sincerity and watchfulness”.
Watts' psalms were printed without tunes and sung to any tune of their metre, Short Metre (6.6.8.6). This page sets the words to SOUTHWELL; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words (1719): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Melody (1579): From William Daman's Psalter, 1579
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SOUTHWELL (From William Daman's Psalter, 1579); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: Along My Earthly Way, And Must This Body Die, Arise, My Gracious God, At the Creation's Birth, Behold Th' Amazing Sight, Behold the Sun, How Bright, Blest Are the Sons of Peace, Children of Light, Awake, Come to the House of Prayer, Come, Kingdom of Our God, Come, Ye Who Love the Lord, Destruction's Dangerous Road, Far as Thy Name Is Known, Father, in Whom We Live, Firm and Unmov'd Are They, From Early Dawning Light, Good Is the Heavenly King, Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound, Great Is the Lord Our God, Here, in the Broken Bread, How Gentle God's Commands, How Honored Is the Place, In Darkness as in Light, It Is a Comely Thing, Jerusalem, Rejoice, Jesus, My Truth, My Way, Let All Our Tongues Be One, Let God the Father Live, Let Hearts and Tongues Unite, Lord Jesus Think on Me, Lord of the Harvest, Hear, My God, My Life, My Love, My God, Permit My Tongue, My Spirit on Thy Care, O Lord, How Vile Am I, O Spirit, Freed from Earth, O, Where Shall Rest Be Found, Our Heavenly Father, Hear, Religion Can Assuage, Stand Up and Bless the Lord, Sure There's a Righteous God, The God Jehovah Reigns, The Law by Moses Came, The Time Is Drawing Near, The Word of Christ, Our Lord, Thou Seest My Feebleness, To Christ Th' Anointed King, To Thee, O God in Heaven, We Give Thee but Thine Own.
Questions about Behold the Morning Sun
What is the doh of Behold the Morning Sun?
In this version, in F minor, doh is Ab. 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 Behold the Morning Sun start on?
It starts on l, (F in F minor), a pickup on the first syllable of “Behold” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is Behold the Morning Sun in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748; the words were first published in 1719 and the music in 1579. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.