Blessed Assurance in Tonic Solfa
Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine in Tonic Solfa to ASSURANCE: the solfa with the words, staff notation, all verses and the refrain, and a piano.
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 9/8
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- t, to r' (C♯ to E, a tenth)
- Tune
- ASSURANCE
- Words
- Fanny Crosby
- Music
- Phoebe Palmer Knapp
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ASSURANCE by Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839–1908); words by Fanny Crosby (1820–1915). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mBless-redda- | sssu---srance,--fJe-ssuslis | smine!-----sOmwhatsa |
| d'fore---ttaste-toflglo-sryfedi- | svine!-----mHeirrofdsal- |
| sva---stion,--fpur-schaselof | sGod,-----dBornrofmHis |
| fSpi---rrit,--dwashedrint,His | dblood.-----sThississmy |
| d'stor---sy,--lthislislmy | ssong,-----sPrais-singsmy |
| lSa---d'viour--talltthelday | tlong;-----tThisd'isr'my |
| d'stor---sy,--lthissislmy | ssong,-----dPrais-ringmmy |
| fSa---rviour--dall-,rthet,day | dlong.----- |
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 D · 9/8
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Saviour am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 m (F♯), on the first syllable of “Blessed”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 9/8 means three dotted-crotchet beats (nine quavers) in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest. A cell split by a comma holds two quarter beats: d -,r is a dotted quaver and a semiquaver, d,r two semiquavers. That comma sits between two syllables; an octave mark sits small and low against its own letter (s,).
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t and the chromatic fe. 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
Phoebe Palmer Knapp played her new tune to her friend Fanny Crosby, who wrote these words for it; the hymn was published in 1873.
- Words (1873): Fanny Crosby (1820–1915)
- Melody (1873): Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839–1908)
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ASSURANCE by Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839–1908); words by Fanny Crosby (1820–1915). 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.
Questions about Blessed Assurance
What is the doh of Blessed Assurance?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 Blessed Assurance start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Blessed” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Blessed Assurance in the public domain?
Yes. Fanny Crosby died in 1915, Phoebe Palmer Knapp died in 1908; the words were first published in 1873 and the music in 1873. 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.