Blind Bartimaeus in Tonic Solfa
Blind Bartimaeus in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- d to d' (F to F, an octave)
- Tune
- FILLMORE
- Words
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Music
- Jeremiah Ingalls
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FILLMORE by Jeremiah Ingalls (1764–1828); words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dBlind- | mBar---r_dti-- | rmae----mus- | rat---dthe- | rgates---mOf- |
| sJer----si-- | scho-l_-sin- | mdark----rness- | dwaits:---sHe- |
| lhears---lthe- | lcrowd;--t_d'he- | shears---sa- | mbreath---ssay- |
| l"It---lis- | lChrist--t_d'of- | sNaz----sa-- | mreth!"-r_-dAnd- |
| mcalls--r_din- | rtones---mof- | ra----dgo-- | rny,---m"O- |
| sJe----ssus,- | sJe--l_-ssus- | mpi----rty- | dme!"--- |
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 F · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Blind Bartimaeus at the gates
Of Jericho in darkness waits:
He hears the crowd; he hears a breath
say "It is Christ of Nazareth!"
And calls in tones of agony,
"O Jesus, Jesus pity me!"
The thronging multitudes increase
"Blind Bartimaeus, hold thy peace!"
But still, above the noisy crowd,
The blind man's cry is shrill and loud:
Until they say, "He calleth thee;
Courage! arise! He calleth thee!"
Then saith the Christ, as silent stands
The crowd, "What wilt thou at My hands?"
And he replies, "O give me light!
Rabbi, restore the blind man's sight."
And Jesus answers, "Go thy way,
Thy faith, thy faith hath savèd thee."
Ye that hath eyes and cannot see,
In darkness and in misery,
Recall those mighty voices three-"O Jesus,
Jesus pity me!"
"Courage! arise!
He calleth thee!"
"Thy faith, thy faith hath savèd thee."
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 d (F), on the word “Blind”, 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 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
The words are by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in 1842. The tune, FILLMORE, is by Jeremiah Ingalls. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1842): Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)
- Music: Jeremiah Ingalls (1764–1828)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FILLMORE by Jeremiah Ingalls (1764–1828); words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn 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: And Can It Be.
Questions about Blind Bartimaeus
What is the doh of Blind Bartimaeus?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 Blind Bartimaeus start on?
It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup on the word “Blind” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Blind Bartimaeus in the public domain?
Yes. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died in 1882, Jeremiah Ingalls died in 1828; the words were first published in 1842 and the music in 1905. 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.