Breathe on Me, Breath of God in Tonic Solfa
Breathe on Me, Breath of God in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F minor
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (F)
- Range
- l, to s (F to E♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- AYLESBURY
- Words
- Edwin Hatch
- Music
- From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Edwin Hatch (1835–1889). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| l,Breathe---mon-rme,- | dbreath-t,of-l,God,--- |
| mFill---sme-fwith- | mlife-ra--mnew,--- |
| __dThat-t,I-l,may- | mlove-dwhat-rThou-ddost- |
| t,love,-l,And-mdo-rwhat- | dThou---t,wouldst--- |
| l,do.------- |
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 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
Breathe on me, breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.
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).
- 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
The words are by Edwin Hatch, first published in 1878. The tune, AYLESBURY, is from John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1878): Edwin Hatch (1835–1889)
- Melody (1718): From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Edwin Hatch (1835–1889). 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.
Questions about Breathe on Me, Breath of God
What is the doh of Breathe on Me, Breath of God?
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 Breathe on Me, Breath of God start on?
It starts on l, (F in F minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is Breathe on Me, Breath of God in the public domain?
Yes. Edwin Hatch died in 1889; the words were first published in 1878 and the music in 1718. 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.