Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs in Tonic Solfa
Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs in Tonic Solfa to NATIVITY (LAHEE): the solfa with the words, staff notation, the five verses, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| m,Come,-m,letm,uss,join-s,our- | dcheer--dful-msongs--rWith |
| dan--l,gels-l,round-rthe- | dthrone---t,_-s,Ten- |
| l,thou--t,sand,-dthou--s,sand- | l,are-t,their-dtongues,-rBut- |
| mall-mtheir-rjoys-rare- | done.------- |
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Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir
- Key
- Bb major
- Doh
- Bb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m, (D)
- Range
- m, to m (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- NATIVITY (LAHEE)
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- Henry Lahee
Tune NATIVITY (LAHEE) by Henry Lahee (1826–1912); 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 Bb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Bb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Come, let us join our cheerful songs
With angels round the throne.
Ten thousand, thousand are their tongues,
But all their joys are one.
Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry,
To be exalted thus!
Worthy the Lamb, our hearts reply,
For He was slain for us!
Jesus is worthy to receive
Honor and power divine;
And blessings more than we can give,
Be, Lord, forever Thine.
Let all that dwell above the sky,
And air and earth and seas,
Conspire to lift Thy glories high,
And speak Thine endless praise!
The whole creation join in one,
To bless the sacred name
Of Him who sits upon the throne,
And to adore the Lamb.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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, (D).
- 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 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 published these words in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs (Book 1, 1707). The tune NATIVITY was written by Henry Lahee in 1855.
- Words (1707): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Music (1855): Henry Lahee (1826–1912)
Tune NATIVITY (LAHEE) by Henry Lahee (1826–1912); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748).
Questions about Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs
What is the doh of Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs?
In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs start on?
It starts on m, (D in Bb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m,.
Is Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748, Henry Lahee died in 1912; the words were first published in 1707 and the music in 1855. 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.