Except the Lord Conduct the Plan in Tonic Solfa
Except the Lord Conduct the Plan in Tonic Solfa to MERIBAH, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dEx---- | mcept--mthemLord-rcon--mduct-fthe- | splan,-------mThe--- |
| lbest--lcon-lcert--sed-fschemes-mare- | rvain,-------sAnd--- |
| tnev--ler-scan---fesuc---- | sceed;-------sWe--- |
| d'spend-sour-swret--mched-fstrength-lfor- | snought:-------sBut--- |
| d'if-sour-sworks-min-fthee-lbe- | swrought,-------dThey--- |
| rshall-fbe-mblest---rin---- | ddeed.------- |
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- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 3/2
- Starts on
- d (E♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- MERIBAH
- Words
- Charles Wesley
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). 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 Eb · 3/2
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Eb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Except the Lord conduct the plan,
The best concerted schemes are vain,
And never can succeed;
We spend our wretched strength for nought:
But if our works in thee be wrought,
They shall be blest indeed.
Lord, if thou didst thyself inspire
Our souls with this intense desire
Thy goodness to proclaim,
Thy glory if we now intend,
O let our deed begin and end
Complete in Jesu's name!
In Jesu's name, behold, we meet,
Far from an evil world retreat,
And all its frantic ways;
One only thing resolved to know,
And square our useful lives below
By reason and by grace.
Not in the tombs we pine to dwell,
Not in the dark monastic cell,
By vows and grates confined;
Freely to all ourselves we give,
Constrained by Jesu's love to live
The servants of mankind.
Now, Jesus, now thy love impart,
To govern each devoted heart,
And fit us for thy will:
Deep founded in the truth of grace,
Build up thy rising church, and place
The city on the hill.
O let our faith and love abound!
O let our lives to all around
With purest lustre shine!
That all around our works may see,
And give the glory, Lord, to thee,
The heavenly light divine.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Eb 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 (E♭), on the first syllable of “Except”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/2 means three minim 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 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
Charles Wesley wrote these words. His brother John printed them in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780), hymn 526.
The book printed the words without tunes. They are in Common Particular Metre (8.8.6.8.8.6), and this page sets them to MERIBAH; any other Common Particular Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words: Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
- Music (1839): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune MERIBAH by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Charles Wesley (1707–1788).
Sung to the same tune: At Early Dawn, with Pious Thought, Be It My Only Wisdom Here, Blinded in Youth by Satan's Arts, But We from Such Assaults Are Freed, How Happy, Gracious Lord! Are We, If Solid Happiness We Prize, Light of My Life, O Lord, Thou Art, Lord, Thou Hast Won, at Length I Yield, May We Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfil, O God of Life, in Whom We Live, O Lord! How Happy Should We Be, O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art, O, Could We Speak the Matchless Worth, The Joyful Morn, My God, Is Come, Thou God of Glorious Majesty, When, Lord, to This Our Western Land.
Questions about Except the Lord Conduct the Plan
What is the doh of Except the Lord Conduct the Plan?
In this version, in Eb major, doh is Eb. 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 Except the Lord Conduct the Plan start on?
It starts on d (E♭ in Eb major), a pickup on the first syllable of “Except” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Except the Lord Conduct the Plan in the public domain?
Yes. Charles Wesley died in 1788, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1780 and the music in 1839. 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.