Father, Hear Us When We Pray in Tonic Solfa
Father, Hear Us When We Pray in Tonic Solfa to ST. BEES, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dFa--dther,-dhear--t,us | l,when-t,we-dpray,--- |
| rLook-rin-mmer--s,cy- | l,from-ra--t,bove;--- |
| rTurn-fnot,-mLord,--dthy | t,face-ra--dway,--- |
| dHear,-rand-dgrant-dthy- | dpar---t,doningdlove.--- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (A♭)
- Range
- s, to f (E♭ to D♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- ST. BEES
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- John Bacchus Dykes
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Anonymous. 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 Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Father, hear us when we pray,
Look in mercy from above;
Turn not, Lord, thy face away,
Hear, and grant thy pardoning love.
In the name of Christ we come,
Asking grace and seeking peace,
Raise our hearts to heaven, our home,
And from worldly cares release.
Pure and holy may we be,
Far removed all vain desire;
From all hate and envy free,
Let our souls to thee aspire.
While we love the Saviour's name,
And his words with zeal obey,
His sweet promise we may claim; —
"He will meet us when we pray."
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 d (A♭).
- 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
These words were printed without an author's name in Hymns for Christian Devotion, compiled by John G. Adams and Edwin H. Chapin (Boston, 1846), as hymn 904 of its twenty-second edition (1853), “For a Prayer Meeting”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ST. BEES; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1862): John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876)
Tune ST. BEES by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: 'Tis a Point I Long to Know, "Give Us Room, That We May Dwell,", Children of the Heavenly King, Feeble, Helpless, How Shall I, For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace, Hark! a Voice Divides the Sky, Honey Though the Bee Prepares, Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord, Lord, We Come Before Thee Now, Lord! Deliver; Thou Canst Save, Nay, I Cannot Let Thee Go, Now Let Us Come Before Him, Now May Fervent Prayer Arise, Partners of a Glorious Hope, There's a Strife We All Must Wage, What a Mournful Life Is Mine, While the Stars Unnumbered Roll.
Questions about Father, Hear Us When We Pray
What is the doh of Father, Hear Us When We Pray?
In this version, in Ab major, 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 Father, Hear Us When We Pray start on?
It starts on d (A♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Father, Hear Us When We Pray in the public domain?
Yes. John Bacchus Dykes died in 1876; the words were in print by 1853 and the music in 1862. 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.