I Was a Wandering Sheep in Tonic Solfa

I Was a Wandering Sheep in Tonic Solfa to DIADEMATA, doh is D: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 4 verses and a piano.

The solfa with the words

Doh is D4/4

dI-dwasdamwan--mdering-

lsheep,-----lI-

sdid-dnot-flove-mthe-

rfold;-----rI-

mdid-snot-llove-smy-

feShep--mherd’sr_svoice,-d'I-

twould-d'not-lbe-lcon--

strolled;-----sI-

swas-ma-rway--dward-

lchild,-----lI-

ldid-fenot-mlove-rmy-

thome;-----tI-

d'did--tnotllove-smy-

fFa--rther’s-mvoice,-sI-

floved-ma--rfar-rto-

droam.-------

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Key: D major
Doh: D
Time: 4/4
Starts on: d (D)
Range: d to d' (D to D, an octave)
Tune: DIADEMATA
Words: Horatius Bonar
Music: George Job Elvey

Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Horatius Bonar (1808–1889). 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 D · 4/4

| d - d d m - m - I was a wandering| l - - - - - l - |sheep, I

| s - d - f - m - did not love the| r - - - - - r - |fold; I

| m - s - l - s - did not love my| fe - m r s - d' - |Shepherd’s voice, I

| t - d' - l - l - would not be con-| s - - - - - s - |trolled; I

| s - m - r - d - was a wayward| l - - - - - l - |child, I

| l - fe - m - r - did not love my| t - - - - - t - |home; I

| d' - - t l - s - did not love my| f - r - m - s - |Father’s voice, I

| f - m - r - r - loved afar to| d - - - - - - - |roam.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd’s voice,
I would not be controlled;
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home;
I did not love my Father’s voice,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
They followed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er deserts waste and wild;
They found me nigh to death,
Famished and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wandering one.

Jesus my Shepherd is,
’Twas He that loved my soul,
’Twas He that washed me in His blood,
’Twas He that made me whole;
’Twas He that sought the lost,
That found the wandering sheep;
’Twas He that brought me to the fold,
’Tis He that still doth keep.

I was a wandering sheep,
I would not be controlled.
But now I love my Shepherd’s voice,
I love, I love, the fold.
I was a wayward child,
I once preferred to roam,
But now I love my Father’s voice,
I love, I love, His home.

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (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 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

Horatius Bonar wrote these words. They were printed in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (St. Louis, 1927), as hymn 105.

The book printed the words without tunes, marked Short Metre Double (6.6.8.6.6.6.8.6), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DIADEMATA; any other Short Metre Double tune fits them as well.

Words: Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)
Melody (1868): George Job Elvey (1816–1893)

Tune DIADEMATA by George Job Elvey (1816–1893); words by Horatius Bonar (1808–1889).

Sung to the same tune: Ah Whither Should I Go, Ah, When Shall I Awake, And Am I Born to Die, Crown Him with Many Crowns, Equip Me for the War, Father of Boundless Grace, Gracious Redeemer, Shake, Great Source of Life and Light, Hark! Hark! with Harps of Gold, I Want a Sober Mind, I Will Not Yield My Sword, In Fellowship, Alone, It Is the Hour of Prayer, Jesu, We Look to Thee, Jesus, My Strength, My Hope, Lord, When at Thy Command, My God, My Strength, My Hope, My Sin Was Very Great, O God, in Mercy Hear, O That I Could Repent, O Thou Who Wouldst Not Have, O Unexhausted Grace, Soldiers of Christ, Arise, Sow in the Morn Thy Seed, Sweet Is the Time of Spring, The Thing My God Doth Hate, We Mourn for Those Who Toil.

Questions about I Was a Wandering Sheep

What is the doh of I Was a Wandering Sheep?

In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 I Was a Wandering Sheep start on?

It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.

Is I Was a Wandering Sheep in the public domain?

Yes. Horatius Bonar died in 1889, George Job Elvey died in 1893; the words were in print by 1927 and the music in 1868. 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.