In the Garden in Tonic Solfa
In the Garden in Tonic Solfa to GARDEN: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the three verses and the refrain, and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| s,I | s,comem,tof,thes,gar-ddenra- | mlone,---rWhiledthe | ddew-disrstilldonl,the | dro---s,ses,-t,And,dthe |
| rvoice-rIt,hear-l,fall-,t,ing | don-rmymear-mThe | rSon-mofrGod-ddis- | t,clo--dses.rAndmHe-,rwalks |
| dwith-dme,dandt,Hel,talks | t,with-t,me,t,And-s,He,s,tells | fme-fIfammHisre_ | mown;----dAnd,rthe |
| mjoy-mwersharerast,we | dtar--drydthere,-l,None | s,oth-,der-dhast,ev-,rer-- | dknown.---- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 6/8
- Starts on
- s, (E♭)
- Range
- m, to f (C to D♭, a ninth)
- Tune
- GARDEN
- Words
- C. Austin Miles
- Music
- C. Austin Miles
Tune GARDEN by C. Austin Miles (1868–1946); words by C. Austin Miles (1868–1946). 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 · 6/8
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
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.
I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.
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 s, (E♭), on the word “I”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 6/8 means two dotted-crotchet beats (six quavers) in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest. A cell split by a comma holds two quarter beats: d -,r is a dotted quaver and a semiquaver, d,r two semiquavers. That comma sits between two syllables; an octave mark sits small and low against its own letter (s,).
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t and the chromatic re. 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
C. Austin Miles wrote both the words and the tune GARDEN, published in 1912.
- Words (1912): C. Austin Miles (1868–1946)
- Music (1912): C. Austin Miles (1868–1946)
Tune GARDEN by C. Austin Miles (1868–1946); words by C. Austin Miles (1868–1946).
Questions about In the Garden
What is the doh of In the Garden?
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 In the Garden start on?
It starts on s, (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “I” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is In the Garden in the public domain?
Yes. C. Austin Miles died in 1946, C. Austin Miles died in 1946; the words were first published in 1912 and the music in 1912. 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.