Jesus Loves Me in Tonic Solfa
Jesus Loves Me in Tonic Solfa, doh is Eb: the solfa with the words, staff notation, the verses and refrain, and a piano. A first song for children's choirs.
- Key
- Eb major
- Doh
- Eb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (B♭)
- Range
- d to d' (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- JESUS LOVES ME
- Words
- Anna Bartlett Warner, William Batchelder Bradbury
- Music
- William Batchelder Bradbury
Tune JESUS LOVES ME by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868); words by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915) and William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| sJe--msus-mloves-rme!- | mthis-sI-sknow,--- |
| lFor-lthe-d'Bi--lble- | ltells-sme-sso;--- |
| sLit--mtle-mones-rto- | mHim-sbe--slong;--- |
| lThey-lare-sweak,-dbut- | mHe-ris-dstrong.--- |
| sYes,---mJe--ssus- | lloves-d'me!----- |
| sYes,---mJe--dsus- | mloves-rme!----- |
| sYes,---mJe--ssus- | lloves-d'me!---lThe- |
| sBi--dble-mtells--rme | dso.------- |
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 WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is Eb · 4/4
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
Jesus loves me! this I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Refrain
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
Jesus loves me! loves me still,
Though I’m very weak and ill;
From His shining throne on high
Comes to watch me where I lie.
Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
If I love Him, when I die
He will take me home on high.
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 s (B♭).
- 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 — only 5 different notes, so it is a good one for a choir new to solfa. 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
Anna Bartlett Warner wrote the words as a poem in Say and Seal (1860), a novel she wrote with her sister Susan. William Bradbury set it to music and added the refrain 'Yes, Jesus loves me' in 1862.
The tune uses only five different solfa notes (d r m s l) and moves mostly by step, which makes it a good first song for children learning to sing from solfa.
- Words (1860): Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915)
- Refrain (1862): William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868)
- Melody (1862): William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868)
Tune JESUS LOVES ME by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868); words by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915) and William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868).
Questions about Jesus Loves Me
What is the doh of Jesus Loves Me?
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 Jesus Loves Me start on?
It starts on s (B♭ in Eb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Jesus Loves Me in the public domain?
Yes. Anna Bartlett Warner died in 1915, William Batchelder Bradbury died in 1868, William Batchelder Bradbury died in 1868; the words were first published in 1860 and the music in 1862. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.