Joy to the World in Tonic Solfa
Joy to the World in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 2/4
- Starts on
- d' (D)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- ANTIOCH
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- George Frederick Handel
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ANTIOCH by George Frederick Handel (1685–1759); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| d'Joy-tto-,lthe | sworld,--fthe | mLord-ris- | dcome!--sLet |
| learth--lre- | tceive--ther | d'King;--d'Let | d'ev-t_l'rys_ |
| sheart-,f_m_d'pre- | d'paret_lHims_ | sroom,-,f_m_mAnd | mHeav'nmandmna-mture,f_ |
| ssing,--fAnd,m_ | rHeav'nrandrna-rture,m_ | fsing,--mAnd,r_ | dHeav'n,d'_-land |
| sHeav'n,-,f_m_fand | mna--rture- | dsing.--- |
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 D · 2/4
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
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And Heav'n and nature sing,
And Heav'n and nature sing,
And Heav'n, and Heav'n, and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
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. 2/4 means two 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. 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. 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
The words are by Isaac Watts, first published in 1719. The tune, ANTIOCH, is by George Frederick Handel (1741). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1719): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Music (1741): George Frederick Handel (1685–1759)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ANTIOCH by George Frederick Handel (1685–1759); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Questions about Joy to the World
What is the doh of Joy to the World?
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 Joy to the World start on?
It starts on d' (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.
Is Joy to the World in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748, George Frederick Handel died in 1759; the words were first published in 1719 and the music in 1741. 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.