My Faith Looks Up to Thee in Tonic Solfa
My Faith Looks Up to Thee 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
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (D)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- OLIVET
- Words
- Ray Palmer
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune OLIVET by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Ray Palmer (1808–1887). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| dMy---mfaith-slooks- | sup--ftomThee,--- |
| rThou---rLamb-fof- | fCal---mva-rry,--- |
| mSa----rvior-ldi-- | svine!------- |
| sNow---mhear-fme- | swhile--lIspray,--- |
| stake---mall-fmy- | sguilt--la-sway,--- |
| d'O---tlet-lme- | sfrom--fthismday-dbe- |
| rwhol----sly--- | dThine!------- |
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 · 4/4
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
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine!
May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee,
Pure warm, and changeless be,
a living fire!
While life's dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow's tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream,
When death's cold sullen stream
over me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul!
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. 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 Ray Palmer, first published in 1830. The tune, OLIVET, is by Lowell Mason (1832). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1830): Ray Palmer (1808–1887)
- Music (1832): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune OLIVET by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Ray Palmer (1808–1887). 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 My Faith Looks Up to Thee
What is the doh of My Faith Looks Up to Thee?
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 My Faith Looks Up to Thee start on?
It starts on d (D in D major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is My Faith Looks Up to Thee in the public domain?
Yes. Ray Palmer died in 1887, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were first published in 1830 and the music in 1832. 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.