Nearer, My God, to Thee in Tonic Solfa
Nearer, My God, to Thee in Tonic Solfa to BETHANY, doh is G: the solfa with the words, staff notation, all five verses and a piano.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 6/4
- Starts on
- m (B)
- Range
- s, to l (D to E, a ninth)
- Tune
- BETHANY
- Words
- Sarah Flower Adams
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune BETHANY by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mNear------rer,---dmy- | dGod,---l,to-l,Thee,----- |
| s,near------der---mto- | rThee!---------__ |
| mE’en-----rthough---dit- | dbe---l,a-l,cross----- |
| s,that---d_-t,rais----reth- | dme,---------__ |
| sStill-----lall---smy- | ssong---mshall-sbe,----- |
| snear------ler,---smy- | sGod,---mto-rThee,----- |
| mNear------rer,---dmy- | dGod,---l,to-l,Thee,----- |
| s,near----d_-t,er---rto- | dThee!--------- |
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 G · 6/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum G 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 m (B).
- Count the time. 6/4 means six crotchet beats (two dotted minims) 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 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
Sarah Flower Adams, an English poet, wrote the hymn in 1841, taking her picture from Jacob's dream of a ladder to heaven at Bethel (Genesis 28). Lowell Mason wrote the tune BETHANY for it in 1856.
- Words (1841): Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848)
- Melody (1856): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune BETHANY by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848).
Questions about Nearer, My God, to Thee
What is the doh of Nearer, My God, to Thee?
In this version, in G major, doh is G. 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 Nearer, My God, to Thee start on?
It starts on m (B in G major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is Nearer, My God, to Thee in the public domain?
Yes. Sarah Flower Adams died in 1848, Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were first published in 1841 and the music in 1856. 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.