O Lord, I Am Not Worthy in Tonic Solfa
O Lord, I Am Not Worthy in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Bb major
- Doh
- Bb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (D)
- Range
- m to r' (D to C, a seventh)
- Tune
- NON DIGNUS
- Words
- From Landshuter Gesangbuch, 1777, Anonymous
- Music
- Traditional
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune NON DIGNUS (Traditional); words by From Landshuter Gesangbuch, 1777; translated by Anonymous. Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mOf_ | sLord,-lI-sam-d'not- | d'wor--tthy---tThatd'_ |
| r'Thou-fshould'st-lcome-sto- | mme,-----mButf_ |
| sspeak-sthe-d'words-tof- | tcom--lfort,---lMy- |
| sspir--d'it-thealed-r'shall- | d'be.----- |
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 Bb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Bb major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O Lord, I am not worthy
That Thou should'st come to me,
But speak the words of comfort,
My spirit healed shall be.
O Lord, Thou art all holy,
The angels Thee adore;
How, then, ought I sincerely
My wrongs and sins deplore!
But when Thou soon wilt enter
My heart, my sinful heart,
Then heal me, be my shelter,
For Thou my Savior art.
O Lord, how can I thank Thee
For such a gift as this?
A gift which truly filleth
My soul with heav'nly bliss!
I praise Thee, I extol Thee,
I love Thee O my Sire,
Till once in joy and glory,
In heav'n I Thee admire.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Bb 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 (D), on the word “O”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- 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 anonymous, in print by 1777. The tune, NON DIGNUS, is Traditional. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1777): From Landshuter Gesangbuch, 1777
- Translated (1913): Anonymous
- Melody (1871): Traditional
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune NON DIGNUS (Traditional); words by From Landshuter Gesangbuch, 1777; translated by Anonymous. 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 O Lord, I Am Not Worthy
What is the doh of O Lord, I Am Not Worthy?
In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 O Lord, I Am Not Worthy start on?
It starts on m (D in Bb major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is O Lord, I Am Not Worthy in the public domain?
Yes. the words were first published in 1913 and the music in 1871. 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.