O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men in Tonic Solfa
O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men in Tonic Solfa to ELLERS, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| s,O---s,Thou-l,great- | s,Friend---dto--- |
| dall-t,the-dsons-rof- | mmen,------- |
| dWho---donce-rap-- | dpeared---min--- |
| mhum--rblest-mguise-febe-- | slow,------- |
| sSin---dto-dre-- | fbuke,---fto--- |
| fbreak-rthe-mcap--ftive's- | mchain,------- |
| dAnd---rcall-dthy- | dbre----l,thren--- |
| s,forth-s,from-l,want-s,and- | s,woe;------- |
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- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (E♭)
- Range
- s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- ELLERS
- Words
- Theodore Parker
- Music
- Edward John Hopkins
Tune ELLERS by Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901); words by Theodore Parker (1810–1860). Sources and licences.
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 message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
O Thou great Friend to all the sons of men,
Who once appeared in humblest guise below,
Sin to rebuke, to break the captive's chain,
And call thy brethren forth from want and woe;
We look to thee! thy truth is still the Light,
Which guides the nations, groping on their way,
Stumbling and falling in disastrous night,
Yet hoping ever for the perfect day.
Yes! thou art still the Life; thou art the way
The holiest know; — Light, Life, and Way of heaven!
And they who dearest hope, and deepest pray,
Toil by the light, life, way, which thou hast given.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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, (E♭).
- 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 and the chromatic fe. 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
Theodore Parker wrote these words. They were printed in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 156, “Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Tens (10.10.10.10), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to ELLERS; any other Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Theodore Parker (1810–1860)
- Music (1869): Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901)
Tune ELLERS by Edward John Hopkins (1818–1901); words by Theodore Parker (1810–1860).
Sung to the same tune: Go to the Grave in All Thy Glorious Prime, O Thou, the Primal Fount of Life and Peace, Restore, O Father! to Our Times Restore, Saviour, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise.
Questions about O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men
What is the doh of O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men start on?
It starts on s, (E♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is O Thou Great Friend to All the Sons of Men in the public domain?
Yes. Theodore Parker died in 1860, Edward John Hopkins died in 1901; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1869. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.