Our Father God! Not Face to Face in Tonic Solfa
Our Father God! Not Face to Face in Tonic Solfa to HIGHER GROUND, doh is G: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 3 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| s,Ours,Fa-dther | mGod!--mnotrfacedto | l,face--rMaydmor-l,tal | s,sense--dcom-mmunedwith | rThee,--s,Nors,liftdthe |
| mcur---mtainsrofdthat | l,place--rWhereddwellsl,Thy | s,se-dcretmMaj--res-- | dty.--s,Yetdwhe-mre- |
| sso'er--sourfspi-mrits | fbend--s,Int,rev'-rrent | ffaith--fandmhum-rble | mprayer,--sThyspro-mmised |
| dbless---mingrwilldde- | l,scend,--rAnddwel,shall | s,finddThymspir--rit- | dthere.-- |
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- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- HIGHER GROUND
- Words
- Edwin Hubbell Chapin
Tune HIGHER GROUND by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (1856–1932); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880). 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 G · 3/4
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
Our Father God! not face to face
May mortal sense commune with Thee,
Nor lift the curtains of that place
Where dwells Thy secret Majesty.
Yet whereso'er our spirits bend
In rev'rent faith and humble prayer,
Thy promised blessing will descend,
And we shall find Thy spirit there.
Lord! be the spot where now we meet
An open gateway into heaven;
Here may we sit at Jesus' feet,
And feel our deepest sins forgiven.
Here may desponding care look up;
And sorrow lay its burden down,
Or learn, of him, to drink the cup,
To bear the cross, and win the crown.
Here may the sick and wandering soul
To truth still blind, to sin a slave,
Find better than Bethesda's pool,
Or than Siloam's healing wave.
And may we learn, while here apart
From the world's passion and its strife;
That Thy true shrine's a loving heart,
And Thy best praise a holy life!
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 s, (D), on the word “Our”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 3/4 means three 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
Edwin Hubbell Chapin wrote these words. They were printed in the supplement of the 1866 edition of A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1866), as hymn 487, “The Gate of Heaven”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Long Metre Double (8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to HIGHER GROUND; any other Long Metre Double tune fits them as well.
- Words: Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880)
- Music (1902): Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (1856–1932)
Tune HIGHER GROUND by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (1856–1932); words by Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–1880).
Sung to the same tune: Higher Ground, My God! All Nature Owns Thy Sway.
Questions about Our Father God! Not Face to Face
What is the doh of Our Father God! Not Face to Face?
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 Our Father God! Not Face to Face start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the word “Our” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is Our Father God! Not Face to Face in the public domain?
Yes. Edwin Hubbell Chapin died in 1880, Charles Hutchinson Gabriel died in 1932; the words were in print by 1866 and the music in 1902. 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.