Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me in Tonic Solfa
Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 3 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (C)
- Range
- d to d' (F to F, an octave)
- Tune
- SO NIMM DENN MEINE HÄNDE
- Words
- Julie Katharina von Hausmann, Julius Herman Edward Horstmann
- Music
- Friedrich Silcher
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SO NIMM DENN MEINE HÄNDE by Friedrich Silcher (1789–1860); words by Julie Katharina von Hausmann (1826–1901); translated by Julius Herman Edward Horstmann (1869–1954). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| sTake- | lThou-smy-fhand,-mand- | mlead---rme-mo'er- |
| flife's---srough--- | mway,-----swith- |
| lHeav'n--sly-fMan--mna- | mfeed---rme-mfrom- |
| fday---sto--- | mday.-----mA-- |
| rlone-smy-fefoot--lsteps- | sfal---l_tter-d'and- |
| tstrag----lgle--- | swide,-----sLord- |
| d'who-tmyl_slife-scanst- | lal----ster-fbe- |
| mThou-f_---rmy- | dguide.----- |
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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Take Thou my hand, and lead me o'er life's rough way,
with Heav'nly Manna feed me from day to day.
Alone my footsteps falter and straggle wide,
Lord who my life canst alter be Thou my guide.
Take Thou my heart and hide it in folds of grace
Though pain or woe betide it to know Thy face
Draw, Lord, of Thy good pleasure Thy child to Thee,
And grant me faith's full measure though naught I see.
Though oft I think Thou hidest Thy wondrous might,
Still to my goal Thou guidest me through dark night,
Take, then, my hands and lead me till life is o'er,
With heav'nly manna feed me forevermore.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 (C), on the word “Take”, 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 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
The words are by Julie Katharina von Hausmann, first published in 1862. The English translation is by Julius Herman Edward Horstmann (1901). The tune, SO NIMM DENN MEINE HÄNDE, is by Friedrich Silcher (1842). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1862): Julie Katharina von Hausmann (1826–1901)
- Translated (1901): Julius Herman Edward Horstmann (1869–1954)
- Music (1842): Friedrich Silcher (1789–1860)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SO NIMM DENN MEINE HÄNDE by Friedrich Silcher (1789–1860); words by Julie Katharina von Hausmann (1826–1901); translated by Julius Herman Edward Horstmann (1869–1954). 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 Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me
What is the doh of Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me?
In this version, in F major, doh is F. 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 Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me start on?
It starts on s (C in F major), a pickup on the word “Take” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me in the public domain?
Yes. Julie Katharina von Hausmann died in 1901, Julius Herman Edward Horstmann died in 1954, Friedrich Silcher died in 1860; the words were first published in 1901 and the music in 1842. 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.