The First Noel in Tonic Solfa
The First Noel in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 6 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- D major
- Doh
- D
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- m (F♯)
- Range
- d to d' (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- THE FIRST NOEL
- Words
- Traditional English
- Music
- Traditional English
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THE FIRST NOEL (traditional English); words by Traditional English. Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| mTher_ | dfirst--r_mNo-f_ | sel---lthet_ | d'an--tgel-ldid- | ssay---lWastto |
| d'cer--ttain-lpoor- | sshep--lherds-tin- | d'fields-sas-fthey- | mlay;---mInr_ |
| dfields--r_mwheref_ | sthey---llayt_ | d'tend--ting-ltheir- | ssheep,---lOnta |
| d'cold-twin--lter's- | snight-l_-tthat- | d'was-s_-fso- | mdeep.---mNo-r_ |
| del,--r_mNo-f_ | sel,---d'No-t_ | lel,---lNo-- | sel,---s_- |
| d'Born-tis-lthe- | sKing-l_-tof- | d'Is--s_-fra-- | mel.--- |
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 D · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay tending their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Refrain
Noel, Noel,
Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
They lookèd up and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far;
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
And by the light of that same star
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.
This star drew nigh to the northwest,
Over Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.
Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered it them for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum D 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 (F♯), on the word “The”, 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
The words are anonymous, in print by 1300. The tune, THE FIRST NOEL, is Traditional English. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1300): Traditional English
- Melody (1300): Traditional English
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THE FIRST NOEL (traditional English); words by Traditional English. 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 The First Noel
What is the doh of The First Noel?
In this version, in D major, doh is D. 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 The First Noel start on?
It starts on m (F♯ in D major), a pickup on the word “The” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is The First Noel in the public domain?
Yes. the words were first published in 1300 and the music in 1300. 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.