The Law of God Is Good and Wise in Tonic Solfa
The Law of God Is Good and Wise in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- E minor
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (E)
- Range
- s, to s (D to D, an octave)
- Tune
- ERHALT UNS, HERR, BEI DEINEM WORT
- Words
- Matthias Loy
- Music
- From Klug's Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, Wittenberg, 1543
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ERHALT UNS, HERR, BEI DEINEM WORT (From Klug's Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, Wittenberg, 1543); words by Matthias Loy (1828–1915). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| l,The---dlaw-l,of- | s,God-l,is-dgood-t,and- |
| l,wise,---dAnd--- | rsets-rHis-mwill-dbe-- |
| rfore-rour-meyes,--- | mShows---fus-mthe- |
| sway-mof-rright--reous-- | dness,---mAnd--- |
| ddooms-rto-ddeath-t,when- | l,we-se,trans--l,gress.--- |
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 G · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in E minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The law of God is good and wise,
And sets His will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts,
That we may see our lost estate
And seek deliv'rance ere too late.
To those who help in Christ have found
And would in works of love abound
It shows what deeds are His delight
And should be done as good and right.
When men the offered help disdain
And willfully in sin remain,
Its terror in their ear resounds
And keeps their wickedness in bounds.
The law is good, but since the fall
Its holiness condemns us all;
It dooms us for our sin to die
And has no pow'r to justify.
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 l, (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 se. 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 Matthias Loy, first published in 1863. The tune, ERHALT UNS, HERR, BEI DEINEM WORT, is from Klug's Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, Wittenberg, 1543. This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1863): Matthias Loy (1828–1915)
- Melody (1543): From Klug's Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, Wittenberg, 1543
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune ERHALT UNS, HERR, BEI DEINEM WORT (From Klug's Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, Wittenberg, 1543); words by Matthias Loy (1828–1915). 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 Law of God Is Good and Wise
What is the doh of The Law of God Is Good and Wise?
In this version, in E minor, 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 The Law of God Is Good and Wise start on?
It starts on l, (E in E minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is The Law of God Is Good and Wise in the public domain?
Yes. Matthias Loy died in 1915; the words were first published in 1863 and the music in 1543. 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.