The Lord My Shepherd Is in Tonic Solfa
The Lord My Shepherd Is in Tonic Solfa to AYLESBURY, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 6 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| l,The---mLord-rmy- | dshep--t,herd-l,is,--- |
| mI---sshall-fbe- | mwell-rsup--mply'd;--- |
| __dSince-t,he-l,is- | mmine,-dand-rI-dam- |
| t,his,-l,What-mcan-rI- | dwant---t,be---- |
| l,side?------- |
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- Key
- F minor
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (F)
- Range
- l, to s (F to E♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- AYLESBURY
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). 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 F minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
The Lord my shepherd is,
I shall be well supply'd;
Since he is mine, and I am his,
What can I want beside?
He leads me to the place
Where heavenly pasture grows,
Where living waters gently pass,
And full salvation flows.
If e'er I go astray,
He doth my soul reclaim,
And guides me in his own right way,
For his most holy name.
While he affords his aid,
I cannot yield to fear;
Tho' I should walk thro' death's dark shade
My Shepherd's with me there.
In spite of all my foes,
Thou dost my table spread,
My cup with blessings overflows,
And joy exalts my head.
The bounties of thy love
Shall crown my following days;
Nor from thy house will I remove,
Nor cease to speak thy praise.
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 l, (F).
- 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. 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
Isaac Watts wrote these words for The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719): Psalm 23, part 3, headed “The same”.
Watts' psalms were printed without tunes and sung to any tune of their metre, Short Metre (6.6.8.6). This page sets the words to AYLESBURY; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words (1719): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Melody (1718): From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune AYLESBURY (From John Chetham's Psalmody, 1718); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: "Blest Are the Meek," He Said, "Is This a Fast for Me?", And Will the God of Grace, Behold, the Grace Appears, Beside the Gospel Pool, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, Come at the Morning Hour, Come, Holy Ghost, in Might, Commit Thou All Thy Griefs, Far from These Scenes of Night, Father, I Will Not Pray, Great God, at Thy Command, How Heavy Is the Night, How Sweet the Melting Lay, I Hear the Voice of Woe, I Love Thy Church, O God, I Love Thy Zion, Lord, I Would, but Cannot Sing, Jesus Invites His Saints, Lord Jesus, Come! for Here, Lord, in the Strength of Grace, Mine Eyes and My Desire, My Former Hopes Are Dead, Now Is the Day of Grace, O Bless the Lord, My Soul, O Lord! Through Thee We Own, O the Almighty Lord, O, for the Death of Those, See What a Living-stone, Shall We Go on to Sin, Sing to the Lord Aloud, That Blessed Law of Thine, The Best That Heaven Could Bring, The Hours of Evening Close, The Savior Kindly Calls, Thou One Begotten Son, Thy Name, Almighty Lord, Thy Word Invites Us Nigh, Tossed on the Sea of Life, We Lift Our Hearts to Thee, Welcome, Sweet Day of Rest, When Overwhelmed with Grief, When Shall Thy Love Constrain.
Questions about The Lord My Shepherd Is
What is the doh of The Lord My Shepherd Is?
In this version, in F minor, 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 The Lord My Shepherd Is start on?
It starts on l, (F in F minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is The Lord My Shepherd Is in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748; the words were first published in 1719 and the music in 1718. 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.