There's a Great Day Coming in Tonic Solfa
There's a Great Day Coming in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 4 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- G major
- Doh
- G
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (D)
- Range
- s, to l (D to E, a ninth)
- Tune
- THERES A GREAT DAY COMING
- Words
- Will Lamartine Thompson
- Music
- Will Lamartine Thompson
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THERES A GREAT DAY COMING by Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909); words by Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,There'ss,a | dgreat-dday-dcom-,ding,-_dA | mgreat-mday-rcom-,ding,-l,There'ss,a |
| dgreat-dday-dcom-,ding-rbymand | rby;-----dWhenrthe |
| msaints-mandmthemsin-snerssshallmbe | rpar-dteddrightl,ands,left,-s,Ares,you |
| drea-,ddy-dfordthatrday-rto- | dcome?-----__ |
| sAre--syoulrea-sdy?__ | mAre--myoufrea-mdy?__ |
| dAre--dyoudrea-ddydfordthe | mjudg--rment-rday?--- |
| sAre--syoulrea-sdy?__ | mAre--myoufrea-mdy?__ |
| dFor--dtherjudg--rment- | dday?----- |
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 G major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
There's a great day coming, A great day coming,
There's a great day coming by and by;
When the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left,
Refrain
Are you ready for that day to come? Are you ready?
Are you ready? Are you ready for the judgment day?
Are you ready? Are you ready? For the judgment day?
There's a bright day coming, A bright day coming,
There's a bright day coming by and by;
But its brightness shall only come to them that love the Lord,
There's a sad day coming, A sad day coming,
There's a sad day coming by and by;
When the sinner shall hear his doom, "Depart, I know ye not,"
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 “There's”, 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. A cell split by a comma holds two quarter beats: d -,r is a dotted quaver and a semiquaver, d,r two semiquavers. That comma sits between two syllables; an octave mark sits small and low against its own letter (s,).
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l. 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 Will Lamartine Thompson, first published in 1886. The tune, THERES A GREAT DAY COMING, is by Will Lamartine Thompson (1886). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1886): Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909)
- Music (1886): Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune THERES A GREAT DAY COMING by Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909); words by Will Lamartine Thompson (1847–1909). 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 There's a Great Day Coming
What is the doh of There's a Great Day Coming?
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 There's a Great Day Coming start on?
It starts on s, (D in G major), a pickup on the word “There's” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is There's a Great Day Coming in the public domain?
Yes. Will Lamartine Thompson died in 1909, Will Lamartine Thompson died in 1909; the words were first published in 1886 and the music in 1886. 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.