Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He in Tonic Solfa
Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He in Tonic Solfa to SONG TWENTY-TWO, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 2 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| sThough---slone--mly- | lbe---sthy--- |
| spath,-ffear-mnot,-sfor- | rHe------- |
| rWho---mmarks-dthe- | fspar----rrow--- |
| sfall-dis-mguard--ring- | dthee;------- |
| mAnd---fnot-sa- | lstar---lshines--- |
| ro'er-sthy-shead-feby- | snight,------- |
| t,But---dHe-rhath- | mknown---fthat--- |
| sit-lwill-rreach-rthy- | dsight.------- |
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- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (C)
- Range
- t, to l (E to D, a seventh)
- Tune
- SONG TWENTY-TWO
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- Orlando Gibbons
Tune SONG TWENTY-TWO by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625); words by Anonymous. 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 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
Though lonely be thy path, fear not, for He
Who marks the sparrow fall is guarding thee;
And not a star shines o'er thy head by night,
But He hath known that it will reach thy sight.
And not a grief can darken or surprise,
Swell in thy heart, or dim with tears thine eyes,
But it is sent in mercy and in love,
To bid thy helplessness seek strength above.
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).
- 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
These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 336, “The Strength of the Lonely”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Tens (10.10.10.10), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to SONG TWENTY-TWO; any other Tens tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1623): Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625)
Tune SONG TWENTY-TWO by Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: Breathe Thoughts of Pity O'er a Brother's Fall, Cheer Up, My Soul, There Is a Mercy-seat, Father! There Is No Change to Live with Thee, Glory to God! the Morn Appointed Breaks, God of the Changing Year, Whose Arm of Power, The Morning Breaks, I Place My Hand in Thine.
Questions about Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He
What is the doh of Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He?
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 Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He start on?
It starts on s (C in F major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
Is Though Lonely Be Thy Path, Fear Not, for He in the public domain?
Yes. Orlando Gibbons died in 1625; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1623. 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.