Alstone: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Alstone, the hymn tune by Christopher Edwin Willing, in Tonic Solfa (doh is C): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s (G)
- Range
- d to m' (C to E, a tenth)
- Metre
- 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.)
- Music
- Christopher Edwin Willing
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune ALSTONE by Christopher Edwin Willing (1830–1904). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| s- | s--ls-d'- | m-r-d-r- |
| m--fs-l- | s-m-r-s- |
| s--ls-d'- | m'-r'-d'-l- |
| s--lt-d'- | m-r-d- |
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, easy to copy into your own notes or a WhatsApp message to the choir.
Doh is C · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Music (1868): Christopher Edwin Willing (1830–1904)
Metre: 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.). Hymns on this site in the same metre: 'Take Up Thy Cross', the Savior Said, 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow, 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night, All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night, Creator of the Stars of Night (Conditor Alme Siderum, Stylized), Creator of the Stars of Night (Conditor Alme Siderum), From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, From Nazareth.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune ALSTONE by Christopher Edwin Willing (1830–1904). The CCEH gives its tunes as four-part scores; this page has the melody only, read from its MIDI file and checked against its incipit, and NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from the notes. It has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
Questions about Alstone
What is the doh of Alstone?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Alstone start on?
It starts on s (G in C major), a pickup before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.
What words can be sung to Alstone?
Alstone is in the metre 8.8.8.8 — Long Metre (L.M.): lines of 8, 8, 8, 8 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as 'Take Up Thy Cross', the Savior Said, 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow, 'Twas on That Dark, That Doleful Night; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Alstone in the public domain?
Yes. Christopher Edwin Willing died in 1904; the tune was first published in 1868. Everyone named died before 1955 and it was published before 1929, so the tune is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements of it can still be under copyright.