By and By: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa

By and By, the hymn tune by Charles A. Tindley, in Tonic Solfa (doh is F): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.

Download the solfa (PDF)A4, free to print and share with your choir

Key
F major
Doh
F
Time
4/4
Starts on
d (F)
Range
l, to l (D to D, an octave)
Metre
7.7.7.7.7.7.11 + i
Music
Charles A. Tindley

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune BY AND BY by Charles A. Tindley (1851–1933). Sources and licences.

The solfa

Doh is F4/4
d-,rm-,mm-,mm-rdr-,dd-,l,d-d-,r
m-,mm-,mm,m-r-,dr-,dr-,mr-d-,r
m-,mm-,sm-rdr-,dd-,l,d-d-,r
m-,mm-,mr,d-r-,md-----__
s--lm---r-,dd-,l,d---
s--lm--dr-,dr-,mr-dm
s--lm--dr-,dd-,l,d-d-,r
m-,mm-,mr,d-r-,md-----

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. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.

Doh is F · 4/4

| d -,r | m -,m m -,m m - r d | r -,d d -,l, d - d -,r |
| m -,m m -,m m,m - r -,d | r -,d r -,m r - d -,r |
| m -,m m -,s m - r d | r -,d d -,l, d - d -,r |
| m -,m m -,m r,d - r -,m | d - - - - - _ _ |
| s - - l m - - - | r -,d d -,l, d - - - |
| s - - l m - - d | r -,d r -,m r - d m |
| s - - l m - - d | r -,d d -,l, d - d -,r |
| m -,m m -,m r,d - r -,m | d - - - - - |

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in F major.

About the tune

  • Music (1905): Charles A. Tindley (1851–1933)

Metre: 7.7.7.7.7.7.11 + i.

Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune BY AND BY by Charles A. Tindley (1851–1933). 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 By and By

What is the doh of By and By?

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 By and By start on?

It starts on d (F in F major), a pickup before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.

What words can be sung to By and By?

By and By is in the metre 7.7.7.7.7.7.11 + i: lines of 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 11,, then, i syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.

Is By and By in the public domain?

Yes. Charles A. Tindley died in 1933; the tune was first published in 1905. 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.