Cradle Song: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Cradle Song, the hymn tune by William James Kirkpatrick, in Tonic Solfa (doh is F): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- F major
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- s, (C)
- Range
- s, to l (C to D, a ninth)
- Metre
- 11.11.11.11
- Music
- William James Kirkpatrick
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune CRADLE SONG by William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| s,- | d-d-rm | d-d-mf | s-s-l- | f---rm |
| f-f-s- | m-m-dm | r-l,-d- | t,---s,- |
| d-d-rm | d-d-mf | s-s-l- | f---rm |
| f-f-s- | m-m-dm | r-l,-t,- | 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 F · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Music (1895): William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921)
Metre: 11.11.11.11. Hymns on this site in the same metre: How Firm a Foundation, Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune CRADLE SONG by William James Kirkpatrick (1838–1921). 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 Cradle Song
What is the doh of Cradle Song?
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 Cradle Song start on?
It starts on s, (C in F major), a pickup before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
What words can be sung to Cradle Song?
Cradle Song is in the metre 11.11.11.11: lines of 11, 11, 11, 11 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as How Firm a Foundation, Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Cradle Song in the public domain?
Yes. William James Kirkpatrick died in 1921; the tune was first published in 1895. 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.