Noel: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Noel, the hymn tune, 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
- 4/4
- Starts on
- d (F)
- Range
- s, to l (C to D, a ninth)
- Metre
- 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.)
- Music
- English Folksong
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune NOEL (English Folksong). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| dr | m-r-d-rm | f-m-r--s |
| s-m-fsl- | s-----mf |
| s-s-m-d- | f-m-r-dr |
| mfs-m-r- | d-----d- |
| t,-l,-t,-r- | d--t,l,-m- |
| r-d-t,-l,- | s,-----s,- |
| s-f-m-rm | f-m-r-dr |
| mfs-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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Melody: English Folksong
- Arranged (1874): Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842–1900)
Metre: 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.). Hymns on this site in the same metre: Almighty God Your Word Is Cast, Almighty Lord, Before Thy Throne, Hark the Glad Sound, Lamp of Our Feet, Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds, Lord as to Thy Dear Cross, Lord While for All Mankind We Pray, Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune NOEL (English Folksong). 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. The arranger named above set CCEH's harmony, which is not shown here.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
Questions about Noel
What is the doh of Noel?
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 Noel 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 Noel?
Noel is in the metre 8.6.8.6 — Common Metre (C.M.): lines of 8, 6, 8, 6 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it, such as Almighty God Your Word Is Cast, Almighty Lord, Before Thy Throne, Hark the Glad Sound; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Noel in the public domain?
Yes. Arthur Seymour Sullivan died in 1900; the tune was first published in 1874. 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.