Ring the Bells: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Ring the Bells, the hymn tune by George F. Root, in Tonic Solfa (doh is Bb): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Bb major
- Doh
- Bb
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- s, (F)
- Range
- s, to s (F to F, an octave)
- Metre
- 11.9.11.9 +.9.9.11.9
- Music
- George F. Root
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune RING THE BELLS by George F. Root (1820–1895). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| s,-,s,l,-,s,m-d- | r-,dl,-,t,d--- |
| t,-,dr-,dm-,rf-,t, | d------- |
| s,-,s,l,-,s,m-d- | r-,dl,-,t,d--- |
| t,-,dr-,dm-,rf-,t, | d------- |
| m-m-s-,fr-,t, | d-d-m--- |
| l,-l,-r-,mr-,d | t,-l,-s,--- |
| s,-,s,l,-,s,m-d- | r-,dl,-,t,d--- |
| t,-,dr-,dm-,rf-,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 Bb · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Bb major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Music (1875): George F. Root (1820–1895)
Metre: 11.9.11.9 +.9.9.11.9.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune RING THE BELLS by George F. Root (1820–1895). 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 Ring the Bells
What is the doh of Ring the Bells?
In this version, in Bb major, doh is Bb. 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 Ring the Bells start on?
It starts on s, (F in Bb major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
What words can be sung to Ring the Bells?
Ring the Bells is in the metre 11.9.11.9 +.9.9.11.9: lines of 11, 9, 11, 9,, then, 9, 9, 11, 9 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Ring the Bells in the public domain?
Yes. George F. Root died in 1895; the tune was first published in 1875. 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.