Sweney: hymn tune in Tonic Solfa
Sweney, the hymn tune by John Robson Sweney, in Tonic Solfa (doh is Ab): the solfa line by line, staff notation and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 6/8
- Starts on
- s, (E♭)
- Range
- s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Metre
- 8.8.8.8 +.6.6.8.8
- Music
- John Robson Sweney
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune SWENEY by John Robson Sweney (1837–1899). Sources and licences.
The solfa
| s,-,s,s,s,-l, | d-dd-- | r-,rrr-f | m-mm-- |
| s-,sss-f | m-mm-- | r-,mfm-r | d-t,d-- |
| m--s,-,l,s, | d--d-- | r--r-,mf | m--m-- |
| s-,sss-f | m-mm-- | r-,mfm-r | d-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 Ab · 6/8
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
About the tune
- Music (1887): John Robson Sweney (1837–1899)
Metre: 8.8.8.8 +.6.6.8.8.
Melody from the Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary (CCEH, public domain); tune SWENEY by John Robson Sweney (1837–1899). 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 Sweney
What is the doh of Sweney?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 Sweney start on?
It starts on s, (E♭ in Ab major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
What words can be sung to Sweney?
Sweney is in the metre 8.8.8.8 +.6.6.8.8: lines of 8, 8, 8, 8,, then, 6, 6, 8, 8 syllables. Words written in the same metre fit it; check where the stresses fall before you sing them together.
Is Sweney in the public domain?
Yes. John Robson Sweney died in 1899; the tune was first published in 1887. 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.