Where, for a Thousand Miles in Tonic Solfa
Where, for a Thousand Miles in Tonic Solfa to DORT, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 5 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| dWhere,-mfor-da- | sthou---lsandsmiles,- | sThe-tsweet-sO-- | r'hi---m'or'smiles,- |
| d'On-tbed-lof- | ssand;----- | sWhere-mprai--fries- | sblos---lsomsbroad,- |
| sFair-mgar--fdens- | ssown--lbysGod,- | sAnd-d'lakes-r'their- | m'o---f'ceanm'flood- |
| r'Pour-d'from-tHis- | d'hand;----- |
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- Key
- C major
- Doh
- C
- Time
- 3/4
- Starts on
- d (C)
- Range
- d to f' (C to F)
- Tune
- DORT
- Words
- Anonymous
- Music
- Lowell Mason
Tune DORT by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Anonymous. Sources and licences.
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is C · 3/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in C major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Where, for a thousand miles,
The sweet Ohio smiles,
On bed of sand;
Where prairies blossom broad,
Fair gardens sown by God,
And lakes their ocean-flood
Pour from His hand;
Where sleep in rest profound,
Beneath each ancient mound,
A buried race;
There, brother, go and teach;
From heart to heart shall reach
Thy free and earnest speech
Of heavenly grace.
Where the tall forest waves
Above those mouldering graves,
God's truth declare;
While his first temples spread
Their arches o'er thy head,
Lift, o'er the slumbering dead,
The voice of prayer.
While rolls the living tide,
Down Alleghany's side,
Its ceaseless flood;
Upon the mountains, there,
How beautiful appear
The feet of those who bear
Tidings of good!
O Thou, whose suns and rains
Upon those mighty plains
Fall evermore;
Send down the dews of peace,
The sun of righteousness,
And let Thy light increase
From shore to shore!
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum C and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on d (C).
- Count the time. 3/4 means three crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
These words were printed without an author's name in A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, compiled by Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson (Boston, 1848), as hymn 417, “"How Beautiful upon the Mountains."”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sixes and Fours (6.6.4.6.6.6.4), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to DORT; any other Sixes and Fours tune fits them as well.
- Words: Anonymous
- Music (1832): Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
Tune DORT by Lowell Mason (1792–1872); words by Anonymous.
Sung to the same tune: Auspicious Morning, Hail, Loud Raise the Notes of Joy, My Country 'Tis of Thee, Thou, Whose Almighty Word, With Thy Pure Dews and Rains.
Questions about Where, for a Thousand Miles
What is the doh of Where, for a Thousand Miles?
In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Where, for a Thousand Miles start on?
It starts on d (C in C major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to d.
Is Where, for a Thousand Miles in the public domain?
Yes. Lowell Mason died in 1872; the words were in print by 1848 and the music in 1832. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.