While I Lived Without the Lord in Tonic Solfa
While I Lived Without the Lord in Tonic Solfa to HEINLEIN, doh is F: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 8 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| mWhile-mI-l,lived-t,with-- | dout-rthe-mLord,--- |
| m(If-mI-smight-sbe- | fesaid-feto-mlive)--- |
| mNoth--ming-fcould-fre-- | rlief-raf--mford,--- |
| mNoth--ming-rsat--dis-- | t,fac--t,tion-l,give.--- |
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- Key
- D minor
- Doh
- F
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- m (A)
- Range
- l, to s (D to C, a seventh)
- Tune
- HEINLEIN
- Words
- John Newton
- Music
- Martin Herbst, Nurnberg
Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807). 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 F · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in D minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
While I lived without the Lord,
(If I might be said to live)
Nothing could relief afford,
Nothing satisfaction give.
Empty hopes and groundless fear,
Moved by turns my anxious mind;
Like a feather in the air,
Made the sport of every wind.
Now, I see, whate'er betide,
All is well if Christ be mine;
He has promised to provide,
I have only to resign.
When a sense of sin and thrall,
Forced me to the sinner's Friend;
He engaged to manage all,
By the way, and to the end.
"Cast, he said, on me thy care,
'Tis enough that I am nigh;
I will all thy burdens bear,
I will all thy wants supply.
Simply follow as I lead,
Do not reason but believe;
Call on me in time of need,
Thou shalt surely help receive."
Lord I would, I do, submit,
Gladly yield my all to thee;
What thy wisdom sees most fit,
Must be, surely, best for me.
Only when the way is rough,
And the coward flesh would start,
Let thy promise and thy love,
Cheer and animate my heart.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum F 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 m (A).
- Count the time. 4/4 means four 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 and the chromatic fe. 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
John Newton wrote these words. They were printed in Olney Hymns (London, 1779), Book III, hymn 55, “Freedom from care”.
The book printed the words without tunes, marked Sevens (7.7.7.7), to be sung to any tune of that metre. This page sets them to HEINLEIN; any other Sevens tune fits them as well.
- Words: John Newton (1725–1807)
- Music, attributed (1676): Martin Herbst (died undefined)
- Music (1676): Nurnberg (died undefined)
Tune HEINLEIN by Martin Herbst (died undefined) and Nurnberg (died undefined); words by John Newton (1725–1807).
Sung to the same tune: All Ye Nations, Praise the Lord, As the Sun's Enliv'ning Eye, Bless, O Lord, Each Opening Year, Child, Amidst the Flowers at Play, Clay to Clay, and Dust to Dust, Father! We Look Up to Thee, Forty Days and Forty Nights, Gently Fall the Dews of Eve, Heavenly Father! to Whose Eye, High, in Yonder Realms of Light, Jesu, Shall I Never Be, Let Me Dwell on Golgotha, Light Is Dawning 'Mong the Hills, Lord! Subdue Our Selfish Will, Mighty One, Before Whose Face, Now the Shades of Night Are Gone, Praise, O Praise Our God and King, See, the World for Youth Prepares, Sin, When Viewed by Scripture Light, Soul! Celestial in Thy Birth, Thine Forever, God of Love, Thou Who Roll’st the Year Around.
Questions about While I Lived Without the Lord
What is the doh of While I Lived Without the Lord?
In this version, in D minor, 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 While I Lived Without the Lord start on?
It starts on m (A in D minor). Find doh first, then sing up or down to m.
Is While I Lived Without the Lord in the public domain?
Yes. John Newton died in 1807, Martin Herbst died in undefined, Nurnberg died in undefined; the words were in print by 1779 and the music in 1676. 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.