Be Thou My Vision for Flutehear it, slow it down, play along
- Tune: SLANE
- Traditional Irish
- Flute
- E♭ major
- 3/4
- 16 bars
On the flute
It runs from B♭4 to E♭6, up into the third octave.
It is in E♭ major, at concert pitch: what you read is what sounds.
How it goes
Four lines of four bars in 3/4. Lines 1 and 2 rise, line 3 reaches the highest notes, and line 4 comes back down to the home note. Most beats carry one note; a few carry two eighths.
A way to practise it
Loop line 3 at the slow tempo until the eighth notes in its first bar are even. The lowest note, a fourth below the home note, comes in lines 1 and 3: check that it speaks.
- Slow ♩ = 60
- Practice ♩ = 80
- Goal ♩ = 100
About the hymn
SLANE is an old Irish folk tune, printed in Patrick W. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs in 1909 with the ballad “With My Love on the Road”. It became a hymn tune when David Evans arranged it for “Be Thou My Vision” in the Church Hymnary of 1927.
It is named after the Hill of Slane in County Meath, Ireland, where Saint Patrick is said to have lit an Easter fire.
Be Thou My Vision for other instruments
Each version is written in a key that suits the instrument, with its own page and player.
More hymns
Questions
- Is there Be Thou My Vision sheet music for flute?
- Yes. This page shows the melody written for Flute in E♭ major, 16 bars in 3/4, and plays it. The notes are public domain.
- What notes does Be Thou My Vision use on flute?
- In this version the melody runs from B♭4 to E♭6, up into the third octave. Press play and watch the cursor: it follows the notes as they sound.
- How fast should I play Be Thou My Vision?
- Hymnals don't fix one speed, and churches sing it at different tempos. Start around ♩ = 60, practise at 80, then match the speed your church sings it. The player's tempo buttons move in steps of 4.
- Is this the same key as my hymnal?
- Maybe not: hymnals print Be Thou My Vision in different keys. This page sounds in E♭ major. Check the key signature in your hymnal before you play along with the organ or piano.
- Can I play it together with other instruments?
- Yes: the versions for Violin, Cello, B♭ clarinet, B♭ trumpet, E♭ alto sax, F horn sound in the same key, E♭ major, so you can play them at the same time, each reading their own page.
Photograph your own part with ScoreLens.
This player is the one in the app. Photograph a printed melody or instrumental part, and ScoreLens plays it back, slower or in another key. It reads one line on one staff: a hymnal page with four voices on two staves is out of reach for now, and so is handwriting.
