Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing for Alto Saxhear it, slow it down, play along
- Tune: NETTLETON
- Traditional American
- E♭ alto sax
- C major
- 3/4
- 16 bars
On the alto sax
It runs from C5 to C6 (written).
It is written in C major, a major sixth above how it sounds, so it sounds in E♭ major, the same key as the concert-pitch versions. You can play it together with a violin or flute reading their own page.
How it goes
Four lines of four bars in 3/4, each starting on two pickup eighths. Lines 1, 2 and 4 are the same; line 3 climbs to the top note.
A way to practise it
Learn line 1 and you know three quarters of the hymn. Then loop line 3 at the slow tempo: it has the only sixteenth notes.
- Slow ♩ = 60
- Practice ♩ = 80
- Goal ♩ = 100
About the hymn
Robert Robinson wrote the words in 1758. The tune first appeared, with no composer's name, in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, in 1813. It is named after the evangelist Asahel Nettleton, though there is no evidence that he wrote it.
This page has the melody as the Evangelical Hymnal printed it in 1921.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing for other instruments
Each version is written in a key that suits the instrument, with its own page and player.
Reading a transposed part
E♭ alto sax reads a different note from the one that sounds. How alto sax transposition works, with a chart you can listen to.
More hymns
Questions
- Is there Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing sheet music for alto sax?
- Yes. This page shows the melody written for E♭ alto sax in C major, 16 bars in 3/4, and plays it. The notes are public domain.
- What notes does Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing use on alto sax?
- In this version the melody runs from C5 to C6 (written). Press play and watch the cursor: it follows the notes as they sound.
- How fast should I play Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?
- 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 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing 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.
- Is this in concert pitch or written pitch for alto sax?
- Written pitch. E♭ alto sax sounds a major sixth lower than written, so the C major on this page sounds in E♭ major. The player plays it at the pitch you would hear.
- Can I play it together with other instruments?
- Yes: the versions for Violin, Cello, Flute, B♭ clarinet, B♭ trumpet, 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.
