Sing Amazing Grace: the opening phrase, its key and note range
The opening phrase of “Amazing Grace” runs from G3 to G4, 12 semitones, with its tonic on C4 at 70 bpm, and rates hard to sing. Origin: Traditional tune “New Britain” (American shape-note, printed 1829); words by John Newton, 1779.
Sing Amazing Grace with pitch feedback
The opening phrase of “Amazing Grace” is transcribed here with its tonic on C4 at 70 bpm in 3 beats to the bar. The 14 notes span G3 to G4 — 12 semitones, with 5 leaps of a major third or more — and the span and leaps together rate it hard to sing; a full 4-pass session runs about 1:12.
12 semitones as transcribed. Once you have taken the range test, the practice room opens it fitted to your range, and you can shift it by semitones from there. Without a saved range it opens at this written pitch and is scored in either octave, so a lower voice can sing it an octave down and a higher voice an octave up.
- One time through
- 0:18 at 70 bpm
- A full session
- 1:12 — 4 passes
- Leaps of a major third or more
- 5
Amazing Grace lyrics, as transcribed here
- Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
- that saved a wretch like me
The songbook transcribes the opening phrase rather than the whole song, because 4 tight repetitions of a phrase you can hear yourself improve on beats one distracted run at the full thing.
Origin and copyright status
John Newton’s hymn text was published in 1779; the “New Britain” tune it is now sung to first appeared in an 1829 shape-note tunebook. Both are centuries out of copyright.
- Attribution
- Traditional tune “New Britain” (American shape-note, printed 1829); words by John Newton, 1779
- Language
- English
Every melody in the songbook is public domain, which is why the whole thing can be sung in a browser without a licence. A specific recording or arrangement of the same tune can still be under copyright — this is our own transcription of the melody.
The longer version
Genre, era and what it drills
Genre and era say where the melody comes from; “wide range” is what it asks of a voice.