Amazing Grace✧
Let the melody breathe. A gentle introduction to pickups and the upper D.
Sheet music
Tap a staff note or finger tab to hear it.
Opening
Rise
Answer
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D whistle · G major · 3/4 · 65 BPM · + upper octave
Opening
Rise
Answer
Home
Lyrics
John Newton · Olney Hymns (1779)
Newton’s six original stanzas, with modernized punctuation. Play the verse melody again for each stanza.
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease; I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who called me here below, Will be forever mine.
About this tune
John Newton’s words were published in Olney Hymns in 1779. They reflect on grace, deliverance, and hope. Newton had worked in the slave trade and later became an abolitionist; that history is inseparable from the hymn’s story.
The familiar melody is New Britain, paired with the words in William Walker’s Southern Harmony in 1835. Its broad phrases and gently rising opening give the song a reflective, searching quality.
Performances
Watch musicians play this tune on tin whistle. Keys and arrangements may differ from the tabs above.
Amazing Grace
CutiePie
Tin whistle performance and tutorial
Watch on YouTube — Amazing Grace by CutiePie (opens in a new tab) ↗