Free easy piano · Hymns
Abide with Me, easy piano
Abide with Me for piano in four free versions: an easy version in D major, a late-beginner version in C major with the melody alone, Monk's four-part hymn made playable for Sunday with an introduction, and the hymnal original in E-flat. Play each one here, slow it down or loop a bar, then print the PDF or download the MIDI.
- William Henry Monk
- Easy to intermediate, plus the original
- 16 bars · 4/4
- Free: play, print, MIDI
Versions of Abide with Me. Each version is a request typed into PlayableNotes. Pick one to hear and print it.
Typed into PlayableNotes“Make this hymn easier for a second-year student. Move it down a half step to D major so there are only two sharps, keep the melody and the alto in the right hand, and give the left hand single notes or two-note chords from the hymn's tenor and bass, nothing wider than an octave.”
What changed
The hymn a half step below the hymnal, in D major: melody and alto in the right hand, single notes and two-note chords from the tenor and bass in the left.
- In D major, a half step below the hymnal's E-flat: two sharps instead of three flats, with the same intervals and the same harmony.
- Right hand: the hymnal's soprano and alto note for note, a half step lower, in all 16 bars. The G-sharp in bar 7 and the D-sharps in bar 11 are the hymnal's A natural and E naturals.
- Left hand: one rhythm at a time, single notes or two-note chords from the hymnal's tenor and bass, never wider than an octave.
- Bar 3: the bass walks G, A, B, C-sharp. On beats 1 to 3 the tenor's notes above it are left out and the right hand completes each chord; on beat 4 the left hand adds the tenor's A, so the A7 has its root, and that A stays for the D–A of bar 4.
- Bar 5: the bass and tenor together, D–A, C-sharp–A, B–G, A–F-sharp, so the bass walks down under the melody with the full chord on every beat.
- Bars 1 and 9 are the same: D–A, then A, then A–G. The hymnal doubles the A in octaves on beat 3 of bar 1, and its tenor moves F-sharp, G, A, G in bar 9.
- Bars 2 and 10 are the same: B–F-sharp, then F-sharp–D. In bar 10 the hymnal's tenor rises to the D and C-sharp above middle C on beats 3 and 4; the left hand plays bar 2's F-sharp–D instead.
- Bar 6: G–D, an open fifth, where the hymnal has the G octave. Bar 7, beat 4: B alone, because the hymnal's tenor D is already in the right hand.
- Bar 11: B–G on beats 1 and 2, then B–B and B–A, so the hand stays on the low B for the whole bar. The hymnal's bass walks G, A, B here; this version has the same G chord on beats 1 and 2, with its B in the bass.
- Bar 13: the tenor's A stays on top while the bass steps down G, F-sharp, E. Bar 14, beat 4: G–E, where the hymnal has G–B a tenth apart (the B is left out; the E doubles the right hand's E).
- Bar 15: the low A all bar, as in the hymnal, with the A above it on beats 1 and 2 and G on beat 4.
For teachers: For a second-year student who reads two sharps and two-note chords in both hands. The right hand has the alto under the melody in almost every bar, so learn each hand alone, a line at a time. Point out the G-sharp in bar 7 and the D-sharps in bar 11 before the first run-through. In bar 13 the left-hand thumb stays on A and plays it again with each new lower note, G, F-sharp, E. A half step below the hymnal, it still suits singing.
Typed into PlayableNotes“Make a version for a late first-year student: put it in C major so there is no key signature, keep the melody alone in the right hand, and give the left hand the hymn's own bass line, one note at a time, with a two-note chord at the end of each line.”
What changed
The melody alone in C major, with no key signature, over the hymnal's bass line, mostly in single notes, with two-note chords at the ends of lines.
- In C major, a minor third below the hymnal's E-flat: no key signature.
- Right hand: the melody alone, every note and rhythm, from middle C up to A. Its one accidental is the F-sharp in bar 7, the hymnal's A natural.
- Left hand: the hymnal's bass, one note at a time except at the ends of lines, in half and whole notes in most bars. It moves in quarter notes in bars 3, 5, 7 and 14, where the hymnal's bass changes on every beat (F, G, A, B; C, B, A, G; D, B, C, A; C, G, A, F), and on beats 3 and 4 of bars 11 and 13.
- Bars 1 and 9: C, then G held for two beats, where the hymnal plays G twice. Bars 2 and 10: A, then C, where the hymnal's bass drops to the E below the staff; the C chord is the same, and the hand moves down only a fifth to the F of bar 3.
- Ends of lines: open fifths C–G in bars 4 and 16 and G–D in bar 8, and D–F in bar 12, which keeps the minor chord there.
- Bar 11: F for two beats (the hymnal's passing G is left out), then A and C-sharp. The A is the hymnal's bass on beat 3. The C-sharp on beat 4, where the hymnal's bass repeats A, is the hymnal's alto E natural in this key, moved into the bass: it keeps the bar's chromatic color under the A seventh chord and leads up to the D of bar 12.
- Bar 13: the bass steps down F, E, D while the melody steps up D, E, F. The hymnal's tenor G is left out, so the G7 chord of this bar is implied rather than played.
- Bar 15: one low G for the whole bar, as in the hymnal.
For teachers: For a late first-year student who reads in C and can keep a left hand moving in quarter notes. Right hand: start in C position, thumb on middle C. After the half note G in bar 2, move up one key, thumb on D, for bars 3 to 8 (the F-sharp in bar 7 is finger 3), and move back to C position after the whole note in bar 8. Left hand: it stays between the F just below the staff and the G in its top space, and it moves to a new position at most barlines, with four bigger jumps: up to the C–G of bar 4, back down to C for the walk in bar 5, down from the F of bar 13 to the C of bar 14, and up from the low G to the final C–G. Before each of those barlines, find the next bar's first note. Practice bars 3, 5, 7 and 14 alone first, the bars where it moves on every beat; each one fits under a single hand position.
Typed into PlayableNotes“This is the four-part hymn from our hymnal. Make it playable on piano for Sunday: keep all four parts, the key of E-flat and the harmony, with nothing wider than an octave in either hand. Add the usual introduction from the last line, and put repeat signs around the verse.”
What changed
Monk's four parts in E-flat with every note kept, rearranged in three bars so each hand stays within an octave, after a four-bar introduction.
- Bars 1 to 4: introduction, the hymn's last line (bars 13 to 16, "Help of the helpless, O abide with me" in the first verse), with a pause on the last chord. The Open Hymnal edition marks this line as the introduction.
- Bars 5 to 20: the verse between repeat signs. Play it once for each verse; the page's player plays it twice.
- Soprano, alto, tenor and bass: the hymnal's notes and rhythms in 13 of the 16 bars of the verse, in E-flat.
- Verse bar 10 (bar 14): the tenor's E-flat and D move to the right hand, because in the hymnal they are a thirteenth and a twelfth above the bass G. The E-flat is the alto's note, so it is played once; the right-hand thumb adds the D on beat 4.
- Verse bar 11 (bar 15): the tenor's C on beats 1 and 2 moves to the right hand, under the alto and melody, because it is a tenth above the bass A-flat. The left hand keeps the bass's dotted rhythm.
- Verse bar 14 (bars 2 and 18): the tenor's C on beat 4 moves to the right hand, for the same reason.
- No stretch wider than an octave in either hand. The right hand plays three notes at once only in those bars.
For teachers: For a church pianist or an intermediate student who wants the hymn as the congregation sings it. Practice bar 15 hands separately first: it is the hymn's bar 11, with the E naturals and the right hand's three-note chords. Keep the melody on top of those chords. Lift both hands together at the end of each line, after the whole notes in bars 8, 12, 16 and 20, so the singers can breathe.
The piece as published: Open Hymnal Project, 2008 revision: Monk's four-part setting from Hymns Ancient and Modern (1869 printing).
Original hymnal setting
What changed
What changed
Monk's four-part setting as printed in the Open Hymnal edition: soprano and alto on the treble staff, tenor and bass on the bass staff, in E-flat.
- Nothing: this is the source edition, checked bar by bar against its MIDI and PDF and against the Mutopia edition.
- It is written for singers. In bars 10, 11 and 14 the tenor is a tenth or more above the bass, wider than most hands reach; the version made playable for Sunday moves those notes into the right hand.
For teachers: Use it to hear the full harmony or to check a choir's parts. To play it yourself, start with the version made playable for Sunday, which differs from it in three bars of the verse, or with the easy version a half step lower.
Want it different? Just ask.
Open this version in PlayableNotes and ask for a change in words: simpler, another key, shorter, bigger notes. The result is a new version you can play, print and share with your student.
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Make your own version
A real request in PlayableNotes, on Für Elise from the free library: say who it’s for and what to keep, and the AI writes a new version beside the original. It shows how to ask for a version of your own; its result is not one of the versions on this page.
About Abide with Me
Henry Francis Lyte, perpetual curate of Lower Brixham in Devon, wrote the words of Abide with Me; they are usually dated 1847, the year he died. The tune almost everyone sings, EVENTIDE, is by William Henry Monk, the music editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, and first appeared in that book in 1861. It is one of the most requested hymns at funerals, and has traditionally been sung before the FA Cup Final since 1927.
The hymn is 16 bars in 4/4: four lines of four bars, each ending on a whole note. The melody moves mostly by step in quarter and half notes, within a sixth. Two chromatic touches give it its color: the A natural in bar 7, which leads the second line up to its close, and the E naturals in bar 11, where the harmony turns through C7 to F minor. The hymnal page is written for four singers in E-flat, with three flats, and in bars 10, 11 and 14 the tenor sits a tenth or more above the bass, too far for most left hands.
The easy version moves the hymn down a half step to D major, two sharps instead of three flats, and keeps the melody and alto in the right hand over single notes and two-note chords from the tenor and bass. The late-beginner version is in C major: the melody alone over the hymnal's bass line, in long notes except in the few bars where the hymn's bass walks. The version made playable for Sunday keeps all four parts and the key of E-flat, moves the tenor into the right hand in the three bars where it is out of reach, and opens with the hymn's last line as an introduction.
Practice tips
- Bar numbers in these tips are the same in the easy, late-beginner and original versions; in the Sunday version add four for the introduction. Learn it a line at a time: bars 9 and 10 repeat the melody of bars 1 and 2, so the third line has only two new bars, the chromatic bar 11 and bar 12.
- Find the two chromatic moments before you play and circle them in pencil: beat 4 of bar 7, which leads up into the next bar (A natural in the hymnal, G-sharp in the easy version, F-sharp in the late-beginner version), and bar 11 (the hymnal's E naturals, the easy version's D-sharps, the late-beginner version's left-hand C-sharp).
- Every line ends on a whole note (bars 4, 8, 12 and 16). Count all four beats, and lift your hands only at the very end of the bar, where singers breathe.
- Loop bars 3 and 5 (bars 7 and 9 in the Sunday version) and play the left hand alone: the bass walks up in the first and down in the second, in every version, and those two bars give the hymn much of its shape.
- Keep it slow and even. Learn it around 60, and for singing don't go far beyond 80; play the melody a little louder than the other notes so it carries.
Questions about Abide with Me
Who wrote the music for Abide with Me?
William Henry Monk, the music editor of Hymns Ancient and Modern, wrote the tune, called EVENTIDE; it first appeared in that book in 1861. The words are by Henry Francis Lyte, perpetual curate of Lower Brixham in Devon, and are usually dated 1847, the year he died.
What key is Abide with Me in?
Most hymnals print it in E-flat major, with three flats, and the Sunday version and the original here are in E-flat. The easy version is a half step lower, in D major with two sharps, and the late-beginner version is in C major, with no key signature.
Is Abide with Me hard to play on piano?
The tune is not: it moves mostly by step in quarter and half notes, within a sixth. The hymnal page is harder: three flats, four parts, and in three bars a tenor a tenth or more above the bass, too far for one hand. The late-beginner version here is the melody alone in C over a mostly single-note bass from the hymnal; the easy version adds the alto and two-note left-hand chords, in D; the Sunday version keeps all four parts with each hand within an octave.
Which version should I play at a funeral?
To accompany singing, play the version made playable for Sunday: it is in E-flat, the key most hymnals use, with the hymn's last line as an introduction. The easy version in D is a half step lower and also works for singing. For music while people gather or leave, either one works as a quiet solo: play it slowly, around 60, with the melody a little louder than the other notes.
How fast should Abide with Me be played?
Slowly, but not so slowly that the singers run out of breath on the whole notes. Around 70 to 80 quarter notes per minute suits congregational singing; a solo can go slower, around 60. Learn it at 60 and raise the tempo on this page's player as it settles.
Is Abide with Me in the public domain?
Yes. Lyte died in 1847 and Monk in 1889, and the tune and its four-part harmony were published in 1861, so the words and music are in the public domain. Modern arrangements can still be under copyright; the arrangements on this page were made by PlayableNotes from Monk's setting, and all four versions are free to print as a Letter-size PDF or download as MIDI, without an account.
Source and credits
- Composer
- William Henry Monk
- Source edition
- Open Hymnal Project, 2008 revision: Monk's four-part setting from Hymns Ancient and Modern (1869 printing)
- License
- Public domain
- Arranger
- PlayableNotes
All 16 bars were checked note by note against the Open Hymnal's own MIDI and PDF of the same file, and against a second edition (Mutopia, engraved by Steve Dunlop). The four parts agree in every pitch, including the A natural in bar 7 and the E naturals in bar 11. The one difference is the tenor's rhythm in bar 11, beats 1 and 2: two quarter notes in the Open Hymnal, a dotted quarter and an eighth in Mutopia, on the same note. No notes needed correcting. No words are included.
Arrangements and facts checked
