Free easy piano · Hymns
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, easy piano
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing for piano in five free versions: an easy arrangement in D major, a beginner version in C major, a flowing piano solo and a church setting with an introduction in the hymnal's E-flat, and the 1921 hymnal original. Play each one here, slow it down or loop a bar, then print the PDF or download the MIDI.
- Traditional American (attributed to Asahel Nettleton)
- Beginner to intermediate, plus the original
- 17 bars · 3/4
- Free: play, print, MIDI
Versions of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. 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. Put it in D major so there are only two sharps, keep the melody exactly as written, and give the left hand two-note chords from the hymnal's harmony, nothing wider than an octave.”
What changed
The whole melody, note for note, in D major, over two-note left-hand chords that follow the hymnal's harmony.
- Moved down a half step, from E-flat major (three flats) to D major (two sharps). The melody runs from the D just below the staff to the D an octave above.
- Right hand: the melody unchanged in all 17 bars, including the eighth and two sixteenths in bars 9 and 11. It plays the melody alone in bars 2, 6, 9, 11 and 14 and on the half notes of bars 5 and 17.
- Right hand: the hymnal's alto joins the melody as a lower note in the pickups, in bars 3, 4, 7, 8, 15 and 16 (mostly a D, or C-sharp under E), in bar 10 (a sixth, then thirds), in bar 12 and under the high D in bar 13.
- Left hand: two notes at a time, nothing wider than an octave. In bars 2, 6 and 14 the move to F-sharp on the last eighth is an octave higher than the hymnal's low F-sharp, so the hand never stretches a tenth.
- Left hand: held notes where the hymnal repeats chords: A–E for two beats in bars 3, 7 and 15 (the hymnal has octave As), D–F-sharp for two beats in bars 2, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14 (in bar 10 with one step to G and back), and D–A for the whole of bar 13. Bars 4, 8 and 16 start on G–D, where the hymnal has a single G.
- The left hand leaves out the seventh (G) of the A chord in the pickups and on the last eighth of bars 4, 8 and 16; the right hand still plays the C-sharp and E. Bars 9, 11 and 12 keep the hymnal's left-hand eighths.
For teachers: For a second-year student who reads two-note chords in the left hand and knows the F-sharp and C-sharp of D major. Learn the first line (the pickup and bars 2 to 5) hands together; bars 6 to 8 and 14 to 16 are the same. Then spend the time on the third line, from the pickup in bar 9 to bar 13. D major is also the key several other hymnals use, so it may match the book in your pew.
Typed into PlayableNotes“Make a beginner version in C major: the melody alone in the right hand with no sixteenth notes, and one long left-hand note at a time that stays near C position.”
What changed
The melody in C major with no sharps or flats, over one left-hand note at a time, often held for the whole bar.
- Moved down a minor third, from E-flat major to C major: no key signature. The melody runs from middle C to the C above.
- Right hand: the melody alone, one note at a time, with the same rhythms except in bars 9 and 11. The first, second and fourth lines fit under one stretched hand position: thumb on C, fifth finger on A (C, D, E, G, A).
- Bars 9 and 11: the eighth and two sixteenths (G–A–B in this key) become two eighths, G and B. The quick A is left out, so there is nothing faster than an eighth note.
- Left hand: one note at a time. C for the whole bar in bars 2, 5, 6, 10, 13 and 14; G then C in bars 3, 7 and 15; F, C and G in bars 4, 8, 11 and 16; an open fifth, C–G, in the last bar. It rests in the pickup.
- Bars 9 and 12: the left hand plays C then E in bar 9, and A, E, F, G in bar 12, the hymnal's four chords and the only left-hand eighth notes. Where the hymnal's bass moves for a single eighth note (bars 2, 9 and 11), the left hand plays one note for the whole beat instead.
- The hymnal's alto and tenor are left out.
For teachers: For a first-year student who reads in C and has met eighth notes. The pickup starts on beat 3: count "1, 2" aloud and come in on "3". The right hand moves twice: after the half-note C in bar 9 it moves up so the thumb sits on E (E, G, A, B, C), and after the high C in bar 13 it comes back to C position. Mark both in pencil. In the left hand, bar 12 is the one to practice alone: A, E, then F and G as eighth notes.
Typed into PlayableNotes“Turn this hymn into a piano solo for the offertory. Keep it in E-flat with the hymnal's melody and harmony, give the left hand flowing broken chords, add a short introduction, play it through twice, and end with an Amen.”
What changed
The hymnal's melody and alto in the right hand over left-hand broken chords in steady eighth notes, with a two-bar introduction, the hymn played twice and an Amen ending.
- Bars 1 and 2: a new introduction. The right hand plays the falling line of the hymn's bar 10 (E-flat, D, C, B-flat over G, B-flat, A-flat, G), then a held B-flat over G, and the hymn's pickup.
- Bars 3 to 17 are the hymn's bars 2 to 16, played twice: a repeat sign at bar 3, and a first ending, bar 18, with the pickup back to it. The right hand plays the hymnal's soprano and alto as printed, including the two-voice bars 10 and 12 (the hymn's bars 9 and 11).
- Left hand: the hymnal's tenor and bass become six eighth notes in every bar but the last, broken chords on the hymnal's bass notes: for example E-flat, B-flat, G, E-flat, B-flat, G in bars 3, 7 and 15.
- The bass notes stay on the hymnal's beats: G on the last eighth of bars 3, 7 and 15; A-flat, E-flat and B-flat in bars 5, 9 and 17, where the last eighth is a higher B-flat in place of the tenor's A-flat, so the dominant keeps its root when the pedal changes; G, F, E-flat into bar 11; C, G, A-flat, B-flat in bar 13, with E-flat over the C instead of the tenor's G, so the bass doesn't move in bare fifths.
- The left hand spans up to a tenth, always broken, never as a chord. Its lowest note is the B-flat two ledger lines below the bass staff, in bars 5, 9 and 17.
- Bars 19 to 21: in the second ending the last melody note is held for a full bar, then the A-flat and E-flat chords of the Amen printed in the 1921 hymnal end the piece, with a fermata on the last chord.
For teachers: For an intermediate student or a church pianist who wants something to play during a service. With the repeat it runs about a minute and a quarter at 84; for a longer offertory, take the repeat once more. Change the pedal with every new chord, which often falls on an eighth note rather than a beat: on beat 3 and again on its second eighth in bars 1 and 11; on every beat and again on the last eighth in bars 5, 9, 13 and 17; in bar 12 on the first, second, third and last eighths; and on beat 3 in bars 4, 8 and 16. Lift it for the pickups that end bars 2, 6, 10, 14 and 18. Learn the left hand alone first, slowly, until the broken chords run evenly without looking down. The spot to practice is the jump from the A-flat at the end of bars 2, 6, 14 and 18 down to the low E-flat that starts the next bar: let go of the A-flat as soon as it sounds and move during the right hand's pickup, not after it.
Typed into PlayableNotes“I play this from the hymnal for our congregation. Keep all four parts in E-flat, fix anything a pianist can't reach, write out the last line as an introduction, and set it up for three verses.”
What changed
The four-part hymn in E-flat with a written-out introduction and endings for three verses, as printed except for three tenor notes a tenth above the bass.
- Bars 1 to 5: the introduction, the hymn's last line. It is the same music as the first line, so the congregation hears the opening it is about to sing. The half note in bar 5 has a fermata, a breath before the pickup.
- Bars 6 to 21: the 1921 setting, all four parts, with the same notes and rhythms except on the last eighth of bars 6, 10 and 18 (and bar 2 of the introduction), where the left hand plays the low G alone. The tenor's B-flat a tenth above it is left out; the soprano has the same B-flat.
- A repeat sign at bar 6 and two endings: bar 21 (for verses 1 and 2) has the pickup back to bar 6; bar 22 (verse 3) ends with a fermata.
- No stretch wider than an octave in either hand.
For teachers: For a church pianist who plays from the hymnal. If your hymnal prints a different number of verses, take the first ending until the last verse. The two-voice bars 13 and 15 are the only ones to practice alone.
The piece as published: Open Hymnal Project, 2010 revision: the four-part setting from The Evangelical Hymnal (1921), hymn 256.
Original hymnal setting
What changed
What changed
The four-part setting from The Evangelical Hymnal (1921), as the Open Hymnal prints it: soprano and alto on the treble staff, tenor and bass on the bass staff.
- Nothing: this is the source edition, checked bar by bar against its MIDI and PDF and against the 1921 hymnal page.
- It is written for singers. On the last eighth of bars 2, 6 and 14 the tenor and bass are a tenth apart, which most hands can't reach; the version with an introduction leaves out the tenor there.
For teachers: Use it to hear the full harmony or to check a choir's parts. To play it for a congregation, start with the version with an introduction: apart from its introduction and endings, it differs from this page in three notes.
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 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Robert Robinson, an English preacher, wrote the words of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in 1758. In America they are sung to the tune NETTLETON, which first appeared in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, in 1813. The tune is named after the evangelist Asahel Nettleton, but there is no evidence that he wrote it, so hymnals credit it variously to Wyeth's Repository, to Nettleton, or as a traditional American melody.
The hymn is a pickup and 16 bars in 3/4, in four lines of four bars. Three of the lines are almost the same music: bars 2 to 4, 6 to 8 and 14 to 16 are identical, climbing from the low E-flat and falling back toward it. Only the third line, from the pickup in bar 9 to the long high E-flat in bar 13, is new. It sits at the top of the tune, and twice, in bars 9 and 11, it runs up to the high E-flat with an eighth and two sixteenths. The hymnal page is harder than the tune, because it is written for four singers: the left hand holds tenor and bass together, and on the last eighth of bars 2, 6 and 14 they are a tenth apart.
The easy version keeps every note of the melody, a half step lower in D major, over two-note left-hand chords taken from the hymnal's harmony. The beginner version is in C major, one note at a time in each hand until the open fifth in the last bar. For church there are two versions in the hymnal's key of E-flat: a flowing solo for a prelude or offertory, and the four-part hymn with a written-out introduction and endings for three verses. The 1921 setting is here too, note for note as the Open Hymnal prints it.
Practice tips
- Bar numbers in these tips follow the easy, beginner and original versions; in the flowing solo add 1, and in the version with an introduction add 4. Learn the first line (the pickup and bars 2 to 5) first. Bars 6 to 8 and 14 to 16 are the same music, so once it is secure only the third line, from the pickup in bar 9 to bar 13, is new.
- Three of the four lines start with two eighth notes on beat 3; the third starts with an eighth and two sixteenths. Count "1, 2, 3-and" before you start, and keep the half notes at the ends of the lines (bars 5, 9 and 13) a full two beats so the next pickup comes in on time.
- In bars 9 and 11 the melody climbs with an eighth and two sixteenths into the next bar (two even eighths in the beginner version). Count "3-and-a" and land on the downbeat; loop the bar, then bars 9 to 10, until the high note arrives without a hurry.
- Bar 12 changes chord on every beat while the melody falls. Play its left hand alone a few times before hands together.
- Practice each hand with the Right and Left buttons at about 60, then hands together, and raise the tempo a few beats at a time toward the tempo the player starts at.
Questions about Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Who wrote Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?
Robert Robinson, an English preacher, wrote the words in 1758. The tune, NETTLETON, first appeared in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813). There is no evidence that Asahel Nettleton, whose name it carries, wrote it, so hymnals credit it to Wyeth's Repository, to Nettleton, or as a traditional American melody.
What key is Come Thou Fount in?
The 1921 hymnal setting on this page is in E-flat major, with three flats, and several other hymnals print it in D major. The flowing solo and the version with an introduction are in E-flat, the easy version is in D major, and the beginner version is in C major.
Is Come Thou Fount hard to play on piano?
The melody isn't: it stays within an octave, moves in quarter and eighth notes, and three of its four lines are the same music. The hard spots are the eighth and two sixteenths in bars 9 and 11 and, on the hymnal page, a left hand that holds two voices up to a tenth apart. The easy version keeps each hand within an octave, and the beginner version gives each hand one note at a time, apart from an open fifth in the last bar.
How fast should Come Thou Fount be played?
The Open Hymnal edition marks 90 quarter notes per minute, a comfortable singing pace in three. Learn it nearer 60 to 70 and use the tempo control on this page's player to step up as it settles. The flowing solo sounds best a little slower, around 84.
Can I use these versions to accompany singing at church?
Yes. The version with an introduction is the four-part hymn in E-flat as the congregation sings it, with a written-out introduction and endings for three verses. The easy version is in D major with the melody on top, which matches hymnals that print it in D. The beginner version is in C, a minor third lower than E-flat, so check the key before playing it with singers.
Can I download Come Thou Fount as a PDF or MIDI file?
Yes, free and without an account. Every version has a Letter-size PDF to print and a MIDI file with the right and left hands on separate tracks.
Source and credits
- Composer
- Traditional American (attributed to Asahel Nettleton)
- Source edition
- Open Hymnal Project, 2010 revision: the four-part setting from The Evangelical Hymnal (1921), hymn 256
- License
- Public domain in the United States
- Arranger
- PlayableNotes
All 17 bars were checked note by note against the Open Hymnal's own MIDI and PDF of the same file and against a scan of the 1921 hymnal page; no notes needed correcting. The 1921 page ends with a two-chord Amen, which the Open Hymnal file leaves out, so the original here does too; the flowing solo borrows its two chords for its ending. The hymnal credits the tune to Nettleton, 1812; we credit it as traditional, attributed to Nettleton. No words are included. The tune was published in 1813 and this setting in 1921, so both are public domain in the United States; the 1921 harmonizer is not named. The Open Hymnal file says the setting is almost the same as hymn 94 in The Presbyterian Hymnal (1874), so it is older still. Outside the US, check your local law.
Arrangements and facts checked
