Free easy piano · Hymns
Nearer, My God, to Thee, easy piano
Nearer, My God, to Thee for piano in five free versions, all in G major: an easy arrangement, a beginner version with the melody alone in the right hand, a flowing solo for a memorial service, the four-part hymn made to fit the hands, and Lowell Mason's 1859 setting. Play each one here, slow it down or loop a bar, then print the PDF or download the MIDI.
- Lowell Mason
- Beginner to intermediate, plus the original
- 16 bars · 6/4
- Free: play, print, MIDI
Versions of Nearer, My God, to Thee. 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. Keep it in G major and keep every note of the melody; give the left hand two-note chords from the hymn's tenor and bass, nothing wider than a seventh.”
What changed
Mason's melody note for note, over a left hand of two-note chords drawn mostly from the hymn's tenor and bass.
- Right hand: the melody unchanged in all 16 bars, with the same rhythms and the tied notes in bars 4, 8 and 16.
- Right hand: a second note from the hymn joins the melody only in a few places: E under G at the start of bars 2, 6 and 14; B below middle C under D in bars 7 and 15; D under the long A in bars 4 and 12; B under the last G in bars 8 and 16.
- Left hand: two notes at a time, mostly from the tenor and bass, nothing wider than a seventh, except the single G on beat 3 of bar 12. In bars 2, 6 and 14 one C–G is held for the whole bar, instead of the hymn's repeated chords and its C octave; bar 10 holds G–B.
- Bar 3: G–B a third apart, then B–G and G–D, where the hymn stretches a tenth from the low G to B. Bars 8 and 16 end on the low G–D, and the B moves to the right hand.
- Bars 7 and 15: the tenor's moving line, G, B, A, C, is kept over the bass D, which is played with each note instead of held.
- Bars 1, 5 and 13 start on the low G–D, where the hymn has a single G; bar 11 plays C–G under the high E instead of the C octave.
For teachers: For a student who reads two-note chords in the left hand. Learn the left hand alone first, a line at a time: bars 1, 5 and 13 are the same, and so are bars 2, 6 and 14. The right hand is the hymn's melody in the hymnal key, so the version also works for singing.
Typed into PlayableNotes“Make a beginner version for a first-year student. Keep it in G, the melody alone in the right hand, and a left hand of single notes and open fifths in long notes, with as few hand moves as possible.”
What changed
The melody alone in the right hand, over Mason's bass line in single notes and open fifths, with no ledger lines in either hand.
- Right hand: the melody alone, every note and rhythm. It stays between D and B in bars 1 to 8 and 13 to 16, and between A and the high E in bars 9 to 12.
- Left hand: the hymn's bass line one note at a time, G, D, E in bars 1, 5 and 13 and F-sharp, G, D in bar 12. Bars 3, 7, 10 and 15 hold one note for the whole bar (G, D, G, D).
- Open fifths instead of the hymn's chords: C–G in bars 2, 6 and 14, D–A in bar 4, and the low G–D in bars 8 and 16.
- Bar 9, beats 4 and 5: the left hand plays C under the high E, as in bar 11; the hymn keeps G in the bass there.
- No eighth notes, no chords in the right hand and no ledger lines. The only sharp is F-sharp, from the key signature, in bars 7, 12 and 15.
For teachers: For a first-year student who reads in G. In the left hand, bars 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14 and 15 are held for all six beats (a dotted whole note), and the tied notes in bars 4, 8 and 16 last five: count them aloud. The right hand moves up before bar 9 and back down after bar 12, and the left hand reaches down to the low G only in bars 8 and 16.
Typed into PlayableNotes“I'm playing this at a memorial service. Make it a gentle piano solo, about intermediate level: keep the melody and Mason's harmony, and give the left hand a flowing broken-chord accompaniment in steady quarter notes.”
What changed
The melody and alto in the right hand over left-hand broken chords in steady quarter notes, following the hymn's chords beat by beat.
- Left hand: six quarter notes in every bar, broken chords on the hymn's harmony and bass notes, such as G–D–B, C–G–C–G–E–C and D–F-sharp–A. The chord changes where Mason's does, for example on beats 4 and 6 of bar 1 (a full D7, D–F-sharp under the melody's A and the alto's C), on beat 4 of bar 3 (with B in the bass) and on beats 3 and 4 of bar 12.
- The left hand keeps moving through the breaths at the ends of bars 4 and 8, so the lines connect; it stops only in the last bar.
- Right hand: the hymn's soprano and alto as printed in most bars. The tenor's B joins under the D in bar 3; in bars 2, 6 and 14 the alto's C is left to the left hand.
- Bars 7 and 15: the melody alone for the first three beats, the alto's D under F-sharp on beats 4 and 5, then on beat 6 the tenor's C (in place of the alto's D), the seventh of the D7 chord, which falls to B in the next bar.
- Bars 8 and 16: the right hand holds a full G chord, B–D–G.
- Bars 9 to 11: each bar starts on the low G, an octave below Mason's bass, so the high point keeps a deep bass; on beat 6 the left hand comes back to the G below middle C. In bar 8 it stays on G and D under the right hand's held chord.
- Marks: soft at the start, a little louder for bars 9 to 12, soft again for the last line, and a fermata on the final chord. No pedal is printed. Use it, changing at each new chord, and lift it after the held chord in bar 16.
For teachers: For an intermediate student or a church pianist. The left-hand pattern stretches a tenth from the low G to B in bars 1, 5, 9 to 11 and 13, played one note at a time with the pedal holding them together; practice it alone until it runs evenly. For a longer prelude, play it twice.
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 and the harmony, but nothing wider than an octave in either hand.”
What changed
Mason's four-part harmony in G with every note kept, with the three stretches of a tenth moved so each hand stays within an octave.
- Soprano, alto, tenor and bass: the same notes and rhythms as the 1859 setting in 13 of the 16 bars, including the moving tenor in bars 7 and 15.
- Bar 3, beats 1 to 3: the tenor's B moves to the right hand, under the D, and the left hand plays the low G alone, where the hymnal stretches a tenth.
- Bars 8 and 16: the tenor's B moves to the right hand, which holds B–D–G; the left hand holds the low G.
- No stretch wider than an octave in either hand. The octaves left are the hymn's own: C–C in bars 2, 6, 11 and 14, G–G at the end of bar 3, and D–D in the right hand in bar 12.
For teachers: For accompanying a congregation or choir. In bars 7 and 15 the bass D is struck again on beats 4 and 6 under the tenor's moving line. Keep the melody on top in the three-note chords of bars 8 and 16. Keep the beat steady through the five-beat tied notes at the ends of lines, where the singers breathe.
The piece as published: Open Hymnal Project (Lowell Mason's setting from The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, 1859).
Original hymnal setting
What changed
What changed
Lowell Mason's four-part setting from The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book (1859): soprano and alto on the treble staff, tenor and bass on the bass staff.
- Nothing: this is the source setting, checked note by note against the Open Hymnal's MIDI and a scan of the 1859 book, with the bass in bar 14 corrected from E to C.
- It is written for singers. In bars 3, 8 and 16 the tenor and bass are a tenth apart, wider than most hands reach; the playable version moves those tenor notes to the right hand.
For teachers: Use it to hear the full harmony or to play from as the congregation sings. If you compare it with a modern hymnal, two inner notes may differ: Mason has the tenor on G on beat 3 of bar 10 and the alto on D at the start of bar 12.
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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 Nearer, My God, to Thee
Sarah Flower Adams, an English poet, wrote the words in 1841, retelling Jacob's dream of a ladder to heaven from Genesis. The tune most Americans know, BETHANY, is by Lowell Mason, the American hymn-tune composer and music teacher who also wrote OLIVET (My Faith Looks Up to Thee) and arranged the tune of Joy to the World. He wrote BETHANY in 1856, and the versions here come from his setting in The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book (1859). British hymnals usually sing the words to other tunes, HORBURY by John Bacchus Dykes or PROPIOR DEO by Arthur Sullivan.
The hymn is 16 bars in 6/4, four lines of four bars. The fourth line repeats the second exactly, and the first starts the same way; the third line climbs to the high D and E. The melody stays within a ninth, D to E, and most bars use one of two rhythms, long–medium–short or medium–short–long, so it is quick to learn. The hymnal page is harder: it is written for four singers, and in bars 3, 8 and 16 the left hand would have to stretch a tenth to hold the tenor and bass together.
The easy and beginner versions keep every note of the melody in G, over a left hand taken from Mason's bass line. The solo turns the hymn into a piano piece with a left hand of broken chords, for a prelude or a quiet moment in a service. For accompanying singing there is the four-part hymn rearranged so each hand stays within an octave, and Mason's setting as printed.
Practice tips
- Count six beats in every bar. Most bars of the melody use one of two rhythms: long–medium–short (3, 2 and 1 beats) in bars 1, 3, 5, 9, 11 and 13, and medium–short–long (2, 1 and 3) in bars 2, 6, 10, 12 and 14. Clap each one before you play.
- Learn it in three pieces: bars 1 and 2, which come back as bars 5 and 6 and 13 and 14; bars 7 and 8, which come back as 15 and 16; and bars 9 to 12. Then bars 3 and 4 are all that is left.
- Loop bar 7 on its own: the melody goes D, G, F-sharp, A over the bass D, and in the easy and four-part versions the tenor moves G, B, A, C above it. Bar 15 is the same.
- The tied notes in bars 4, 8 and 16 last five beats. Hold them for the full count, then lift on beat 6 as a breath before the next line (in the solo, the left hand keeps going through the breath).
- Bars 9 to 12 are the high point: move the right hand up before bar 9 so the fifth finger reaches the high E, let these bars sing out a little, then soften for the last line.
Questions about Nearer, My God, to Thee
Who wrote the music for Nearer, My God, to Thee?
In America it is sung to BETHANY, a tune Lowell Mason wrote in 1856; this page uses his setting from The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book (1859). The words are by the English poet Sarah Flower Adams, from 1841. British hymnals more often use HORBURY by John Bacchus Dykes or PROPIOR DEO by Arthur Sullivan.
Did the Titanic's band play Nearer, My God, to Thee?
Some survivors said the band played it as the ship went down in 1912, while the junior wireless operator Harold Bride remembered a tune called Autumn, so it has never been settled. Which tune it would have been is uncertain too: Americans knew Mason's BETHANY, while the band's mostly British musicians were more likely to know HORBURY or PROPIOR DEO.
What key is Nearer, My God, to Thee in?
Mason's 1859 setting is in G major, in 6/4 time, and every version on this page is in G. Some hymnals print it in F major instead. If singers need another key, open any version in PlayableNotes with a free account and ask for it.
Is Nearer, My God, to Thee hard to play on piano?
The melody is not: it stays between D and the E an octave and a step above, in half, quarter and dotted half notes, with a long tied note at the end of each line. The hymnal page is harder, because it is written for four voices and the left hand would need to stretch a tenth in three bars. The easy and beginner versions give the left hand notes it can reach, and the playable hymn version keeps all four parts within an octave per hand.
Can I play these versions at a funeral or memorial service?
Yes. The hymn and its music are in the public domain, and these arrangements are free to play and print. The solo version is written for that: a flowing left hand under the melody. To accompany singing, use the playable hymn version or the easy version, which have the melody on top in Mason's key of G; check that the singers' hymnal is in G too.
Can I download Nearer, My God, to Thee 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
- Lowell Mason
- Source edition
- Open Hymnal Project (Lowell Mason's setting from The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, 1859)
- License
- Public domain
- Arranger
- PlayableNotes
Checked note by note against the Open Hymnal's MIDI and against a scan of page 244 of the 1859 book, and the melody and bass against four other engravings. One correction: the bass in bar 14, beat 3, is C as in the book and in bar 6, not E. Two inner notes follow the 1859 book where later hymnals differ: the tenor's G in bar 10 and the alto's D in bar 12. No words are included.
Arrangements and facts checked
