Traditional 1835 G major 3/4 Easy 0:36 Both hands
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Amazing Grace is slow, in 3/4 and built from only five notes - D, E, G, A and B - which is why it sounds so open and suits the piano so well. This easy version is in G major, but the melody never uses the F#, so every note is a white key. The right hand carries the hymn tune, New Britain, and the left hand holds one bass note per bar: G, C, D or E. The tune spans an octave, from the D just above middle C to the D above that, so the hand moves once in the middle of the song and back. Play it softly and let the long notes ring: listen once, then learn it in Practice mode.
Start with the thumb on the D just above middle C, the second finger on E, the third on G, the fourth on A and the fifth on B - an open hand that covers the first six bars. In bar 7 move the hand up so the thumb sits on G for the high D; in bar 11 come back to the first position for the last line.
One note per bar, held for three beats: G below middle C, with C under bars 3 and 11, E under bars 6 and 13 and D under bars 7, 8 and 14. Thumb on G, third finger on E, fourth on D, little finger on C.
The two-note turn on the third beat of bars 1, 5, 9 and 13: B then G, half a beat each. Then the long notes: the high D in bars 7 and 8 lasts five beats, tied across the bar line, and so does the last G. Count all three beats of every bar out loud the first few times.
Thumb on D: the pick-up and bar 1, D G B G, are 1-3-5-3; B A is 5-4, G E is 3-2, D D is 1-1. From bar 7, thumb on G: the high D is 5, B is 3, and bar 9, D B G, is 5-3-1, then B A is 3-2. From bar 11 the first fingering returns.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: D G B G B A G E D D G B G B A D B D B G B A G E …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup | D | Ré |
| 1 | G B G | Sol Si Sol |
| 2 | B A | Si La |
| 3 | G E | Sol Mi |
| 4 | D D | Ré Ré |
| 5 | G B G | Sol Si Sol |
| 6 | B A | Si La |
| 7 | D | Ré |
| 8 | B | Si |
| 9 | D B G | Ré Si Sol |
| 10 | B A | Si La |
| 11 | G E | Sol Mi |
| 12 | D D | Ré Ré |
| 13 | G B G | Sol Si Sol |
| 14 | B A | Si La |
| 15 | G | Sol |
| 16 | rest | rest |
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in G major: all the chords of the key
The words are by John Newton, an English sailor and slave-ship captain who became a clergyman in the Church of England. He wrote the hymn to go with his sermon for New Year's Day 1773 at Olney, in Buckinghamshire, where he was curate, and it was published in 1779 in Olney Hymns, a collection he made with the poet William Cowper.
The words were sung to several tunes before William Walker joined them, in his shape-note tunebook Southern Harmony of 1835, to the melody now inseparable from them: New Britain, an anonymous American tune. It has since become one of the best-known hymns in the English-speaking world.
This transcription: The hymn tune New Britain, as sung today to John Newton's words; melody in G major, left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
On guitar: Amazing Grace guitar chords and lyrics, with a guitar that strums along.
The full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In G major: D, G B G, B A, G E, D D, G B G, B A, high D, then B, high D B G, B A, G E, D D, G B G, B A, G. In Do Ré Mi: Ré, Sol Si Sol, Si La, Sol Mi, Ré Ré, Sol Si Sol, Si La, Ré. Every bar is in the Notes section.
John Newton wrote the words, published in 1779 in Olney Hymns. The tune, New Britain, is an anonymous American melody; William Walker first printed it with Newton's words in 1835, in his tunebook Southern Harmony.
Yes, it is a good second-stage piece, level 2 of 5 here: slow, in 3/4, with no black keys in this version. The right hand changes position once and comes back, and the left hand holds one note per bar.
