Lowell Mason (1792-1872) 1839 C major 2/4 Easy 0:25 Both hands
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Joy to the World opens with a complete scale: eight notes walking straight down from high C to middle C. In this easy version, in C major, that scale fills the first four bars, and the rest of the hymn moves mostly by step, with a few leaps and one octave jump near the end. Hymn books usually print it in D; here it is a step lower, on white keys only. The left hand plays one long note per bar, mostly C, F and G. The 2/4 time is quick, with dotted notes and pairs of sixteenths, so start slowly in Practice mode, then press Listen to hear how the phrases fit together.
Start with the fifth finger on the C above middle C. The scale in bars 1 to 4 goes down C B A G F, then the third finger crosses over the thumb to E, and D and C follow. From bar 5 the tune climbs back up, A, B, C, one note per bar, each played twice.
One note per bar below middle C: C most of the time, F and G in bars 5 and 6, and G under the repeated Ds of bars 14 and 15. In bars 9 and 11 it plays G then C, a beat each, and in bars 3 and 18 C then G.
The rhythm. The hymn opens with a quarter note, then a dotted eighth and a sixteenth (C, B. A); bars 9, 11 and 17 have the same dotted figure on G. F. Bars 12 to 15 repeat one note four times, the last split into two sixteenths - E E E E-F, then G - and answer it a step lower on D. Bar 16 jumps an octave, from middle C to high C.
Bars 1 to 4: C B A G F with 5-4-3-2-1, then E D C with 3-2-1, the third finger crossing over the thumb. Bars 12 and 13, thumb on C: E E E E F G is 3-3-3-3-4-5. Bars 14 and 15: D D D D E F is 2-2-2-2-3-4.
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: C B A G F E D C G A A B B C C C B A G G F E C C …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C B A | Do Si La |
| 2 | G F | Sol Fa |
| 3 | E D | Mi Ré |
| 4 | C G | Do Sol |
| 5 | A A | La La |
| 6 | B B | Si Si |
| 7 | C C | Do Do |
| 8 | C B A G | Do Si La Sol |
| 9 | G F E C | Sol Fa Mi Do |
| 10 | C B A G | Do Si La Sol |
| 11 | G F E E | Sol Fa Mi Mi |
| 12 | E E E E F | Mi Mi Mi Mi Fa |
| 13 | G F E | Sol Fa Mi |
| 14 | D D D D E | Ré Ré Ré Ré Mi |
| 15 | F E D | Fa Mi Ré |
| 16 | C C A | Do Do La |
| 17 | G F E F | Sol Fa Mi Fa |
| 18 | E D | Mi Ré |
| 19 | C | Do |
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 C major: all the chords of the key
The words are by the English hymn writer Isaac Watts, who published them in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated, as a free version of Psalm 98. They describe the Lord coming to rule the earth rather than the Nativity - there are no shepherds, angels or manger in them - yet the hymn is now sung above all at Christmas.
The tune, called Antioch, was published in 1839 by Lowell Mason, a Boston hymn composer and teacher who brought music lessons into the city's public schools. Mason presented it as arranged from Handel, and its opening does recall phrases of Messiah, but no piece by Handel matches it, and today it is usually credited to Mason himself.
This transcription: Lowell Mason, hymn tune "Antioch" (1839), set to Isaac Watts's "Joy to the World" (1719): the melody in C major; left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version · C major
Easy Version · C major
Easy Version · G major
Easy Version · C majorThe 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 C major it starts with the scale C B A G F E D C (Do Si La Sol Fa Mi Ré Do), then G, A A, B B, C C. The rest is listed bar by bar in the Notes section, in letters and in Do Ré Mi.
Isaac Watts wrote the words, published in 1719 as a version of Psalm 98. The tune, Antioch, was published by the American hymn composer Lowell Mason in 1839. Mason presented it as arranged from Handel, but no Handel original matches it.
It is sung as one today, but Watts did not write it for Christmas: his text is about the Lord coming to reign over the earth and does not mention the Nativity.
It is level 2 of 5 here: in C major and mostly stepwise, with a left hand of long notes. The 2/4 rhythm, with dotted notes and sixteenths, and the finger crossing in the opening scale take some practice.