Introduction to SDA Hymnal transposed for C, Bb, Eb, F & Bass Instruments.
5/10/2025 Since first uploading the well-known Public Domain transposed hymns for different instruments in 23/1/2020, there has been some major editing on each hymn to comply with copyright matters that were raised. Some hymns had to be removed. Some others have been added. In General: 1.You will find the instrument hymn parts in their particular folders for: C, Bb, Eb, F, Alto clef & Bass instruments. 2. In the C, Bb, Eb, Alto clef & F folders, the treble clef is used & are in 3 parts for instrumental groups harmony playing:
1st part – Soprano/melody line
2nd part – Alto
3rd part – Tenor.
3. The Eb instrument 1st part I split into octaves, the upper octave for instruments like Alto Saxophone preferring higher register and the lower octave for instruments like Tenor horn. This I also did for the F instrument 1st part.
4. For the Bass instruments, there are 2 separate parts written from the Bass line: in the Bass clef & Treble clef (for instruments preferring to read the Treble clef). The Bass clef folders include the soprano & alto lines with the 3rd part including the Tenor & Bass parts as written in the hymn book to enable 4 part harmony playing.
5. Original music composed by Gwenallen Devries, myself & my husband Colin are included in a separate folder for your enjoyment. To Copy/Download Hymns Open up your particular instrument folder then select all the hymns you wish to print off. Right click the first one, click download and then it will download them all. Copyright Matters 1. Copyright laws are different from one country to another. In the United States, works fall into the Public Domain (PD) based largely of publication date (but the exact rules vary depending on a number of factors). In Australia, works are PD if the last surviving author/composer died before 1955 (this rule applies until 2025) or the last surviving author/composer died more than 70 years ago (this rule applies from 2026 onwards). In USA, New Zealand and South Pacific Island nations, works are PD if the last surviving author/composer died more than 50 years ago. For other countries, please check your local music copyright rules. 2. Most of the world is in between. This creates anomalies where what is public domain (PD) in one country may not be in another. NOTE: CCLI licence is only valid for a church with that licence. It DOES NOT apply to our putting hymns on this site. All hymns that require CCLI reporting are not included, UNLESS an alternative arrangement was found to be PD. 3. Public Domain hymns – may be copied freely without permission. Most hymns I included are in this category because all composers and arrangers died before 1955. Some are PD in Australia/New Zealand but not in the USA. This has been noted on such hymns. 4. Some hymn tunes are PD but the words are copyright. PLEASE NOTE that this includes some hymns on the SPD list as “Not to be copied”. The reason is that photocopying the hymnal includes the words which are copyright. Since this site is not reproducing words, the music is PD and can be copied. This is noted on the hymns concerned. 5. Covered by SPD (South Pacific Division): Some hymns (e.g. some of Wayne Hooper’s arrangements) can be copied freely by churches in SPD. These hymns are labelled – “SPD music licence, permitted for use in SPD only.” These CANNOT be copied outside the territory of the South Pacific Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 6. A number of hymns in the SDA Hymnal are listed by the SPD as not to be copied/reproduced, because the arrangement used is recent & copyrighted (e.g. many are arranged by Melvin West & so copyrighted.) In many cases, the original hymn is PD. In some cases, I managed to find earlier arrangements from older sources which ARE in PD. This is noted on the music. 7.In the case of hymns 44, 104, 121, 397, 580 I have made my own arrangement which can be freely copied as needed for church use. For these hymns and others sourced from other PD arrangements, please use the piano music files, as the harmony would not be compatible with the SDA hymnal version. 8. Recently 4 hymns have now become Public Domain: 371, 401, 409 & 617 thanks to research and submissions to CCLI. This is because we obtained evidence that the composer/arranger died earlier than 1955. (A number of hymns are excluded from PD only because the information on the composer/arranger was unknown.) These may not yet have appeared on the SPD list. If in doubt, contact CCLI (Australia) or the South Pacific Division “Music Copyright” team at the contact/feedback details given on the SPD website at: corporate.adventistchurch.com/music-copyright. 9. Only hymns which are well known were included. If there are hymns you would like added which were not included, and if they are Public Domain, let me know and I will be happy to add them to the files. If you have any further questions, contact me at my email address: [email protected] 10. Download and use of these arrangements are permitted free of charge provided it is not for commercial purposes. 11. Please note: available now are 9 Kindle books through amazon.com.au where you can have more convenient instant access to all the hymns in this website, on your electronic device.
