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FREE Be Thou My Vision Sheet Music PDF

A free arrangement of Be Thou My Vision Sheet music for the piano! If you are a beginner or intermediate pianist you will love this FREE downloadable PDF sheet music for your personal worship. It comes in multiple levels and keys!

Keep reading for the history and practice tips, or scroll down for the sheet music download buttons.

History of Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou My Vision is a well-loved hymn with quite the fascinating story! Some sources say the melody dates back to the 9th century, but the composer is unknown.

The lyrics, on the other hand, are based on a poem written Dallán Forgaill in 530AD. This was translated from Irish to English by Mary Byrne, then later adapted by Eleanor Hull.

What is crazy to me is how many adaptations many hymns have before they become widely known. There is a lot of mystery around the true origin of Be Thou My Vision, but if you want to read more about it I found this article interesting.

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How to do you play be thou my vision on piano?

This age-old hymn can be played a variety of ways on the piano. Most commonly you will play the melody in your right hand with some kind of accompaniment in the left hand.

In the PDF sheet music I wrote, there are 2 versions. The easy beginner version does the simple melody in the right hand, and small intervals in the left hand—mostly thirds and fourths, with a few sixths.

The intermediate version takes it up a notch. The right hand has the melody but also adds in extra intervals to make it sound richer. The left hand is a repetitive accompaniment that goes from the root, to the fifth, to the root of the chord.

You’ll see what I mean when you start reading the sheet music!

The Key

Originally, Be Thou My Vision was written in the key of Eb. While I love the key of Eb, it is not the easiest key for beginners so I stuck to these arrangements in C major, D major, and G major.

Keep in mind that the song will sound a little different depending on which key you choose! G is a 4th above C and a 5th above D, so I had to bring it down an octave in both versions so it didn’t get too high. For this reason, the G will have a lower, richer sound (especially for the intermediate version).

The Notes

Be Thou My Vision does not stay in a 5-finger position, so you will have to do some maneuvering around the keys even for the beginner version. The C major and D major versions are the perfect opportunity to practice playing with ledger lines (notes that go above the regular staff).

Overall, no matter which version you choose, you’ll have to know all the notes of the particular key. So for C major: C, D, E, F, G, A and B

D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, and D

And G major: G, A, B, C, D, E and F#

There are no accidentals in this hymn (unlike It is Well With My Soul) so that’s nice!

The Chords

The chords for Be Thou My Vision are very simple.

For the beginner version, we’re mostly using intervals so you don’t necessarily need to be well versed in chords.

For the intermediate versions, here are the chords used for each key:

Key of C major: C major chord, F major chord, G major chord, A minor chord

Key of D major: D major chord, G major chord, A major chord, B minor chord

Key of G major: G major chord, C major chord, D major chord, E minor chord

be thou my vision chords

Extra Tips for playing be thou my vision

  • When you’re learning this sheet music on the piano, make sure to follow my practice tips! Start by practicing hands separately, then slowly put them together. Don’t go too fast as you get started!
  • After you get the notes down, definitely try adding pedal. Be Thou My Vision sounds much better when the notes are connected and sustained.
  • Always make sure the right hand is louder than the left hand since it is the melody! Try to get into it and really feel the emotions behind the song.

More Sheet Music:

If you want to improvise over Be Thou My Vision I also have chord charts available!

Be Thou My Vision Sheet Music PDF

Are you ready to download the piano sheet music for Be Thou My Vision? Let’s get right into it! There are two ways you can view the music. There are images here on the blog that you can view directly if you don’t have access to a printer. (The only exception to this is the key of G major, which is only available in the PDF). Or, scroll to the bottom for the download button.

Easy Version

Like I mentioned before, the easy version just has a simple right hand melody with intervals in the left hand. You can see all 3 versions in different keys as photos below.

Key of C:

be thou my vision sheet music key of C easy

Key of D:

be thou my vision sheet music key of D easy

(view key of G inside of the PDF!)

Intermediate Version

The intermediate version uses the root-5th-root pattern throughout the whole left hand, and the right hand is more difficult than just a simple melody.

Key of C:

be thou my vision sheet music key of C easy

Key of D:

be thou my vision sheet music key of D easy

(view the key of G inside the PDF below!)

To download ALL of the images you saw above plus the G major sheet music as one PDF, simply click the button below. You can print out whichever version you would prefer to use.

Conclusion

Be Thou my vision is perfect to play on the piano! This PDF sheet music makes it easy for even beginners. I hope you enjoy using Be Thou My Vision sheet music for your personal worship or to play for family and friends. Be sure to share this post with others so they can play this hymn too!