Tag: arrangement

The song Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn composed by John Newton in 1772 and published in 1779. John Newton wrote the lyrics for this hymn based on his personal experience with God. He grew up without any religious conviction, was obligated to serve in the English Royal Navy, and after leaving the service he was involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of Country Donegal, Ireland so severely that he called out to God for mercy. This moment marked his spiritual conversion but he continued slave trading until 1755 when he came to a decision to stop seafaring and went out of the slave-trading business.

John Newton began studying Christian theology and later became an Anglican and an abolitionist. Newton united forces with a young man named William Wilberforce, the British Member of Parliament who led the Parliamentarian campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, culminating in the Slave Trade Act 1807.

John Newton wrote more than 60 hymns in partnership with Willian Cowper, but Amazing Grace is far the most known. The lyrics tell about God’s grace and how His forgiveness can change human beings.

The New Testament served as the basis for many of the lyrics of “Amazing Grace”. The first verse, for example, can be traced to the story of the Prodigal Son. In the Gospel of Luke, the father says, “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”. The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John. Newton used the words “I was blind but now I see” and declared “Oh to grace how great a debtor!” in his letters and diary entries as early as 1752.

Recordings

This song was recorded many times including a very well-known by Elvis Presley. The first recording is a cappella version from 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir. It was included from 1926 to 1930 in Okeh Records’ catalog, which typically concentrated strongly on blues and jazz. Demand was high for black gospel recordings of the song by H. R. Tomlin and J. M. Gates.  It was recorded with musical accompaniment for the first time in 1930 by Fiddlin’ John Carson.

The arrangement for Guitar

The arrangement in the following video was composed by Fernando Neves in fingerstyle for solo Guitar. It is in the key of E major and 80 bpm. The time signature is 3/4 in the first part and 4/4 in the second part. The music sheet shows the score for guitar with fingering, chords, and also tablature.

You can buy this sheet music at Music Sheet Plus web site by clicking here

Lyrics

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
   That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
   Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
   And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
   The hour I first believed!

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,
   I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
   And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
   His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
   As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
   And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
   A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
   The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
   Will be forever mine.

John Newton, Olney Hymns, 1779