Folk Hymn Music Arrangements (PDFs)

Folk Hymn Music Arrangements (PDFs)

Timothy Seaman has collected over 200 Appalachian folk hymns from old books and adapted them into “lead sheets” of the melodies in easily singable keys and added some suggested guitar chords; over 60 of these are now in nicely made PDF form and available here for you to download for a price of $15!

Sheet Music Packets are sold as PDFs for download only. Adobe® Reader® PDF software is available for free here.

See below for a music sample page and the complete listing of songs.

Downloadable Items

Select Name File Size Cost Previews
Folk Hymn Music Arrangements (1.31 MB) $15.00

View a sample page here.

Appalachian folk hymns from the Shape Note tradition are old American mountain tunes (sometimes variants of famous secular tunes such as “Barbara Allen”), often using words from the great British hymn writers like Watts, Wesley, and Newton, and sometimes using newly written words by known authors or by Anonymous the Great. Some, like “Amazing Grace” and “Wondrous Love,” are very well known, and others are moderately known, and still others are known only to Shape Note Societies and some scholars. Some have been included from each of these categories. And if a piece has been recorded on one of our albums (though often in a different arrangement), it has been included.

Included are the words to each song in a modern hymnal style, with the stanzas arranged below the notes, with quite a few verses if they’re available. You may know some of these tunes or texts in different combinations --- that’s a characteristic of hymns, that melodies and words are often mixed and matched. Timothy has chosen ones he tends to prefer.

The complete listing in this collection:

NO. TUNE NAME FIRST LINE WORDS BY ALBUM
01. Alas and Did My Savior Bleed Alas, and did my Savior bleed Isaac Watts  
02. Babe of Bethlehem Ye nations all, on you I call anon. Incarnation
03. Babel’s Streams By Babel’s streams we sat and wept anon. Sycamore Rapids, Cleansing Fountain
04. Bartimeus Mercy, O thou Son of David anon. Cleansing Fountain
05. Beach Spring Come, ye sinners, poor and needy Joseph Hart Cleansing Fountain
06. Begone Unbelief Begone, unbelief, my Savior is near John Newton  
07. Behold the Lamb Behold, behold the Lamb of God anon.  
08. & 09. Bound for the Promised Land (major and minor) On Jordan's stormy banks I stand Samuel Stennett Cleansing Fountain
10. Carolina A charge to keep I have Charles Wesley Cleansing Fountain
11. Cleansing Fountain There is a fountain filled with blood William Cowper Cleansing Fountain
12. Condescension How condescending and how kind Isaac Watts  
13. Converted Thief As on the cross the Savior hung Samuel Stennett Cleansing Fountain
14. Cumberland Come all ye happy race anon., Joseph Swain Cleansing Fountain
15. Dulcimer O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight Joseph Swain Cleansing Fountain
16. Dunlap's Creek My God, my portion and my love Isaac Watts  
17. French Broad High o'er the hills the mountains rise William Walker Cleansing Fountain
18. Hark from the Tombs Hark! From the tombs a doleful sound Isaac Watts  
19. Heavenly Dove (Barbara Allen) Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove Charles Wesley Virginia Wildlife
20. Holy Manna Brethren, we have met to worship George Atkins Cleansing Fountain
21. Holy Son of God I love the holy Son of God anon.  
22. Houston The people that in darkness sat J. Morrison Hope from on High
23. How Firm a Foundation How firm a foundation "K" Cleansing Fountain
24. Idumea Come, we that love the Lord Isaac Watts  
25. Imandra I love thee, my Savior anon.  
26. Jackson The spacious firmament on high Joseph Addison  
27. Jefferson Glorious things of thee are spoken John Newton Celebration of Centuries, Common Wealth, Cleansing Fountain
28. Kedron Thou man of grief, remember me Charles Wesley  
29. Knoxville Rejoice, my friends, the Lord is king anon.  
30. Lancaster O glorious hope of perfect love Charles Wesley Virginia Wildlife
31. Lead Me to the Rock In seasons of grief, to my God I'll repair anon. Here On This Ridge, Cleansing Fountain
32. Linville (© Pine Wind Music, Inc.) Upward I lift mine eyes Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
33. Living Lamb I've learned to sing a glad new song anon.  
34. Lochleven (The Arran Boat) Far from mortal cares retreating anon. Wayfaring Stranger
35. Marysville Jesus, my all, to heaven has gone John Cennick  
36. Morning Trumpet O when shall I see Jesus John Leland Cleansing Fountain
37. Nashville The Lord into his garden come Jeremiah Ingalls Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
38. Nettleton Come, thou fount of every blessing Robert Robinson Cleansing Fountain
39. New Britain Amazing Grace! (How sweet the sound) John Newton Wayfaring Stranger, Common Wealth, Cleansing Fountain
40. Newport When on the cross the Savior hung Samuel Stennett Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent
41. Ninety-Third Psalm Grace! 'Tis a charming sound Isaac Watts  
42. Peaks of Otter (© Pine Wind Music, Inc.) The voice of my Beloved sounds Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
43. Pilgrim Come, all ye mourning pilgrims dear anon. Cleansing Fountain
44. Pisgah When I can read my title clear Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
45. Resignation My Shepherd will supply my need Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
46. Restoration I will arise and go to Jesus Robert Robinson Cleansing Fountain
47. Rockbridge Life is the time to serve the Lord anon. Cleansing Fountain
48. Rockingham Come, happy souls, appoach your God Isaac Watts  
49. Salem He dies, the friend of sinners dies Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
50. Samarantha His voice, as the sound of the dulcimer sweet Joseph Swain Sycamore Rapids
51. Saw Ye My Savior Saw ye my Savior anon.  
52. Seaman When through the torn sail anon. Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent
53. Separation (Logan Water) Come, we that love the Lord indeed anon. Wayfaring Stranger
54. Soldier's Return Great scenes of glory strike my sense anon./E. Roberts Tenting on the Old Camp Ground
55. Solitude in the Grove O were I like a feathered dove anon. Virginia Wildlife
56. Star in the East Hail the blest morn Reginald Heber Profound Joy
57. Staunton Awake, our souls, and bless his name Philip Doddridge Cleansing Fountain
58. Virginia Blest are the souls that hear and know Isaac Watts Cleansing Fountain
59. Wayfaring Stranger I am a poor wayfaring stranger anon. Wayfaring Stranger
60. Wondrous Love What wondrous love is this anon. Sycamore Rapids, Cleansing Fountain
61. Worthy the Lamb Glory to God on high anon.  

Customer Menu

Please Note: This site uses cookies and similar technologies.

Browser settings can be adjusted to control cookies. Failure to make adjustments constitutes your agreement to their usage. Learn more

I understand

Information about Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of data (usually a text file) that a website asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another. Most browsers support cookies, but users can set their browsers to decline them and can delete them whenever they like. Cookies can be used to collect and store user data while connected to provide you with requested services. More information about cookies can be found at http://www.aboutcookies.org.

In addition to cookies that remember your preferences mentioned above, cookies are used for the purpose of purchasing items off this website, and for login and user profile details should you provide them by creating an account or signing up for the blog posts or newsletter.

Third party cookies are also used on this site. Specifically, Google Analytics is used on this site -- a popular web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use this site. It counts the number of visitors and tells us things about their behavior overall – such as the typical length of stay on the site or the average number of pages a user views.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google undertakes not to associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.

If you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (most computers do) and utilize audio or video players, Google Analytics will try to store some additional data on your computer. This data is known as a Local Shared Object or Flash cookie. This helps us to analyze the popularity of our media files.

Finally, this website makes use of Google Maps. Google Maps is used to provide locations for Timothy Seaman's performances. In clicking on a performance location, you can allow or deny Google Maps knowledge of your location for purposes of getting directions from your location to the event site.

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see aboutcookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.

Your failure to control and/or delete cookies for this site constitutes your acceptance of cookies as outlined above.