a Round for Singers
Dona Nobis Pacem is perhaps the most famous of singing rounds, and certainly one of the loveliest. This free vocal sheet music comes with free guitar tabs and treble staff for pianists, vocalists, fiddlers, and other instrumentalists.
The Latin words of this beautiful singing round mean "Give us peace."
Most people are only familiar with the melody of the beginning, or part 1. Parts 2 & 3 provide harmony for that melody, giving body and fullness to the music.
For guitar, I like the way the melody works in the key of D. But for fiddle/violin, I think the key of G is easiest for beginning students.
I use the chords when I practice this round with a single student. Hearing the harmonies helps students stay on pitch.
Because the only repetitious element is the text (the lyrics) this round is harder to learn than many others. It is worth the trouble, however!
Enjoy this beautiful vocal round!
Comments
Do you have a funny story about this music, or does it remind you of something you'd like to share with other readers? Do you have a question? We'd love to hear it!
Amber: Thank you! THANK YOU!!! For keeping the beautiful art of Opera alive! I stumbled upon this site and I'm so happy I did!
Toni: Thank you for your wonderful website. I also teach piano, voice and guitar - spooky! My absolute passion is opera, and have opened many a singing student's ear to the beautiful melodies and voices in the repertoire. Thank you for the wonderful warmups which I have downloaded, and will be using at the earliest opportunity - I will let you know how they go! Looking forward to more warmup ideas, too.
Danielle: What a lovely, generous site! Many thanks from a fellow singer and music teacher in New York State. Loved the inclusion of the video for "The Ash Grove," a song I just recommended to an adult voice student today. I was pleased to be able to send her the link to not only the sheet music, but a charming performance of the song as well.
Marybeth: I love your site! It has been an incredible resource for me as a Music teacher. I love your ideas and the music you share...
Matt: THIS SITE IS AMAZING!!... Thank you so much for your hard work getting these on the web, you have made many children very happy!!
Wynn: Thank you so much for this site. I admire you so much for taking the time to reach out and share so much with others. After years of singing professionally I am finally making myself re-learn the piano in order to play for myself and to do some piano bar work. Your scales and your feedback are inspiring! Create Beauty and fill the world with LOVE!
Marta: Thank you for the free downloads! I'm a private teacher and I teach piano and beginner voice as well. :) I've been running my studio for about a year and I've come across the same issue; I don't want my students to have to purchase an entire supplemental book for only a couple of songs. So thank you for this site...some great downloads!!
Stasi: AH!!!!! I am so happy to find a helpful site like this. I started to give piano lessons to one little girl from church and two girls requested voice lessons this spring. Since then, word got out and going into the fall I have 18 students. I am so excited, but I'm running out of materials that they can borrow, and I, like you hate telling the parents to buy morebooks. Because I have such a diverse group of students I spend SO much time making supplemental material and I feel like I have to pick through other websites, to only find one or two useful things. I am so thankful for the wealth of supplement that you have offered here! And it's all SO user friendly!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!