Talk:God Will Provide for Me (Charles Albert Tindley)

Syllable count

There are only 10 syllables (not 11) in the third line of stanzas 2 and 3, and the underlay doesn't shed any light on how to handle this anomaly. The hymnal scan at Hymnary.org uses two notes on the first syllable of these anomalous lines: https://hymnary.org/hymn/SE2-1909/page/3 -- not the best solution in terms of syllable stress, however. -- Chuck_talk Giffen_♫ 20:13, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Upon thinking about syllable stress, I suggest that "own" in line 2 of stanza 2 get two (tied) eighths, and "poor" in line 2 of stanza 3 get two (slurred) eighths. -- Chuck_talk Giffen_♫ 02:36, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for calling this to my attention, Chuck. I did make some mistakes in the transcription, in line 3 of stanzas 2 and 3, as you noticed. Looking back at the 1909 original (see HathiTrust), the two eighth notes under "All a—" of st. 1 are tied, indicating one syllable in sts. 2 and 3, but two in sts. 1, 4, and 5. I have corrected the transcription to reflect this intention.

Once in a while, Tindley will use a normal meter (C. M., L. M., etc.), but more often he writes hymns in unusual meters, as here. But even then, some stanzas may have more or fewer syllables – which is often indicated by ties between notes, which apparently means "for some stanzas only". This is not terrifically consistent, for example the notes for "light to" are tied, inexplicably, because there are two syllables in every stanza. (Variation in meter among stanzas also happens often with Charles Wesley, too.)

Then there are some Tindley songs that are so variable that I decided not to assign a meter – I'm not sure where the dividing line is yet. — Barry Johnston (talk) 03:37, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

Also, I am trying to be as true to the originals as I can – Tindley is one of the pioneers in this genre, with apparent influences on later composers such as Albert E. Brumley, Mosie Lister, Bill Gaither, and many others. — Barry Johnston (talk) 22:01, 21 August 2022 (UTC)