Converting Grace (Denson #230)
Converting Grace first appeared in the 1860 revision of B.F White's Sacred Harp. The words are a slightly modified version of Psalm 42 as it appeared in Nahum Tate's and Nicholas Brady's New Version of the Psalms, 1696. R. E. Brown, Jr wrote the tune sometime in the 1850s. I know of no folk origin for the tune, but I would be glad to learn of one.
The tune is Ionian hexatonic, lacking the sixth degree of the scale. It's played here noter-drone style in Ddaa tuning which starts a D Ionian scale on the third fret of the paired melody strings.
Converting Grace has never been an exceedingly popular song, even in Sacred Harp circles, but I think it's a fine companion piece to Amazing Grace. Both are common meter, so verses are sometimes swapped between the two songs.
MP3 attached below.
The tune is Ionian hexatonic, lacking the sixth degree of the scale. It's played here noter-drone style in Ddaa tuning which starts a D Ionian scale on the third fret of the paired melody strings.
Converting Grace has never been an exceedingly popular song, even in Sacred Harp circles, but I think it's a fine companion piece to Amazing Grace. Both are common meter, so verses are sometimes swapped between the two songs.
MP3 attached below.