BY AND BY - Free Jazz Leadsheet

“by and by,” often recognized by its opening line “we’ll understand it better by and by,” was written by Charles Albert Tindley and first published in 1905. Tindley, a pioneering figure in early gospel music, composed both text and melody, blending traditional hymn style with rhythmic inflections that later became hallmarks of the genre.

The hymn was initially sung in Tindley’s Philadelphia congregation rather than professionally recorded, spreading through church services and printed hymnbooks. Early commercial recordings emerged in the 1930s through gospel quartets, and later notable interpretations included mid-20th-century renditions by major popular artists. The song’s message centres on perseverance through hardship and the belief that life’s struggles will be understood in the afterlife. Musically, its phrasing and dotted rhythms give it a gently propulsive, march-like character, supporting its theme of determined hope.