A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in Tonic Solfa

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in Tonic Solfa to EIN FESTE BURG: the solfa with the words, staff notation, all four verses and a piano.

Key: D major
Doh: D
Time: 4/4
Starts on: d' (D)
Range: d to d' (D to D, an octave)
Tune: EIN FESTE BURG
Words: Martin Luther, Frederic Henry Hedge
Music: Martin Luther

The solfa with the words

Doh is D4/4

d'A-

d'might--d'y-sfor-l_ttress-

d'ist_lour-sGod,-d'A-

tbul--lwark-snev--ler-

ffail-m_r_-ding;-d'Our-

d'help--d'er-sHel_ta--

d'midt_lthe-sflood-d'Of-

tmor--ltal-sills-lpre--

fvail-m_r_-ding:-dFor-

mstill-sour-lan--fecient-

sfoe-dDoth-sseek-sto-

lwork-tus-d'woe;-tHis-

d'craft-tand-lpower-lare-

sgreat,-lAnd,-larmed-swith-

lcru--fel-mhate,-d'On-

tearth-lis-snot-lhis-

fe-m_r_-dqual.-

The solfa line by line

The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a WhatsApp message to the choir.

Doh is D · 4/4

| d' - A| d' - d' - s l t - mighty fortress| d' t l - s - d' - |is our God, A

| t - l - s - l - bulwark never| f m r - d - d' - |failing; Our

| d' - d' - s l t - helper He a-| d' t l - s - d' - |mid the flood Of

| t - l - s - l - mortal ills pre-| f m r - d - d - |vailing: For

| m - s - l - fe - still our ancient| s - d - s - s - |foe Doth seek to

| l - t - d' - t - work us woe; His| d' - t - l - l - |craft and power are

| s - l - l - s - great, And, armed with| l - f - m - d' - |cruel hate, On

| t - l - s - l - earth is not his| f m r - d - |equal.

Staff notation

The melody on the treble staff in D major, with the first verse under the notes.

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is for ever.

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum D and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
Pitch the first note. The tune starts on d' (D), on the word “A”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
Count the time. 4/4 means four crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t and the chromatic fe. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.

New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.

About the hymn

Martin Luther wrote Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, a paraphrase of Psalm 46, and its tune by 1529. Frederic Henry Hedge, an American Unitarian minister, made the English translation sung here in 1853.

German words, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (1529): Martin Luther (1483–1546)
English translation (1853): Frederic Henry Hedge (1805–1890)
Melody (1529): Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune EIN FESTE BURG by Martin Luther (1483–1546); words by Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Frederic Henry Hedge (1805–1890). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.

Questions about A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

What is the doh of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God?

In this version, in D major, doh is D. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.

What note does A Mighty Fortress Is Our God start on?

It starts on d' (D in D major), a pickup on the word “A” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to d'.

Is A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in the public domain?

Yes. Martin Luther died in 1546, Frederic Henry Hedge died in 1890, Martin Luther died in 1546; the words were first published in 1529 and the music in 1529. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in Nigeria, the UK, the EU and the United States. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.