Hallelujah, What a Savior! in Tonic Solfa

Hallelujah, What a Savior! in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 5 verses, and a piano to sing along with.

Key: C major
Doh: C
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (G)
Range: m to m' (E to E, an octave)
Tune: HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR
Words: Philip Paul Bliss
Music: Philip Paul Bliss

The solfa with the words

Doh is C4/4

sMan-sof-sSor--mrows!-

d'what-d'a-tname---

lFor-lthe-sSon-d'of-

tGod,-lwho-scame---

sRu--sined-ssin--mners-

d'to-d're--d'claim.-d'Hal--,r'le-

m'lu----r'jah!-d'What-,la

lSa----svior!---

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 C · 4/4

| s - s - s - m - Man of Sorrows!| d' - d' - t - - - |what a name

| l - l - s - d' - For the Son of| t - l - s - - - |God, who came

| s - s - s - m - Ruined sinners| d' - d' - d' - d' -,r' |to reclaim. Halle-

| m' - - - r' - d' -,l lujah! What a| l - - - s - - - |Savior!

Staff notation

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

The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.

The words

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
"Full atonement!" can it be?

Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in Heav'n exalted high.

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:

How to sing it from the solfa

Find doh first. Play or hum C 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 s (G).
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. A cell split by a comma holds two quarter beats: d -,r is a dotted quaver and a semiquaver, d,r two semiquavers. That comma sits between two syllables; an octave mark sits small and low against its own letter (s,).
Know the notes. The tune uses d r m s l t. 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

The words are by Philip Paul Bliss, first published in 1875. The tune, HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR, is by Philip Paul Bliss (1875). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.

Words (1875): Philip Paul Bliss (1838–1876)
Music (1875): Philip Paul Bliss (1838–1876)

Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR by Philip Paul Bliss (1838–1876); words by Philip Paul Bliss (1838–1876). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this hymn 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 Hallelujah, What a Savior!

What is the doh of Hallelujah, What a Savior!?

In this version, in C major, doh is C. 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 Hallelujah, What a Savior! start on?

It starts on s (G in C major). Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is Hallelujah, What a Savior! in the public domain?

Yes. Philip Paul Bliss died in 1876, Philip Paul Bliss died in 1876; the words were first published in 1875 and the music in 1875. 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.