How Firm a Foundation in Tonic Solfa
How Firm a Foundation in Tonic Solfa: the solfa line by line with the words, staff notation, all 7 verses, and a piano to sing along with.
- Key
- Ab major
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 2/2
- Starts on
- s, (E♭)
- Range
- s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
- Tune
- FOUNDATION (FUNK)
- Words
- John Rippon
- Music
- Joseph Funk
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FOUNDATION (FUNK) by Joseph Funk (1778–1862); words by John Rippon (1751–1836). Sources and licences.
The solfa with the words
| s,How-l,_- | dfirm---l,a-dfoun-- | s,da----dtion,-rye- |
| msaints---rof-mthe- | s,Lord,---s,Is--- |
| dlaid---l,for-dyour- | s,faith---din-rHis- |
| mex----rcel--rlent- | dWord!---mWhat--- |
| smore---mcan-sHe- | dsay---dthan-rto- |
| myou---rHe-mhath- | s,said,---s,You,--- |
| dwho---l,un--dto- | s,Je----dsus-rfor- |
| mre----rfuge-rhave- | dfled?--- |
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 Ab · 2/2
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in Ab major, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab 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, (E♭), on the word “How”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 2/2 means two minim 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 s l — only 5 different notes, so it is a good one for a choir new to solfa. 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 John Rippon, first published in 1787. The tune, FOUNDATION (FUNK), is by Joseph Funk (1832). This version of the melody and the words comes from the Open Hymnal Project.
- Words (1787): John Rippon (1751–1836)
- Music (1832): Joseph Funk (1778–1862)
Melody and words from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune FOUNDATION (FUNK) by Joseph Funk (1778–1862); words by John Rippon (1751–1836). 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 How Firm a Foundation
What is the doh of How Firm a Foundation?
In this version, in Ab major, doh is Ab. 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 How Firm a Foundation start on?
It starts on s, (E♭ in Ab major), a pickup on the word “How” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s,.
Is How Firm a Foundation in the public domain?
Yes. John Rippon died in 1836, Joseph Funk died in 1862; the words were first published in 1787 and the music in 1832. 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.