O God, Our Help in Ages Past in Tonic Solfa

O God, Our Help in Ages Past in Tonic Solfa to ST ANNE, doh is C: the solfa with the words, staff notation, six verses and a piano.

Key: C major
Doh: C
Time: 4/4
Starts on: s (G)
Range: m to r' (E to D, a seventh)
Tune: ST ANNE
Words: Isaac Watts, John Wesley
Music: William Croft

Tune ST ANNE by William Croft (1678–1727); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748) and John Wesley (1703–1791). Sources and licences.

The solfa with the words

Doh is C4/4

sO-

mGod,-lour-shelp-d'in-

d'a--tges-d'past,-sOur-

d'hope-sfor-lyears-feto-

scome,-----tOur-

d'shel--lter-r'from-tthe-

d'storm--ly-tblast,-sAnd-

lour-d'e--r'ter--tnal-

d'home.-----

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 - O| m - l - s - d' - God, our help in| d' - t - d' - s - |ages past, Our

| d' - s - l - fe - hope for years to| s - - - - - t - |come, Our

| d' - l - r' - t - shelter from the| d' - l - t - s - |stormy blast, And

| l - d' - r' - t - our eternal| d' - - - - - |home.

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

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

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), on the word “O”, 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 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

Isaac Watts paraphrased Psalm 90 in The Psalms of David Imitated (1719), beginning 'Our God, our help'; John Wesley changed the first word to 'O' in 1738. The tune ST ANNE, by William Croft, organist at St Anne's Church, Soho, was first printed in 1708.

Words, a paraphrase of Psalm 90 (1719): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
Changed 'Our God' to 'O God' (1738): John Wesley (1703–1791)
Melody (1708): William Croft (1678–1727)

Tune ST ANNE by William Croft (1678–1727); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748) and John Wesley (1703–1791).

Sung to the same tune: Almighty God Your Word Is Cast.

Questions about O God, Our Help in Ages Past

What is the doh of O God, Our Help in Ages Past?

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 O God, Our Help in Ages Past start on?

It starts on s (G in C major), a pickup on the word “O” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to s.

Is O God, Our Help in Ages Past in the public domain?

Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748, John Wesley died in 1791, William Croft died in 1727; the words were first published in 1719 and the music in 1708. 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.