To God Be the Glory in Tonic Solfa

To God Be the Glory in Tonic Solfa: the solfa with the words, staff notation, all three verses with the refrain, and a piano.

Key: Ab major
Doh: Ab
Time: 3/4
Starts on: s, (E♭)
Range: s, to s (E♭ to E♭, an octave)
Tune: TO GOD BE THE GLORY
Words: Fanny Crosby
Music: William Howard Doane

Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune TO GOD BE THE GLORY by William Howard Doane (1832–1915); words by Fanny Crosby (1820–1915). Sources and licences.

The solfa with the words

Doh is Ab3/4

s,To-

s,God---l,bet,the

dglor--s,y,-dgreat-

rthings-s,He-rhath-

mdone!---mSo-

floved-l,He-fthe-

mworld-dthat-mHe-

mgave-rus-l,His-

rSon,---s,Who-

s,yield----l,edt,His

dlife-s,an-da--

rtone--s,ment-rfor-

msin,---mAnd-

so--fpened-rthe-

dlife-t,gate-dthat-

mall-mmay-rgo-

din.---mPraise-,fthe

sLord,---mpraise-,fthe

sLord,---sLet-,mthe

dearth-rhear-mHis-

rvoice!---rPraise-,mthe

fLord,---rpraise-,mthe

fLord,---fLetdthe

speo--sple-fre--

mjoice!---s,O-

s,come---l,tot,the

dFa--s,ther,-dthrough-

rJe--s,sus-rthe-

mSon,---mAnd-

sgive-fHim-rthe-

dglor--t,y,-dgreat-

mthings-mHe-rhath-

ddone!---

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 · 3/4

| s, - To| s, - - - l, t, God be the| d - s, - d - glory, great| r - s, - r - things He hath| m - - - m - |done! So

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

To God be the glory, great things He hath done!
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Refrain

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

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 “To”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
Count the time. 3/4 means three 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 f 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

Fanny Crosby wrote these words and William Howard Doane the tune; the hymn was published in their collection Brightest and Best in 1875.

Words (1875): Fanny Crosby (1820–1915)
Melody (1875): William Howard Doane (1832–1915)

Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune TO GOD BE THE GLORY by William Howard Doane (1832–1915); words by Fanny Crosby (1820–1915). 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 To God Be the Glory

What is the doh of To God Be the Glory?

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 To God Be the Glory start on?

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

Is To God Be the Glory in the public domain?

Yes. Fanny Crosby died in 1915, William Howard Doane died in 1915; 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.