How Do I Sing Lirik How Great Thou Art With Proper Melody?

There's something about strumming 'How Great Thou Art' that makes even a rusty guitar feel alive. If you want a reliable, singable chorded tab in the key of G (friendly for most voices), here’s a practical version I use at small gatherings and worship nights. Capo: none (if you want higher, put capo 2 or 3 to fit your range) Intro (melody + chords): e|-----3-2-0---0-----0-2-3-2-0-----| B|--0--------3----0---------------| G|---------------------------------| Chords: G C G D Verse 1 (chords above lyrics): G C G O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder G Em D G Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made; G C G I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, G Em D G Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Chorus: G C G D Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee: G C G D G How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Common chord shapes (basic): G: 320003 C: x32010 D: xx0232 Em: 022000 Am: x02210 Strumming: D D U U D U (slow, let the first downbeat ring) If you want a fuller arrangement, try adding passing Em and Am in verses, or play arpeggiated picking on the melody intro I wrote. I like starting softly and building through the chorus — it gives folks room to join in. If you want the full hymn lyrics or a capo suggestion for your vocal range, tell me which key you sing in and I’ll transpose it.

I still get a little thrill when that chorus kicks in at church — that swell of "How great thou art" translated into our language always lands differently. To be clear on the genealogy: the hymn began as 'O Store Gud' written in Swedish by Carl Gustav Boberg in 1885, and the famous English version most of us know was translated and adapted by Stuart K. Hine in the mid-20th century. When it comes to Indonesian, things get a bit murkier because there isn't just one universally credited translator—several congregations and hymnals have slightly different Indonesian renderings, often titled 'Betapa Besar Tuhanku' or similar. If you want the exact translator for the particular Indonesian lyric you have, the fastest route is to check the physical source: hymnals, sheet music, or the liner notes of a recording. Indonesian hymnals like 'Kidung Jemaat' usually list the translator and copyright info on the page with the song or in the hymnal's front matter. If the line is missing there, try online hymn databases like Hymnary.org (they often list translations and credits), WorldCat for older hymnals, or the credits on a CD/YouTube upload — performers sometimes include translator names in descriptions. It's also worth asking a church music director or librarian; I’ve found that a friendly organist often knows the origin story of a beloved hymn better than any search engine. I ran into this exact curiosity a few years back while cataloging church music for a small community choir, and half the versions we sang seemed to trace back to adaptations of Stuart Hine's English text rather than directly from Boberg's Swedish. So depending on whether the Indonesian you're seeing mirrors the English phrasing, its immediate source might be Hine, even if a local translator adapted it further into Indonesian. If you want, tell me the first line of the Indonesian version you have and I’ll help look up likely sources — I enjoy this kind of detective work.

Sundays make me hunt for the Indonesian words to 'How Great Thou Art' more often than I'd like to admit — there are so many sweet and slightly different translations floating around. If you want the lyrics in Indonesian, a few reliable places tend to have good versions: hymn archives like Hymnary.org (search for 'How Great Thou Art' and then look for translations), Musixmatch (great for synced lyrics), and YouTube lyric videos where church groups or solo singers often post a Bahasa Indonesia rendition titled something like 'Betapa Besar Engkau' or 'How Great Thou Art lirik Bahasa Indonesia'. If you're looking for something printable, try searching for PDF hymnals such as 'Kidung Jemaat' or other Indonesian church hymnbooks — many congregations post scanned hymnals or downloadable PDFs. Typing queries like "How Great Thou Art lirik Bahasa Indonesia" or "Betapa Besar Engkau lirik" into Google usually returns a mix of YouTube videos, lyric sites, and church pages. Just keep in mind translations vary slightly, so if you're preparing for a service, glance through a couple of versions to pick the one that matches the melody and theological wording you prefer. I often compare the lines against a video to make sure the phrasing fits the tune before I sing along.

My weekday commute turned into a hymn discovery session once I started hunting YouTube covers of 'How Great Thou Art' — I got obsessed, and honestly you can find wildly different takes that each hit a different mood. If you want a classic, look up Elvis Presley’s recordings of 'How Great Thou Art' (official uploads or licensed clips). His version is a touchstone: raw, reverent, and it really showcases how the hymn works as a solo piece. For modern worship renditions, search for live performances by contemporary worship leaders—those videos often have simple arrangements and singable keys, perfect if you want something you can sing along to or use in a small group. Beyond those, some of my favorite YouTube moments are from choirs and community ensembles. A live church choir with organ or full band brings the hymn to cinematic levels, while stripped-down acoustic covers (guitar + voice) can be surprisingly intimate. If you’re into vocal arrangements, there are a cappella groups and vocal ensembles who tighten up the harmonies in interesting ways — listening to them helped me appreciate the song’s melodic structure more. Also, don’t forget to search for lyric videos (if by “lirik” you mean lyrics) and multilingual takes; the hymn started in Swedish as 'O Store Gud,' and those versions give a cool historical twist. Personally, I keep a playlist mixing an Elvis live cut, a choir recording, and a fingerpicked acoustic cover — it’s my go-to when I need something soulful on repeat.

On Sunday mornings when the choir warms up, 'How Great Thou Art' usually feels like it breathes somewhere between a hymn and a mini-symphony — and that affects the timing. In most church services or congregational settings the song runs about three to four minutes: a modest intro, two or three sung verses, maybe a repeat of the chorus, and a short outro. Elvis’s classic recorded version is a handy reference point at roughly 3:11, which is how I often set expectations when arranging for a small ensemble. If you’re thinking in terms of performances outside of a standard service — solos, gospel arrangements, or concert renditions — the length can stretch. I’ve been to praise nights where a slow, dramatic arrangement with extra instrumental interludes and a repeated bridge pushed the piece to five, six, or even eight minutes. Conversely, in a hurry during a packed program, a pianist-led version with one verse and chorus flies by in two minutes. So the typical range I’d quote is about 3–5 minutes, with room for shorter or longer depending on tempo, the number of verses, and any added improvisation. If you meant 'lirik' as in lyrics (the Indonesian/Malay word), note that fewer verses naturally shorten the run — choose two verses and a chorus and you’re likely under three minutes.

I still hum the chorus when the question pops up, because I've chased down legal hymn PDFs more than once for choir nights. If you want a legitimate PDF of the lyrics to 'How Great Thou Art', the first thing I'd do is check publisher and licensing sources rather than random file sites. The English version commonly sung was translated by Stuart K. Hine and that translation is likely still under copyright, so free PDFs floating around the web are often unauthorized. Practical places to start are CCLI SongSelect and OneLicense — both services let churches and worship leaders download printable lyric sheets legally once you or your organization has a license. I’ve used SongSelect before; it’s straightforward and gives you a clean PDF for projection or printing. If you’re not part of a church, retailers like SheetMusicPlus, Musicnotes, or Sheet Music Direct sometimes sell sheet music or lyric PDFs (often bundled with the melody or arrangement). Hymnary.org is also a great research tool: it shows hymn texts, tunes, and links to hymnals and publishers. For older, public-domain translations (or the original Swedish text 'O Store Gud'), places like Internet Archive or IMSLP can sometimes host legitimate PDFs. I once found an older translation in a scanned hymnal there, which was really handy for a study project. If you're unsure about copyright, don’t grab random PDFs from file-sharing sites. Contacting a publisher or using a licensed service keeps you legal and supports the people who maintain these works — plus it avoids awkward takedown emails. If you want, tell me whether you need the English Hine translation, a public-domain version, or sheet music too, and I’ll point you to more specific links that worked for me.

I get a little giddy talking about hymn covers — there's something cozy about hearing familiar melodies in a different language. The hymn 'How Great Thou Art' has been translated into Malay and Indonesian many times, so you'll find a lot of versions floating around. The Malay translations often show up under titles like 'Betapa Besarnya Tuhan', 'Indahnya Kebesaran-Mu', or simply 'How Great Thou Art (Malay)'. Most recordings are by church choirs, gospel soloists, and independent YouTube performers rather than by mainstream pop stars, which is part of what makes hunting for them so fun. If you want concrete recordings, try searching streaming platforms and YouTube with the Malay titles I mentioned, plus filters like "choir", "church", or the name of a city (Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Penang). Church worship bands, choir recordings from weddings or funerals, and small gospel labels in Malaysia and Indonesia are where I usually find the best renditions. I’ve stumbled across beautiful acoustic solo takes and full choral arrangements — the range of styles is wild, from sparse piano to full orchestral backing. If you want, tell me whether you’re after a choral, pop, or acoustic version and I’ll dig up a short playlist. I’ve saved a few favorites in my own playlists over the years, and I’m always happy to share links or search tips depending on whether you prefer Malaysian or Indonesian Malay versions.

Whenever I sit down to play 'How Great Thou Art' on a quiet afternoon, I like to keep things simple at first and then add color. For a straightforward accompaniment in G major (a common key for congregational singing), try this basic progression: Verse: G | G/B | C | G | Em | C | G D7 | G. Chorus: G | C | G | D | G | C | D7 | G. That spacing matches the phrasing so you can sing along without hunting for chords. If you want a slightly richer gospel or piano-ballad feel, swap some chords for sevenths and passing bass notes: G | G/B | Em7 | Cmaj7 | Em | C | Am D7 | G. For the final chorus many players modulate up a whole step to A major to lift the energy — just move every chord up (G→A, Em→F#m, C→D, D7→E7) and keep the same shapes. For voicings, play root or fifth in the left hand (G–D–G) and triads or 7th chords in the right; add a D/F# (D with F# in the bass) to create a smooth bass line from G to Em. Practical tip: start with block chords and slow arpeggios, then introduce rhythmic patterns (left hand: oom-pah or broken arpeggio, right hand: chord on beat 1 and melodic fills). If you’re arranging for a singer, leave a little space for breath at phrase endings. Play through it once slowly and the progressions fall into place — I always hum the melody while finding the chords, and that keeps everything natural and singable.