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About Numbered Notation

Numbered Notation (also called Jianpu, 简谱) writes each melody note as a number from 1 to 7 instead of a note on a staff. The number shows the note's position in the song's scale -- not its exact pitch -- so the same tune looks identical no matter what key it's sung in.

Within one octave, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 correspond to the familiar do re mi fa sol la ti. A dot above a number raises it an octave higher; a dot below lowers it an octave lower -- no dot means the middle, as-written octave.

A plain number lasts one beat. A dash (-) right after a number holds that same note for one more beat. A line underneath a number shortens it instead -- one line is half a beat, two lines a quarter of a beat. A 0 is a rest: silence for one beat.

The label at the top of the sheet, like "1=C" or "1=Ab", shows which pitch scale degree 1 ("do") is tuned to. A song in a minor key is labeled "6=X" instead -- scale degree 6 ("la") is the true tonic. Chord names printed above the notes (like "C" or "G7") always use their familiar letter names, never numbers.

For example, under a "1=C" heading, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sound as C D E F G A B. Under a "1=G" heading, those very same numbers sound as G A B C D E F# instead -- same shape, different key.

Crown Him with many crowns

Praise of the Lord His Glory

English142
1
Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
2
Crown Him the Virgin’s Son,
The God Incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won
Which now His brow adorn:
Fruit of the mystic Tree,
As of that Tree the Stem;
The Root whence flows Thy mercy free,
The Babe of Bethlehem.
3
Crown Him the Lord of Love:
Behold His hands and side;
Rich wounds yet visible above
In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright.
4
Crown Him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease,
And all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end,
And round His pierced feet
Fair flowers of glory now extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.
5
Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time.
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity.

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Marc Knoedler

North Port, FL, United States

Apr 4, 2026

My hymnbook includes another verse as the third of five, maybe by Godfrey Thring:

Crown Him the Lord of life

Who triumphed o'er the grave,

And rose victorious in the strife

For those He came to saved.

His glories now we sing

Who died and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring,

And lives that death may die.

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Jobie

Indiana, United States

Mar 30, 2026

Christ in His people is enough. He comes and lives in us when He saves us. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

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Un Hermano

Jul 23, 2025

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE ELECTRUM

The issue of the blowing of the wind, the covering of the cloud, and the burning of the fire is the radiant manifestation of the electrum. As we experience the burning of the consuming fire, God Himself is manifested in us. The more we pass through God’s wind, cloud, and fire, the more the Lord is manifested in us in a dignified and glorious way. When He is manifested in such a way, we sense that He alone is precious, lovely, bright, majestic, and glorious. Like the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, we see “no one except Jesus Himself alone” (Matt. 17:8). The only one in view, the only one in the scene, is the lovely, precious, glorious Lord Jesus. Then we can do nothing other than bow before Him, worship Him, exalt Him, crown Him, and pour out everything to Him. In this way we gain the Lord, and He gains us.

May we all be deeply impressed with the picture in Ezekiel 1:4, and may our Christian life be a continual and inexhaustible experience of the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum.

Life-study of Ezekiel

Message 4 (LSM)

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Veris Tewagi

Nairobi, Kenya

Jun 13, 2025

No angel in the sky

Can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends his burning eye

At mysteries so bright.

This heavenly scene is sublime, so glorious!

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Barbara Bates

Arlington, Texas, United States

Mar 20, 2025

"Creator of the rolling spheres,

Ineffably sublime."

I'm reading Psalm 19. The boiling sun with its solar flares is like your majesty and glory. Nothing is hidden from you. You are Lord over all. The sun is the great marker of time and space: exultant, magnificent, yet obedient, assigned its place.

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Oct 15, 2023

Though he was born in England, Matthew Bridges lived a number of years in Canada, and then returned to England before his death. Raised in the Anglican Church, Bridges was part of a group, popular of the time, that sought to go back to the early church to investigate their traditions, liturgy, and ways of worship. In doing so, many of the folks in this movement, switched allegiances to the Roman Catholic church. Bridges himself was first a minister in the Anglican church, and then later became a priest in the Catholic Church. He wrote a number of hymns, and this one, which in his lyrics referred to the Virgin Mary, became accepted by the Protestant churches, after it was rewritten without references to Mary. Bridges’ hymn identifies Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and perhaps was in part motivated by the reference in revelation, 5:13 to the Lamb on the throne, as well as Revelation, 19:12, which speaks of many crowns.

L. Codington

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

May 14, 2023

Christ was made a little lower than the angels because of the suffering of death. God the Father crowned Him with glory and honor that He might taste death for every man. That is you and me! That surely was a bitter taste. Only Christ

Is worthy of such great glory and honor! Lord, we worship you! You died for us!

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Carol N

Massachusetts, United States

Apr 27, 2023

Yes, Rodney. There's a family that sings this hymn beautifully. Their YouTube channel is called "Sounds like Reign."

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Rodney Wayne Farmer

Ocala, FL, United States

Apr 26, 2023

What a great old song, have you heard it any where recently

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Victor Turner

Charlotte, NC, United States

Mar 22, 2023

I hope to remember this hymn forever. Praise the Lord. ❤️

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