Skip to content
hymnal.net
hymnal.net
My Songs

About Numbered Notation

All steps
  1. The numbers are the notes of a scale
  2. “1=C” tells you where to start
  3. Dots make a note higher or lower
  4. How long each note lasts
  5. 0 means rest
  6. Bar lines and the time signature
  7. Curves: ties and slurs
  8. The words sit under the numbers
  9. Repeat signs and 1. 2. endings
  10. Minor keys: “6=A”
  11. Put it together: a line of a hymn
  12. Check yourself
  13. Try it on a hymn

The numbers are the notes of a scale

Numbered notation (jianpu, 简谱) writes a melody as numbers instead of notes on a staff. You do not need to read music: take one small step at a time and press Play on any example to hear it while each number lights up. Sound only starts when you press Play.

Instead of notes on a staff, each note is a number from 1 to 7. They are the seven steps of the scale you already know: do re mi fa sol la ti. After 7 the scale starts again at 1.

The seven numbers with their names. Press Play and say each name as its number lights up.
Sing along: do re mi fa sol, and back down to do.

If you can sing do re mi, you can already sing every number from 1 to 7. Tap or click any number to hear just that note.

“1=C” tells you where to start

At the top left of the sheet you will see something like 1=C. It means the number 1 (do) is the note C, and every other number counts up from there. 1=G means do is G, so the whole tune sits a little higher. Nothing else changes: the same numbers make the same shape, only higher or lower.

1=C: do is C.
1=G: the same numbers, starting higher.

Not sure where C is? On a piano it is the white key just left of the two black keys. Or ignore the letter and start on any note that is comfortable for your voice: the tune only has to keep its shape. The − and + key buttons on a hymn page shift the key for you.

Dots make a note higher or lower

A dot above a number means one octave higher. A dot below means one octave lower. Two dots mean two octaves. No dot is the middle range, where most of a tune lives. The name stays the same; only the height changes.

The same number at three heights: dot below, no dot, dot above.
A tune that climbs: it starts on a low sol and ends on a high do.

How long each note lasts

Tap your foot at a steady pace: each tap is a beat. A plain number lasts one beat, so you sing a new number on every tap. Dashes, lines and dots change that.

A plain number is one beat

Four numbers, four beats: one number for each tap.

A dash holds the note longer

Each dash adds one beat. The 5 lasts two beats and the 3 lasts four.

A line underneath makes it shorter

One line is half a beat, so two underlined numbers share one beat. (Two lines are a quarter of a beat.)

A dot after makes it half as long again

A dot after a number adds half its length. The first 5 lasts a beat and a half, and the short 3 fills the rest of the second beat.

0 means rest

A 0 is silence for one beat. Keep counting and keep tapping, but do not sing. Dashes after a 0 make the silence longer, just as they hold a note longer.

Sing 1 3 5, stay quiet for one beat, then come back down. Rests light up too, so you can feel the pause.

Bar lines and the time signature

Tall lines cut the music into bars, each holding the same number of beats. The two small numbers at the start, like 4/4 or 3/4, say how many: 4/4 is four beats in every bar, 3/4 is three. The first beat of each bar is the strongest, so lean on it a little. A double line with a thick edge marks the end.

4/4: count 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4. The first beat of each bar sounds a little louder.
3/4: count 1 2 3, 1 2 3, the lilt of a waltz.

Curves: ties and slurs

A curve over numbers joins them. If it joins two of the same number, it is a tie: sing the note once and hold it for both. If it joins different numbers, it is a slur: sing them all on one syllable, gliding from one to the next.

A tie: the 5 is sung once and held across the bar line, six beats in all.
A slur: “Him” is sung on two notes, 3 then 2.

The words sit under the numbers

Each number gets one syllable, written right underneath it. A short dash after part of a word means the word carries on under the next number. If a number has nothing under it, it belongs to a curve or a dash: keep singing the syllable you are on.

Read left to right, one syllable for each number: Twin-kle, twin-kle, lit-tle star.

Repeat signs and 1. 2. endings

A bar line with two dots, :|, means go back and sing that part again, from the matching |: sign (or from the start if there is none). Sometimes the repeat has two endings. Sing ending 1. the first time; on the repeat, skip it and sing ending 2. instead.

Play it: you hear the 1. ending, the repeat, then the 2. ending. Watch the highlight jump back.

Minor keys: “6=A”

A song in a minor key, which usually sounds more serious or tender, is labeled like 6=A instead of 1=C. It means the number 6 (la) is the home note, here A. The numbers keep their usual names; the tune simply feels at home on 6 and often ends there. 6=A uses the same notes as 1=C.

It starts and ends on 6 (la), the home note. Listen to the darker colour.

Put it together: a line of a hymn

This is the first line of hymn 8, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow”, written in numbered notation. Try the slow tempo first, and sing the words as each number lights up.

1=G in 4/4. Three silent beats, then “Praise” on beat 4. The dots under 7, 6 and 5 mean those notes dip one octave lower.

Check yourself

Four quick questions, with no score and no pressure. Tap an answer to see right away why it is right or wrong. You can always try another answer.

Tap the number that is held the longest.

Tap the 5 that is one octave higher than the first 5.

What does a 0 mean?

Under 1=G, which note is the number 1?

Try it on a hymn

You opened this from a hymn that has a Numbered view, so you can try it right now.

  1. Look at the top left of the sheet: the key, such as 1=D, and the time signature, such as 3/4.
  2. Find the first number and sing it. Then follow the numbers from left to right with the words underneath, one syllable for each number. Press Play in the player to hear the recording while you follow.
  3. Letters above the numbers (C, G7) are chords for a guitarist or pianist. Ignore them while you learn the tune.
  4. To be guided, open the Learn tab and press Play. Under Display, set Learn notation to Numbered (or choose Numbered on the Lead Sheet tab first). For hymns that have numbered lines, each line of numbers scrolls into view in time with the recording while a bouncing ball follows the words; other hymns show the piano notation there. The Speed menu slows it down.

Open this guide as its own page

Download limit reached

My God, my Portion, and my Love

Experience of God As the Everlasting Portion

English600
1
My God, my Portion, and my Love,
My everlasting All,
I’ve none but Thee in heav’n above,
Or on this earthly ball,
Or on this earthly ball.
2
What empty things are all the skies,
And this inferior clod!
There’s nothing here deserves my joys,
There’s nothing like my God,
There’s nothing like my God.
3
To Thee I owe my wealth, and friends,
And health, and safe abode;
Thanks to Thy name for meaner things,
But they are not my God,
But they are not my God.
4
How vain a toy is glittering wealth,
If once compared to Thee!
Or what’s my safety, or my health,
Or all my friends to me,
Or all my friends to me.
5
Were I possessor of the earth,
And called the stars my own,
Without Thy graces and Thyself,
I were a wretch undone,
I were a wretch undone.
6
Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore;
Grant me the visits of Thy grace,
And I desire no more,
And I desire no more.

Delete Comment

Delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Mar 30, 2026

“My God my Portion and My Love”

What a revelation that we are part of Christ’s body. We all have a portion. I don’t know if I truly realize what a blessing it is to be part of Him and express Him.

We owe everything to Christ and He everything to us. The things we see now with earthly eyes are temporary. But the portion of Christ we receive by faith is eternal. We have a part of Christ! Truly living with this truth gives our life meaning.

Read more
Sanjay Maisi

Delhi, India

Mar 9, 2025

My God, my Portion, and my Love,

My everlasting All, Grant me visit your grace, I desire no more. Amen

Read more
G.Wu

Brisbane, Qld, Australia

Jan 30, 2024

Grant me the visits of Thy grace,
And I desire no more,
And I desire no more.

Read more
Samuel Yu

Austin, TX, United States

Oct 4, 2023

My God, my Portion, and my Love,
My everlasting All !
There’s nothing here deserves my joys,
There’s nothing like my God !

Read more
Learning Christ

Mar 10, 2023

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) Recovery Version

Read more
Shel St Clair

Homestead, FL, United States

Apr 11, 2022

Amen

Read more
Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Feb 17, 2022

Isaac Watts was born July 17, 1674 South Hampton, England, and died November 25, 1748, Stoke, Newington, London, England. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, London, England.

Watts’ father was a Nonconformist imprisoned twice for his religious views. Isaac learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew under Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the in Grammar School in Southampton.

Isaac’s gift in writing verse became apparent when he was a child and his promise caused a local doctor and other friends to offer him a university education, assuming he would be ordained in the Church of England.

Isaac however declined and instead entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Thomas Rowe, pastor of the Independent Congregation at Girdlers’ Hall; Isaac joined the congregation and 1693.

Watts left the Academy at age 20 and spent two years at home. It was during this period that he wrote the bulk of his hymns and spiritual songs. They were sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel, and published and 1707-09.

The next six years of his life were spent at Stoke Newington, working as Tutor to the son of a prominent Puritan John Hartopp. The intense study of these years is reflected in the theological add philosophical material he published thereafter.

Watts preached his first sermon at age 24. In the next three years, he preached frequently, and in 1702 was ordained as pastor of the Independent Congregation in Mark Lane. At that time he moved into the house other Mr. Hollis in the Minories.

His health began to fail the next year, and Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712, a fever shattered his constitution, and Price became co-pastor of the congregation, which had moved to a new chapel in Bury Street.

It was at this time that Isaac became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney. He lived with Abney and later Abney’s widow the rest of his life, mainly in Theobalds in Hertfordshire, then for 13 years at Stoke, Newington.

In 1728, the University of Edinburg awarded Watts a Dr. of Divinity Degree.

From 1706 to 1745 he was able to publish much of his philosophical and theological material. Twelve publications in all.

Read more
Thibaut Hang

Cotonou, Atlantic, Benin

Jan 13, 2021

O what a joy to have You Father God !

My God, my portion, my love and my everlasting joy ! There is nothing compare to Thee !

Read more
Joseph

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Jan 13, 2021

Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore;
But you are enough for me Lord Jesus
My everlasting all.

Read more
Ann W. Chiang

Taipei, Taiwan

Nov 8, 2020

My God, my Portion, and my Love,
My everlasting All !
There’s nothing here deserves my joys,
There’s nothing like my God !
Without Thy graces and Thyself,
I were a wretch undone.
Grant me the visits of Thy grace,
And I desire no more,
I desire only you !

Read more