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 Tempo menu slows it down without changing the pitch.

Open this guide as its own page

Download limit reached

Jesus! how much Thy name unfolds

Praise of the Lord His Name

English71
1
Jesus! how much Thy name unfolds
To every opened ear;
The pardoned sinner’s mem’ry holds
None other half so dear.
2
Thy name encircles every grace
That God as man could show;
There only could He fully trace
A life divine below.
3
Jesus—it speaks a life of love,
Of sorrows meekly borne;
It tells of sympathy above,
Whatever makes us mourn.
4
Jesus, the One who knew no sin,
Made sin to make us just;
Thou gav’st Thyself our love to win,
Our full confiding trust.
5
The mention of Thy name shall bow
Our hearts to worship Thee;
The chiefest of ten thousand Thou,
Whose love has set us free.

Delete Comment

Delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Un Hermano

Aug 25, 2025

Man or Son of Man

In the Old Testament there are many instances where God appears to man in the form of a man; for this reason God as Christ is also referred to as a man and as the Son of Man ( Dan. 7:13 ; Psa. 80:17 ). The first reference to God as man is in Genesis 18:1-2 , 16-17 , and 22. One of the three men who appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre was God as Christ. In Genesis 32:24-30 the man who wrestled with Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok was also God embodied in Christ. In Judges 13:6 , 8 , 11 , and 15-22 the man who appeared to Manoah and his wife was also God in Christ. God appeared as a man even before the New Testament.

Ten Lines in the Bible
CWWL, 1959, vol. 3
Chapter ! (LSM)

Read more
Un Hermano

Aug 25, 2025

A. The Lamb without Blemish Being Killed and Shedding Its Blood, Typifying That the Sinless Christ Died and Shed His Blood

for the Believers

The lamb as the Passover sacrifice was without blemish, a male of the first year ( Exo. 12:5a ). To be without blemish is to be perfect. This signifies that Christ is perfect, without fault ( John 8:46 ). To be of the first year is to be fresh and not used for any other purpose. In the sight of God, when the Lord Jesus was crucified, He was of the first year. He was fresh, never having been used for another purpose. The Passover lamb could be taken either from the sheep or from the goats ( Exo. 12:5b ). According to Matthew 25 , sheep represent those who are good, and goats, those who are evil. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He was both a sheep and a goat. On the one hand, in Himself Christ was altogether good; on the other hand, as the One who knew no sin He was made sin on our behalf ( 2 Cor. 5:21 ) to be our Substitute. The Passover lamb was examined for four days and killed by the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel on the fourteenth day of the first month ( Exo. 12:2-3 , 6 ). Likewise, Christ was examined by the Jewish priests and the Roman governor, and He was proved to be faultless, without blemish ( John 18:38b ; 19:4 , 6 ). However, He was delivered for crucifixion in the midst of the unjust crying of the crowds ( Matt. 27:20 , 22-23 ). Hence, the lamb without blemish as the Passover sacrifice which shed its blood by being killed typifies that the sinless Christ died and shed His blood for us.

B. The Blood of the Lamb Being Put on the Door, Typifying That the Blood of Christ Was Put before God for the Believers’ Redemption

After the Passover lamb was killed, every household had to take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses. While Jehovah God was smiting all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, when He saw the blood on the door, He passed over that house ( Exo. 12:7 , 13 , 23 ). The blood of the Passover lamb typifies the redeeming blood of Christ. First Peter 1:19 shows us that we were redeemed “with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ. ” The blood of the lamb was put on the door of the house in which the lamb was eaten for the deliverance of the children of Israel. This typifies that Christ’s blood was put before God for the believers’ redemption ( Matt. 26:28 ).

C. The Flesh of the Lamb Being Eaten by the Children of Israel for Their Supply, Typifying That Christ Enters into the Believers to Be Their Life Supply

The blood of the Passover lamb was to be put on the door, whereas the flesh of the lamb was to be eaten by the children of Israel ( Exo. 12:8 ). The flesh of the lamb being eaten for their supply typifies that Christ enters into the believers to be their life supply. In John 6 the Lord said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man... you do not have life within yourselves.... My flesh is true food” ( vv. 53 , 55 ). Flesh here signifies the life of Christ. The life of Christ is edible; it is our life supply. Therefore, we have the blood of Christ for redemption and the life of Christ for the life supply.

Truth Lessons,
Level Three, Vol. 1
Lesson 14 (LSM)

Read more
Stehen Bellingham

Irvine, CA, United States

Sep 24, 2013

Jesus! how much Thy name unfolds...

This is a wonderful hymn. Thank You Lord for Your human living that is now available to us.

Read more