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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.

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God shall rise, His foes be scattered

Praise of the Lord His Victory and Exaltation

English1100
1
God shall rise, His foes be scattered,
All that hate Him flee away.
As the wax before the fire,
All the wicked He shall slay.
But the righteous shall rejoice
With a loud, triumphant voice,
Singing praises, singing praises,
Singing praises unto God!
2
He is riding through the deserts,
Bringing in His saints in need.
He’s a Father to the orphans
And a refuge tried indeed
In His holy habitation—
What a wonderful salvation!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
3
Here the lone have found a family,
Here the desolate a home;
Prisoners are brought from bondage
To prosperity unknown.
For the flock—what wondrous grace—
God prepared this dwelling place:
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
4
Now the Lord in mighty triumph
Sends the news of victory;
We the “women” spread the tidings—
“Kings of armies flee, they flee!”
No more sweat and dreary toil;
We at home divide the spoil!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
5
Lo, on high Christ hath ascended,
Leading captives in His train;
These as gifts He has perfected
That the Lord may dwell with them.
Brothers, sisters, we are those,
We’re those transformed, vanquished foes!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
6
Blessed be the Lord forever:
Day by day He loads with good,
E’en the God of our salvation—
Spread His worthy praise abroad.
His the goings forth from death,
Every foe He conquereth!
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
7
They have seen, O God, Thy goings
In Thy holy dwelling place,
Thy triumphal, high processions
Midst a mighty voice of praise.
See the singers go before,
Praising, praising o’er and o’er:
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
8
Little Benjamin is leading,
Then great Judah’s company:
Son of sorrow at God’s right hand,
Lion with the scepter see.
Zebulun and Naphtali
Make the joyful tidings fly:
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!
9
Saints, thy strength has been commanded
From the temple glorious;
Still we pray that God may strengthen
All that He has wrought for us.
Higher yet our praise shall rise
Till the utmost earth replies:
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Amen!

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Daniel Chou

Kansas City, Taiwan

Nov 13, 2024

Not just first part of stanza 8 based on psalm 68, the whole hymn is based on it.

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Kenneth

Jacksonville, FL, United States

May 11, 2022

I love this song

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Nov 7, 2021

The first part of Stanza 8 of this hymn is based on Psalms 68:27a “There are little Benjamin who rule them, and the prince of Judah in their company. ” This concerns Christ and God’s eternal economy.

The first four lines of the stanza reads:

“Little Benjamin is leading
Then great Judah’s company;
Son of sorrow at God’s right hand
Lion with the scepter see. ”

Benjamin was given two names. His mother Rachel as she was dying named him “Benoni, ” meaning son-of-my-sorrow. Benoni typifies Christ who as the Man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) in His incarnation and human life on earth accomplished God’s eternal redemption for His full-salvation.

His father Jacob, changed his name to “Benjamin, ” which means son-of-my-right-hand. (Gen. 35:18b). To be at the right hand is to be in a position of glory and honor. As the son of the right hand, Benjamin typifies Christ, who as Son of the right hand in His resurrection, victory and ascension ministers in the heavens to carry out the application of God’s redemption for His salvation.

Christ was incarnated to be Benoni the man of sorrows, but in His resurrection He became Benjamin, the Son of the right hand in glory and honor.

Judah is the lion with power and the scepter and He is the peace; Shiloh to God’s people. (Gen. 49:8-10). Whereas Benjamin typifies Christ mainly in his humanity, Judah typifies Christ mainly in his divinity. In his divinity Christ is not a man of sorrows but a lion with power and authority (signified by the scepter). In particular Judah typifies Christ as the victory for God’s people and the peace to God’s people. In the application of redemption Christ is our peace.

Judah the kingly tribe was accompanied always by Benjamin, a warrior tribe

(Gen. 49:27), for God’s kingdom on the earth. In typology Judah and Benjamin, were joined geographically to form a group for the accomplishment and application of Christ’s redemption for God’s salvation. In Benjamin the emphasis is on the accomplishment of redemption, with Judah the emphasis is on the application (in Christ’s ascension) of redemption.

When Jacob blessed his son Benjamin in Genesis 49:27, he likened him to a “ravenous wolf” who destroys the enemy by tearing him to pieces. In Deuteronomy 33:12, Moses says that Benjamin will dwell securely beside Jehovah and that Jehovah will dwell between Benjamin’s shoulders.

In Gen. 49:9, Jacob likens Judah to a “young lion. ” The lion is a symbol of Christ portrayed as a strong fighter against the enemy as prophesied in Genesis 49:8-9. A lion is a type of Christ as the ultimate Overcomer. (Rev. 5:5)

Jerusalem with God’s temple was located in the territory of Benjamin and next to the tribe of Judah. Thus the blessing of Jacob’s twelve sons ends with God’s dwelling place which ultimately consummates in the New Jerusalem as a mutual dwelling place of God and His redeemed for eternity.

Lines 5 and 6 of stanza 8 in hymn 1100 is a praise concerning the spreading of God’s glad tidings of Christ’s accomplishment with the goodly words of the gospel.

The two lines read:

“Zebulun and Naphtali

Make the joyful tidings fly. ”

Psalms 68:27b mention “the prince of Zebulun and the prince of Naphtali. ”

Zebulun, dwelling at the shore of the sea of Galilee and being a shore for ships ( Genesis 49:13) typifies Christ as a “shore” of the evangelists for the transportation and spreading in the preaching of God’s gospel. After Christ accomplished all the things that are to be proclaimed as the gospel, on the day of Pentecost at least 120 Gospel “ships” all whom were Galileans, set out from the shore to spread the gospel.

Naphtali, according to Genesis 49:21, is a “hind let loose, ” and he gives beautiful words. Naphtali typifies Christ as the One who is released from death in resurrection signified by the hind let loose and gives beautiful words for the preaching of the gospel.

In typology Zebulun and Naphtali form a group for the spreading and the propagating of the glad tidings of Christ’s redemption, accomplished for God’s salvation. The people of both Zebulun and Naphtali were men of Galilee (Acts 1:11) from whom the gospel of Christ has been spread, preached, and propagated.

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Svetlana

Conroe, Texas, United States

Mar 10, 2021

See the singers go before,

Praising, praising o’er and o’er!

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Frank Kennedy

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States

May 15, 2019

" Blessed be the Lord forever "

" Day by day He loads with good ".

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Taylor

Forrh Worth, Texas, United States

May 11, 2019

Oh God, do strengthen in us what You have wrought for us!

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Glory Jung

Anaheim, CA, United States

May 4, 2019

The Son of right hand.

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Glory Jung

Anaheim, CA

May 4, 2019

Hallelujah!

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