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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 Speed menu slows it down.

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Sing praise to Christ Who lives in us

Assurance and Joy of Salvation So Great a Salvation

English1130
1
Sing praise to Christ Who lives in us,
The God of our salvation;
Who saves us by His life divine,
And not by regulation;
After we’ve worked—done all we can,
His life has power to change a man:
His life divine can change us.
2
He saves us to the uttermost
By His life-giving power;
Transfusing Himself into us,
He saves us hour by hour.
He saved the lost by coming in,
He’s saving now from more than sin:
He’s saving us to glory!
3
Our Lord was constituted priest
To be a real life-giver;
Life is the nature of this One
Who can from self deliver:
His life is indestructible,
By it He saves us to the full:
Praise God, He’s fully able!
4
His life is fully qualified
To bring us through to glory;
Were it not for His tested life,
’Twould be another story
His life was fully tried on earth,
To crucifixion from His birth:
He passed through death and Hades.
5
He’s pledged to save us to the full,
His life is operating;
He’s doing everything for us
’Tis all for our perfecting;
Our life’s a failure at its best,
Only His life can stand the test:
His life brings full salvation!
6
He’s living now to intercede,
Continuing forever;
He undertakes into the age,
His priesthood changes never;
He always lives to intercede,
Such a High Priest is what we need:
He’s higher than the heavens.
7
Come forward now to God through Him,
Ne’er shrink back to destruction;
Come forward now to get the life,
Which brings the proper function;
Come forward now the life to take,
By life His people us He’ll make,
And swallow death forever.

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R H

Canada

Aug 6, 2026

“…Our life’s a failure at its best,
Only His life can stand the test:
His life can stand the test:
His life brings full salvation! “
What a Life have we!

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Don Rademacher

Colorado Springs, CO, United States

Apr 20, 2026

I really appreciate the word of faith in the last three lines of the first verse:

"After we’ve worked—done all we can,
His life has power to change a man:
His life divine can change us."

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for speaking faith into us! It's not our effort; it's His operation within us.

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Un Hermano

Apr 6, 2026

HEALTHY PRACTICES
IN THE CHURCH LIFE
Praying
----------

In 5:13 James goes on to the matter of healthy practices in the church life: “Does anyone among you suffer evil? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ” Praying brings us the strength of the Lord to endure suffering, and singing praise keeps us in the joy of the Lord. The Greek words rendered “sing praise” mean primarily “play on a stringed instrument, ” thus, “make melody. ” Hence, it denotes to sing a hymn, to sing praise. Whether we pray or sing praise, we should contact God. In any environment and under any circumstance, humble or exalted, grievous or joyful, we need to contact the Lord.

Life-study of James
Message 12 Practical Virtues of Christian Perfection
(LSM)

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Un Hermano

Apr 6, 2026

When we turn to our spirit and get into our spirit, even while we are driving, we may sing, praise, or rejoice. We may also cry, weeping as we pray, “Lord, look at the situation of Your Body. ” We have all tasted this to some extent. We must be perfected and built up to be such persons. There is no other way to be a lover of God, to be a seeker of Christ, or to be an overcomer than to be in spirit.

Life-study of Job
Message 27 A Person in the Spirit
(LSM)

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Tina

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Jan 29, 2026

His life has power to save a man.

He is fully able.

Thank You Lord. Whatever we are and whstever we have become. YOUR LIFE is fully able. You are there to intercede for us and bring us into glory.

I really enjoyed this hymn today. It is so simple to sing, yet it is so profound.

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Fe T. Roode

Bogart, Georgia, United States

Apr 12, 2025

Good morning ,

I am listening to 103. 7 when I heard this hymns.

When Sing Hymns “ our youth are growing up not ever learning the hymns. ” Concern parent.

The trend today is to replace traditional with contemporary choruses But is this trend God for young people ? Youth today need the strong focus on doctrine that hymns and choruses in this hymnal provide. Hymns present a clear expression of the knowledge of God , and they teach Biblical truth as the Scriptures admonishes: Colossians 3:16 and more . ……………………. ” Hosea 4:1-6. Sadly in our country are very weak in our true history.

CHSpurgeon day” Books give information. Bible gives revelation “ 1834-1892.

(Thus a part of my daughter in her college days from K-12 homeschooling)

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James Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

May 12, 2024

It is easy to sing this song and just appreciate what God has done for us. The emphasis in this song is Life. That is the very person of Christ who was molded by His hard Life here on earth. This Life is mentioned in every verse. The conclusion of the hymn warns us to come forward to take this Life and not shrink back (Heb. 10:39). God wants this Life to spread in man as much as we need it.

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Samuel Yu

Austin, TX, United States

Dec 17, 2023

After we’ve worked—done all we can,
His life has power to change a man:
His life divine can change us.

Read more
Anonymous

Arlington, TX, United States

Jun 19, 2022

Come forward now the life to take,
By life His people us He’ll make,
And swallow death forever!
Thank you Lord for swallowing death forever!

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Feb 7, 2022

The original title of this hymn is “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above. ” The words were written by Johann Jakob Schütz. He was born September 7, 1640, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and died May 22, 1690, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

After studying in Tübingen—where he became a licentiate (a degree between that of a bachelor and a master of doctor commonly in Europe) in civil and canon law, Schütz began to practice law in Frankfurt and later years with the title of Rath.

He seems to have been a man of considerable legal learning and piety. He left the Lutheran Church sometime after 1685.

The words were translated from German into English by Frances E. Cox (1812-1897) in 1864. Cox is remembered for her translations of German chorales. She collaborated with Baron Charles Christian von Bunsen (1791-1860), Prussian ambassador to London in choosing titles to translate.

The music is MIT FREUDEN ZART, Bohemian Brethren’s “Kirchengesänge” (Berlin, 1556)

The Bohemian Brethren later known as “Moravian Brethren, ” were a group of Utraquists (Christians holding the dogma that the Eucharist should be administered as both

“bread and wine”) who formally separated from that body in 1467; they stood for a simple and unworldly Christianity. Organized as a church by Lukas of Prague (d1528), they spread rapidly. After 1547 repressive measures were taken against them; many migrated to Poland where they were allied themselves with the Calvinists in 1555. Those who remained in Bohemia obtained freedom to practice in 1575, but fixed their principal seat in Moravia hence their alternative name. They became the leading sector in Bohemian Protestantism, with many rights, but after the Battle of the White Mountain (1620) all protestants were exiled. In 1721 the remains of the sect accepted an offer of N. L. von Zinzendorf to join the Herrnhutter, with whom they amalgamated. They laid special emphasis on church services, organization, and education; their contribution to Czech literature was considerable, especially through their translation of the Bible (1579-93). They influenced early Methodism.

This hymn is based on Deuteronomy 32:3 “ Oh praise the greatness of our God. ”

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