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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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Oh, strengthen my spirit, Lord Jesus

Longings For Sanctification

English1134
1
Oh, strengthen my spirit, Lord Jesus,
Oh, strengthen my spirit, I pray;
Oh, strengthen my spirit with power
And spread to my heart today.
 
Into my heart, into my heart,
Spread into my heart, Lord Jesus;
Make home today and have Your way
In all of my heart, Lord Jesus.
2
Spread into my heart, O Lord Jesus,
Spread into my heart, I pray;
Spread into my heart from my spirit,
Spread into my heart today.
3
Make home in my heart, O Lord Jesus,
Make home in my heart, I pray;
That we may be filled with Your fullness,
Make home in my heart today.
4
To Him who is able to do it
Above all we think or say,
We open our hearts wide and welcome
Him into our heart today.

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Daniel Villatoro, Daniel Chen, Sarah Kuo, Kinia Ngombe

Moreno Valley, San Franciso, Irvine, Alanta, Ca, Ga, United States

Aug 26, 2026

Into my heart! -D. V
Strengthen our spirit Lord, with power! - D. C
Today! Don't delay! - S. K
Oh Lord Jesus! Spread more into all of our hearts! - K. N

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Yuri Reyes

Texas, United States

Aug 26, 2026

Thank you Lord for your spreading into each part of our being!

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Un Hermano

Nov 10, 2025

BEING STRENGTHENED INTO THE INNER MAN

Ephesians 3:8 reveals that the apostle Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ. All the believers have received these unsearchable riches. In these chapters we have seen and received the riches of Christ. However, we still need to pray that these riches would be applied to us and become our enjoyment. For this we need to pray, as Paul did, to be strengthened into our inner man (v. 16). Here Paul seemed to be saying, “O Father, strengthen the believers into their inner man. Do not strengthen them into their mentality or into their physical bodies but into their inner man. ” The inner man is our spirit. Although we all need to be strengthened into our spirit, into our inner man, the natural strength of our mind needs to be reduced. Many Christians are strong in their mentality. They have a large head but a very small spirit. Their mind is filled with thoughts and imaginations. While they are sitting in a meeting listening to a message, their thoughts may travel around the world. Furthermore, they find it very easy to talk. However, if you ask them to pray, they will immediately be quiet. Prayer requires the exercise of the spirit, but talking comes out of the exercise of the mind. Those with a large mentality find it easy to talk but difficult to pray. This proves that their inner man, their spirit, is weak. Thus, they need to be strengthened into the inner man and reduced in their mentality. If this takes place, their head will become smaller, and their spirit will become larger. As a result, they will like to pray more and talk less. They will begin to say, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Jesus is Lord! ” They will enjoy saying this because their spirit will have been strengthened and expanded. We all need to pray, “Lord Jesus, strengthen my spirit and restrict my mind. ”

CHRIST MAKING HIS HOME IN OUR HEART

We also need to pray, “O Lord, strengthen my spirit so that You may make Your home in my heart. ” When we were saved, the Lord Jesus came into our spirit. How much of Christ do you have in your spirit? If you sense that you have little of Him in your spirit, you should pray that He would strengthen you into your inner man. If you learn to call on the Lord, your spirit will be filled with Christ as the life-giving Spirit. This is the way to be strengthened into the inner man. The more you say, “O Lord Jesus, ” the more Christ will come into you, spread into your heart, and take it over. As Christ spreads in you, He makes your heart His home (v. 17). Although all Christians have Christ in their spirit, few have Christ in their mind, emotion, and will, which are the different rooms of our heart. Christ desires to fill all these rooms and to make our heart His home.

BEING FILLED UNTO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD

According to Ephesians 3:19 , eventually, we shall “be filled unto all the fullness of God. ” This means that we shall not simply have Christ in our spirit but that He will make His home in our heart and take over our entire being. As a result, we shall inwardly be filled unto all the fullness of God. When we are filled unto all the fullness of God, we become the practical and prevailing church. This church is the kingdom of the heavens with the authority of God to overcome the power of Satan. By this we see that the building of the church does not come by outward organization but by the inner life, that is, by having Christ fill us, saturate us, and permeate us until we are filled unto all the fullness of God. This is Christ’s way to build His church.

The Kernel of the Bible

Chapter 14 CWWL, 1977, vol. 1 (LSM)

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YR

Jan 28, 2025

Salvation does not require the paying of a price, but maturity does. To obtain the oil in the lamp does not require one to pay a price, but to obtain the oil in the vessel does. The regenerating Spirit is given for free, but to obtain the filling Spirit requires that we pay a price. If we are even a little willing for the sake of the Lord to put aside some of our desires, prospects, knowledge, position, family, material possessions, career, views, perceptions, and all the other things related to us, then the Spirit will fill us up. The more we forsake, the more the Spirit will fill us. How much we forsake is how much the Spirit will fill us. We may use a glass of grape juice as an example. When you empty a little of the juice, the air will fill up the glass a little more. When you empty more juice, more air will fill the glass. When the glass is fully emptied, the air will fill up the entire glass.

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Humberto A

Perris, Ca, United States

Mar 21, 2024

Thank you, Lord, for entering our hearts today with your love. We are truly grateful for your kind and wonderful acts of kindness.

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K. F.

Missoula, MT, United States

Sep 23, 2023

I love Thee, Jesus. More today than yesterday!

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Maurice Ward

Irving, Texas, United States

Sep 20, 2023

For it is God who operates in you both the willing and working for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

This God is actually the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself with His bountiful supply. The willingness is within. The willing takes place in our will, indicating that God's operation begins from our spirit, and spreads into our mind, emotion, and will.

Oh Lord, teach me to open my heart. Teach me to touch you as the Spirit in my spirit.

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Maylyn Lacson

Biella, Italy

Jun 9, 2022

Lord Jesus....
Oh Lord Jesus...
To Him who is able to do it
Above all we think or say,
We open our hearts wide and welcome
Him into our heart today.

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Yuri

Brownsville, TX, United States

Nov 23, 2021

Praise the Lord!

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Sandra Wood

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Aug 19, 2020

It's a beautiful hub. The Lyrics touched my heart, imagine the hymn sung.

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