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

Oh, sanctify us, Lord; now add Thyself to us

Longings For Sanctification

English1135
1
Oh, sanctify us, Lord; now add Thyself to us,
In our experience, Thy Person spread in us,
That in reality the church be glorious,
O Lord, do add Thyself, we pray.
 
Oh, sanctify us, Lord, today;
Lord Jesus, You’re the only way.
We take Your Person, Lord;
Oh, spread Yourself abroad.
Oh, sanctify us, Lord, today.
2
Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart;
Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart.
Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part.
Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray.
 
Oh, purify us, Lord, today;
Wash all our natural life away.
Speak now Thy words in us,
And make us glorious.
O Lord, do speak in us today.
3
O Lord, do nourish us; You are the food we need;
As we are eating You, we’ll be transformed indeed;
We’re fully satisfied as on Yourself we feed,
So nourish us, O Lord, we pray.
 
O Lord, do nourish us today
As all our self You wash away.
Not only purify,
But fill and satisfy;
O Lord, do nourish us today.
4
O Lord, do cherish us, as on Thyself we feed;
Warm us so tenderly and meet our every need.
Our hardness soften, Lord, till we are Yours indeed;
Oh, cherish us, dear Lord, we pray.
 
O Lord, do cherish us today,
Until our coldness flees away.
Oh, hold us close to Thee
And cherish tenderly;
O Lord, do cherish us today.
5
Lord, make us glorious, by all Your inner work,
Not glory for ourselves, but glory for the church;
That You may have Your Bride, thus ending all Your search.
O Lord, do work on us, we pray.
 
O Lord, do work on us today!
To form the church Your glorious way.
Oh, spread Yourself in us
Till we are glorious;
Oh, make us glorious, Lord, today.

Delete Comment

Delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Ray Stump

Waco, TX, United States

Oct 2, 2026

This hymn is so helpful. I first sang this hymn with a dear brother in 1980 out of an upstairs window in Newton, Mass. — right after attending my first live training, Philippians. The melody and lyrics ushered me into genuine prayer and the release of my spirit.

Recently some matters have left me feeling conflicted, confused, and embittered. But my prayer buddy of twenty years texted this hymn to me, and I find myself once again in the loving touch of the Savior, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. The Savior who conquered death (Acts 2:24), and will swallow up death (2Cor. 5:4).

Read more
A Brother of Christ

Aug 28, 2026

The Holy city New Jerusalem has the Foundation. You shall be holy as I am holy. Holy holy holy is the lamb. Oh glorious God. Thank you she won't change. She is established forever. We love you dear bridegroom Jesus!

Read more
Un Hermano

Apr 7, 2026

I. THE MEANING OF SANCTIFICATION

----------

Sanctification, whether in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament or in the Greek language of the New Testament, means primarily separation. Therefore, sanctification, or being made holy, in the Scriptures means separation from what is ordinary or common.

Holiness is the quality of God’s nature. The quality of God’s nature is not merely to be sinless, without any defilement, but it is even more to be different, distinct, from everything common. Therefore, the Bible speaks of God and the things pertaining or belonging to God as being holy. A certain thing is not holy until it is offered to God and belongs to God. Only then is it sanctified, separated. A bull or a goat, for example, is not intrinsically holy, but when it is placed on the altar, it is made holy (Matt. 23:19), because the altar separates it unto God. Gold is not holy in itself, but it is sanctified when it is placed in the temple (Matt. 23:17), because the temple separates it unto God. Food is not intrinsically holy, but it is sanctified through the saints’ prayer, because the saints’ prayer separates the food for the use of the saints of God (1 Tim. 4:3-5). Bulls, goats, gold, and food are in the world, of the world, and for the world. Hence, they are common, not holy. But the altar has separated some bulls or goats, the temple has separated some gold, and the saints’ intercession has separated some food. When these things are separated, they are unto God, of God, and directly or indirectly for God. Hence, they are sanctified.

To sanctify a certain thing is not to make it sinless but to separate it unto God. A bull, a goat, gold, and food do not have the problem of sin, but they do have the problem of the world. Although they are not evil, they are common. They belong to the world and they are for the people in the world; they are not to God or for God. Hence, they need to be sanctified, that is, to be separated unto God and to be for God. Not only do they need to be separated from sin, but even more they need to be separated from the world, from worldliness, and from everything that is not of God or for God, that they may be sanctified unto God and correspond to the quality of God’s holy nature.

Truth Lessons, Level One,
Lesson 38 Redemption (3) Sanctification
(LSM)

Read more
Zoe

Invercargill, New Zealand

Aug 19, 2025

"What a man looks for in a bride is not first ability ; it is beauty. When Christ presents the church to Himself, the church will not be a strong man; she will be a beautiful bride."

Praise Him the Beautiful One (Isa. 28:5)! We just need to take time day by day to behold this Beautiful One. He wants to beautify us every day -- sanctifying us (moving us out of ourselves and into Him), purifying us (cleansing us by the washing of the water in the word Eph 5:26), nourishing us ('not only purify but fill and satisfy'), cherishing us (meeting our every need), and thus making us glorious.. So that He can present the church as His beautiful Bride to Himself.

Lord make us willing to spend time beholding Your beauty day by day.

Read more
Deborah

Houston, TX, United States

Oct 26, 2023

Ephesians 5:26 That He would sanctify her and purify her by the washing of the water in the word.

Ephesians 5:29 For one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it even as Christ also the church,

Sanctify, purify, nourish, cherish Ify, ify, ish ish

Read more
C. Taylor

Texas, United States

Jun 29, 2023

Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart;
Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart.
Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part.
Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray.
Oh, purify us, Lord, today;
Wash all our natural life away.
Speak now Thy words in us,
And make us glorious.
O Lord, do speak in us today.

Read more
Naomi

Dunedin, New Zealand

Apr 26, 2023

Loving in the crystals of Ezra, that the more we see God the more we become a part of Him.

The more dispensing - the more the oldness is discharged;

The more beholding and reflecting - the more transformation is taking place!

What a wonderful position we have been placed - Lord make us willing to take the time, to be obedient to the working One within us!

Read more
Keturrah Bale

Canada

Apr 21, 2023

O Lord, do nourish us and You be the food we need and as we are eating You through the pages of Your Holy Word, satisfy us so we’ll be transformed indeed! Oh, the works of Your grace and and the fruits of Your Spirit we desire to be nourished with.

So nourish us, O Lord, we pray.

Read more
Mylenedacara

Taipei, Taiwan

Mar 5, 2023

oh Lord Jesus ! we worship you we praise you oh Lord Jesus! oh Lord Jesus! Amen

Read more
Racheal Fernandez

Waianae, Hawaii, United States

Oct 12, 2021

Praise the Lord!

Read more