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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 we the King who is coming to reign

Praise of the Lord His Kingdom

English151
1
Sing we the King who is coming to reign,
Glory to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain;
Righteousness, peace then His empire shall bring,
Joy to the nations when Jesus is King.
 
Come let us sing: Praise to our King,
Jesus our King, Jesus our King:
This is our song, who to Jesus belong:
Glory to Jesus, to Jesus our King.
2
All men shall dwell in His marvelous light,
Races long severed His love shall unite,
Justice and truth from His scepter shall spring,
Wrong shall be ended when Jesus is King.
3
All shall be well in His kingdom of peace,
Freedom shall flourish and wisdom increase,
Foe shall be friend when His triumph we sing,
Sword shall be sickle when Jesus is King.
4
Knowledge and fear of the Lord then shall be
As the deep waters that cover the sea;
All things shall be in the splendor of spring
And all harmonious when Jesus is King.
5
Kingdom of Christ, for thy coming we pray,
Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day
When this new song Thy creation shall sing,
Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King.

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Aug 5, 2025

Charles Sylvester Horne (1865-1914) was a famous late 19C early 20C Congregationalist minister, who also served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ipswich, — championing social reform and believing in reducing the power of the Crown and the Church of England. Charles was a gifted and notable orator; well respected among the members of Parliament.

He was born in Cuckfieid, Sussex, April 15th, 1865, the youngest child of Charles Horne who was the minister of Cuckfield Congregational Church. His mother was Harriet Silver Simpson Horne. Charles Sr. gave up the ministry to become editor of the local newspaper, the Newport Advertiser, and became partner of his wife’s uncle, Charles Sylvester in a printing and book selling firm.

When young Charles was six weeks old, the family moved to Newport, Shropshire. His father‘s newspaper was very much a family business, and every member of the family helped it at some point. The family at this time attended the Newport Congregational Chapel, which is described by Horne’s biographer as “the most considerable Nonconformist (a congregation that does not conform to the established tradition of the Church of England) place of worship in the town, ” It was through this church that young Charles first began to preach, and his thoughts turned towards the congregational ministry.

Horne graduated with a Master of Arts from Glasgow University in 1886, and subsequently studied theology at Mansfield College, Oxford, where he was in the first intake of students at the New Congregational College, before beginning his work as minister of Kensington Chapel. During this time Charles married Katharine, the eldest daughter of Lord Cozens Hardy, Master of the Rolls, (Keeper of the Records at the Public Records Office) from 1907 until 1918.

Charles‘s fame as a preacher and author grew after he took over the Whitefield’s Church, Tottenham Court Road, writing hymns, which are still sung today. From 1910 until his death he continued to have a platform as a member of Parliament.

In 1914, while on holiday in Canada, returning from Niagara Falls, he suddenly became ill while traveling on a steamer, and died aged 49, before arriving at Toronto. His body was taken home and buried at Church Stretton Shropshire, in the cemetery at Cunnery Road. Tribute poured in and his memorial service was attended by David Lloyd George—the Prime Minister of England at the time. His wife and children were to outlive him by over half a century, his youngest daughter living until 1984. One of his children, Archibald Ronald McDonald Gordon was bishop of Portsmouth from 1975 to 1984.

(Hymnary. org)

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Un Hermano

Jul 26, 2025

If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
if we deny Him, He also will deny us;
2 Timothy 2:12
He who overcomes, to him
I will give to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame
and sat with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 3:21

The Bible shows that when the Lord returns, the kingdom of the heavens will come to earth to reign and rule over the earth. The Lord Jesus will establish His kingdom on earth and rule the earth for one thousand years. Christians who leave everything to follow the Lord and who are good, faithful, long-suffering, and overcoming will reign with the Lord Jesus during this one thousand year period. They will sit in glory on thrones together with the Lord to reign and enter into the joy of the Lord in the kingdom.

Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures,

Volume 5 Chapter 48 (LSM)

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Vanessa

Tampa, FL, United States

Oct 27, 2024

Come let us sing: Praise to our King,
Jesus our King, Jesus our King:
This is our song, who to Jesus belong:
Glory to Jesus, to Jesus our King.
Amen!!

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Rita

Ghana

Apr 27, 2023

God indeed is king

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Hank Valencia

Seminole, FL, United States

Nov 18, 2022

Jesus is "coming to reign", he's already reigning...

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Herber Ramirez

Rancho Cucamonga, CA, United States

Nov 9, 2022

Come let us sing: Praise to our King,
Jesus our King, Jesus our King:
This is our song, who to Jesus belong:
Glory to Jesus, to Jesus our King.

Read more
Selene Leyva Hernandez

Fort Stockton, TX, United States

Jul 27, 2022

Hallelujah Satan has been vanquished and defeated! And subjected beneath our feet!! Praise Him!!

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El Chang

NYC, NY, United States

Jan 2, 2022

new year 2022 new hope!
All men shall dwell in His marvelous light,
Races long severed His love shall unite,
Justice and truth from His scepter shall spring,
Wrong shall be ended when Jesus is King.
Come let us sing: Praise to our King,
Jesus our King, Jesus our King:
This is our song, who to Jesus belong:
Glory to Jesus, to Jesus our King.

Read more
Joseph Wicks

Jamaica

Nov 21, 2021

Beautiful hymn I remembered it from church. Wonderfully assorted for instruments and voice

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Ewurabena

Accra, Ghana

Feb 27, 2021

Come let us sing praises to Him for He reigns forever. Jesus our King

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