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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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Lord Jesus! when we think of Thee

Praise of the Lord Satisfaction with Him

English207
1
Lord Jesus! when we think of Thee,
Of all Thy love and grace,
Our spirits long and fain would see
Thy beauty face to face.
2
And though the wilderness we tread,
A barren, thirsty ground,
With thorns and briars overspread,
Where foes and snares abound;
3
Yet in Thy love such depths we see,
Our hearts o’erflow with praise—
Content ourselves, while, Lord to Thee
A joyful song we raise.
4
Our Lord, our Life, our Rest, our Shield,
Our Rock, our Food, our Light;
Each thought of Thee doth constant yield
Unchanging, fresh delight.
5
Blest Savior, keep our spirit stayed,
Hard following after Thee,
Till we, in victory displayed,
Thy face in glory see.

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Un Hermano

Nov 28, 2025

BEING IN THE BODY FOR THE

MUTUAL PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST

First Corinthians is a book on the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse 9 in chapter 1 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ” God has not called us into the fellowship of tongue-speaking, healing, biblical teaching, or the spiritual gifts, but into the fellowship of Jesus Christ His Son. The word fellowship means “joint participation, common participation. ” God has called us into a joint participation in Christ. Most of the teachers of the Bible have missed this matter in their expounding of 1 Corinthians. They touch matters such as head covering, lawsuits, marriage, and spiritual gifts, but they miss the matter of the believers’ joint participation in Christ.

All the items of what Christ is are included in the life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit is in the Body ( Eph. 4:4 ). In the Body through the life-giving Spirit we enjoy Christ as our power, our wisdom, our righteousness for the past, our sanctification for the present, and our redemption for the future. We enjoy Him also as the deep things of God, our foundation, our rock, our food, our drink, our Head, our table, our feast, our Passover with the Passover lamb, the firstfruits, the second man, and the last Adam. Eventually, we enjoy Him as the Body. We enjoy the Body-Christ. The Lord is recovering the Body-Christ, the corporate Christ, today. We are neither a denomination nor a free group. We are the practical Body of Christ.

The Lord is moving on the earth today. He is recovering the proper church life. Many people are turning to take the way of the recovery. The Lord’s move is paving the way for Him to come back. He needs a living Body as a beachhead, as a steppingstone, for Him to return. Until we enter into the Body in a practical way, we can never have genuine satisfaction in our spirit. Some may feel that it is good to be in the Catholic Church or in the Pentecostal movement, but deep in their spirit they have the sense that they are short of something. In the Lord’s recovery we can testify that when we entered into the genuine church life, we had the sensation that we were home. We were satisfied because we had entered into God’s goal—Christ and the church—in a practical way.

Participating in the Riches of Christ and Being Mingled

with the Processed Triune God for the Church

Chapter 2 THE ITEMS OF CHRIST’S RICHES AND THE WAY TO ENJOY CHRIST IN FIRST CORINTHIANS

CWWL, 1973–1974, (LSM)

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Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Oct 14, 2021

The original is written in the singular:

---------------

Stanza 1 line 1 - Lord Jesus! when I think on Thee

---------------

Stanza 3 Yet in Thy love such depths I see
My soul o'erflows with praise --
Contents itself, while, Lord, to Thee
A joyful song I raise
-----------------

Stanza 4 lines 1 & 2 My Lord, my Life, my Rest, my Shield,
My Rock, my Food, my Light;
----------------

Stanza 5 My Savior, keep my spirit stayed,
Hard following after thee;
Till I, in robes of white arrayed,
Thy face in glory see.
------------

James George Deck was educated for the army, and became an officer in the Indian service. Retiring from the army, and having joined the Plymouth Brethren, he undertook, in 1843, the charge of a congregation of that body, at Wellington, Somerset. In 1852 be went abroad and settled in New Zealand. - Dictionary of Hymnology by John Julian

James Deck wrote of his youth, "I hoped there were no God," yet his mother's training pursued after him. "She read to me of Jesus, Of all his grace and love." After his conversion, the study of scripture revealed the doctrinal error of his Anglican upbringing. Forsaking all, he set his heart to follow God "at any cost." Later, his son testified this determination was "a trust never disappointed." - Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs

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Patrick Garnes

Newton Terrace, Christ Church, Barbados

Mar 5, 2019

Searching for a Hymn that speaks of "thinking about Jesus" I came across this lovely one with both quality tune and lyrics. Congratulations to you and praises and thanks to the Lord . May the Lord bless you richly.

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