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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 Tempo menu slows it down without changing the pitch.

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On that same night, Lord Jesus

Praise of the Lord Remembrance of Him

English213
1
On that same night, Lord Jesus,
When all around Thee joined
To cast its darkest shadow
Across Thy holy mind,
We hear Thy voice, blest Savior,
“This do, remember me”,
With grateful hearts responding,
We do remember Thee.
2
The depth of all Thy suffering
No heart could e’er conceive,
The cup of wrath o’erflowing
For us Thou didst receive;
And, oh, of God forsaken
On the accursed tree;
With grateful hearts, Lord Jesus,
We now remember Thee.
3
We think of all the darkness
Which round Thy spirit pressed,
Of all those waves and billows,
Which rolled across Thy breast.
Oh, there Thy grace unbounded
And perfect love we see;
With joy and sorrow mingling,
We would remember Thee.
4
We know Thee now as risen,
The Firstborn from the dead;
We see Thee now ascended,
The Church’s glorious Head.
In Thee by grace accepted,
The heart and mind set free
To think of all Thy sorrow,
And thus remember Thee.
5
Till Thou shalt come in glory,
And call us hence away,
To rest in all the brightness
Of that unclouded day,
We show Thy death, Lord Jesus,
And here would seek to be
More to Thy death conformed,
While we remember Thee.

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Un Hermano

Dec 3, 2025

II. WHAT MELCHISEDEC WAS TO ABRAHAM TYPIFYING WHAT CHRIST IS TO THE BELIEVERS

A. Ministering Bread and Wine to God’s Chosen People

When Abraham returned from his slaughtering of Chedorlaomer and his allied kings, Melchisedec went forth to meet Abraham, who had fought for God and won the victory, and to minister to him bread and wine (Gen. 14:18). This is a type of what Christ ministers to His believers at His table. According to Matthew 26 , on the night before He left His disciples, the Lord Jesus “took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (vv. 26-28). The bread on the Lord’s table is a symbol signifying the Lord’s body, which was broken for us on the cross to release His life that we may participate in it. By partaking of His broken body, we participate in His life. The cup signifies our enjoyment of God’s blessing. Hence, the cup is called “the cup of blessing” (1 Cor. 10:16). In it are all the blessings of God and even God Himself as our portion (Psa. 16:5). In Adam our portion was the cup of God’s wrath, which would have sent us to the lake of fire to suffer the torment of eternal perdition (Rev. 14:10 ; 21:8). However, God made the Lord Jesus drink the cup of wrath on the cross for us (John 18:11), causing Him to suffer God’s righteous judgment on our behalf and to taste the torment of perdition of the lake of fire. The Lord Jesus shed His blood to redeem us from our sins, thereby enacting the new covenant for us and bringing us instead the cup of salvation (Psa. 116:13) as the cup that runs over (23:5). In this cup of salvation are all the blessing of God and even God Himself as our portion. Christ as our Melchisedec today brings His life and all God’s blessings with Him to His table to minister to us. At the Lord’s table, the life signified by the bread and the blessings signified by the cup are the constant supply to us of our Lord as our High Priest.

Truth Lessons
Lesson 5: MELCHISEDEC
Level Three, Vol. 1 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Dec 3, 2025

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CUP

Based upon this principle, we may examine the meaning of the cup in the Scriptures. In the Scriptures a cup denotes a portion. John 18:11 says, “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? ” Psalm 16:5 says, “Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. ” Furthermore, Psalm 23:5 says, “My cup runs over, ” and 116:13 says, “I will take up the cup of salvation. ” In all these verses, the word cup indicates a portion.

In Adam our cup, our portion, was God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18 ; cf. Rev. 14:10). However, Christ drank that cup for us and shed His blood (John 18:11), and through His blood He formed and brought to us another cup, the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). Previously, our cup was the cup of wrath, but now we have another cup, which in the New Testament is called the cup of blessing and in the Old Testament is called the cup of salvation. Because of what the Lord Jesus did on the cross, our cup, our portion, has changed from the cup of wrath to the cup of blessing, which is the cup of salvation.

However, we need to realize that although the fruit of the vine, a symbol of the blood of Jesus, is in the cup, the portion signified by the cup is not the blood. The blood, the basis on which the cup was formed, has accomplished two things—it has washed away our sins, and it has brought God Himself to us (1 John 1:7 ; Eph. 2:13 ; 1 Pet. 3:18). Because of our sins, we were kept away from God, and God was kept away from us (Gen. 3:23-24 ; Isa. 59:2). Now that the redeeming blood of Christ has washed away our sins, God can be brought to us and we to God. However, the blood is not the portion of the cup; rather, God is the portion of the cup of blessing. Our blessing is not only forgiveness, peace, and joy; rather, it is God Himself, including all that He is and has (Psa. 16:5 ; Gal. 3:14). At the Lord’s table meeting we need to learn to praise and thank the Lord for shedding His blood and for becoming our portion, our blessing.

The cup of blessing is also the new covenant, the title deed to all the divine blessings, spoken of in Luke 22:20 . A title deed is a testimony that a certain thing belongs to us. If I hold the title deed to a house, this deed proves that the house is mine. The “portion” of this title deed is the house. The cup of the Lord’s table is the new covenant, the divine title deed established by the blood of Christ. In this covenant our portion is God Himself (Psa. 73:26 ; Col. 1:12).

Basic Principles for the Church Meetings

Chapter 4 CWWL, 1964, (LSM)

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Sonny Seria

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dec 7, 2020

On the day the Lord of holiness bore the sins of us all, He cried loudly saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? ” (Matt. 27:46). This was even more painful than the crown of thorns on His head and the wounds and stripes on His body. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities. ” Who says that forgiveness is cheap? Those who have been taught by grace sing with tears and thankfulness:

(The New Covenant - 1952 edition, msg 6. )

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Franz Vilan

Talisay City, Philippines

Oct 4, 2020

I am so touched by this hymn

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Joanna Smathers

Baton Rouge, LA, United States

May 15, 2020

I seldom ever call a song at the Table meeting. Today I am studying hymns for the table. This is the first for Remembering the Lord. And yes, more to thy death. Conformed as we remember Thee.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Dec 27, 2009

I called this song as the first song at today's Lord's Table, and I thought that it had a very good effect to focus the meeting on the Lord Himself and what He suffered for us right from the start.

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