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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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When Christ once died on Calvary

Union with Christ Identified with His Death and Resurrection

English484
1
When Christ once died on Calvary,
I too was there;
’Twas in my place He stood for me,
And now accepted e’en as He,
His name I bear.
 
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
Yet, not I, but Christ who liveth in me;
And the life I live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the Son of God,
Who loved, and gave Himself for me.
2
When Christ once rose with life divine,
I too was there;
His resurrection pow’r is mine,
And as the branches and the vine
His life I share.
3
When Christ will come some day for me,
I shall be there;
With Him and like Him I shall be,
And all His glorious majesty
I too shall share.
4
O blessed life so deep, so high,
Lord, keep me there;
Help me with Christ to live, to die,
And let me with Him, bye and bye
His glory share.

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Un Hermano

May 18, 2026

The Cross Terminating All Things

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Due to Satan’s rebellion and Adam’s disobedience, all creation has been defiled and corrupted. As the representative of all creation, Satan was appointed to rule over the preadamic world. When he rebelled, everything that he ruled over and represented was defiled and corrupted. Not only was the earth and everything in it affected by his rebellion, even the heavens and everything in them were defiled and corrupted. Thus, all things needed to be terminated. As the representative of all creation after God’s restoration of the universe, Adam was appointed to rule over all things on the earth (Gen. 1:26). When he disobeyed, everything that he ruled over and represented was defiled and corrupted (Rom. 5:12-19). Thus, the heavens and the earth and everything in them needed God’s termination. Based on His foreknowledge, God determined to meet this need with the cross of Christ in His eternal plan. Hence, the cross of Christ terminated all things in the heavens and on the earth in the old creation in addition to the other negative things.

According to the revelation in the Bible, everything in the old heavens and old earth—the old creation—was terminated on the cross of Christ. When Christ died on the cross, He died there not only in and with humanity but also with all creation. Hence, Christ’s death on the cross involved not only man’s death but also the termination of all creation.

Christ and the Cross
Chapter 13 The Negative Function of the Cross
CWWL, 1952, (LSM)

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Un Hermano

May 18, 2026

CHRIST BEING CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS WITH ALL THINGS

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When Christ died as the Lamb of God, He died for us; that is, He died on our behalf. This is somewhat objective because it implies that He died on the cross by Himself, apart from us. However, He also died in the likeness of the flesh of sin, meaning that He died in the likeness of a sinner. This indicates that He identified Himself with us. The fact that He died in the likeness of the flesh of sin means that He died in our likeness. This is not objective but subjective to us. He joined Himself to us, the sinners. He even put us, the sinners who are the flesh of sin, upon Himself. Thus, He died in our likeness.

Then, when Christ died on the cross as the bronze serpent, He brought the devil with Him. However, we need to realize that the devil whom Christ brought to the cross is in us. On the day of man’s fall, the devil, Satan, as the personification of sin, entered into man (Rom. 5:12). From that day until now, Satan as sin has been dwelling in our flesh, in our sinful nature (7:18-20). Therefore, when Christ died in our likeness, He brought the devil with Him to the cross. Hallelujah, Christ died in the flesh! Since Satan was in the flesh, when Christ died in the likeness of our flesh, the devil died with Him. In His death He brought the devil with Him. Thus, Hebrews 2:14 says that through death Christ destroyed the devil, the one who has the might of death. When Christ was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He crucified Satan in the flesh of sin.

Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life

Chapter 2 The Factor of the Spirit and the Factor of the Divine Life

CWWL, 1984, (LSM)

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Carson Maher

Lubbock, TX, United States

Oct 5, 2020

What a fun song! I love scripture songs!

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Brian

Jul 8, 2020

Love the words, just needs a new tune.

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Patricia Greene

TN, United States

Mar 7, 2018

Amen! Yes, the key is in Gal 2:20, no striving (in the flesh) but trusting in His perfect and complete finished work. Reckoning ourselves dead and alive in Christ. Christ liveth in me! It is no longer I but Christ!

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Tom

Milwaukee

Mar 8, 2013

I am totally surprised there are no comments or text quotes for this song. This has to be one of the highest songs of all time. To live the Christian life. This is the basic question we all face, how to really live it, right? We make a good show, but we always feel short, if we are honest with ourselves. The answer is in this song: we can't and won't live it....because He is the only one who can, and He does. He did not just die for us, He also lives for us, Hallelujah! If we take this as doctrine, we'll say: "Yes, I know, I was crucified with Him and resurrected, ho-hum, I learned that in grade school." But if you see it, if your eyes are really open, you will say: "unbelievable - it is right here in black and white and I missed it all this time - Not I, but Christ. Not I, but Christ. I found the secret. Not I, but Christ."

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