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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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God Hath Not Promised

Comfort in Trials By Grace for Suffering

English720
1
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
 
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
2
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
3
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river, turbid and deep.

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David Frimpong

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Jun 3, 2025

Our Lord let all of our circumstances be used for the building up of Your Church!!

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Anonymous

Sep 22, 2024

But God has promised strength for the day

🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥

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James Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Sep 11, 2024

Gal 3:14 Tells us what God’s promise is and that it came through faith. “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the SPIRIT through faith. ” Through our faith we can receive, have received, the promise of Christ as the Spirit. This is what God promised. Don’t those other things seem insignificant compared to this? By that Spirit we have strength for the day, rest from labor, light for the way, and grace for our trials. Grace which is God coming to us where we are as the Spirit provides all we need.

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Jeffrey

California, United States

Aug 29, 2023

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Read more
Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Jan 13, 2022

We sang this hymn at our prayer meeting last Tues, which was a strong prayer meeting with answered prayers.

I asked myself why I like this hymn so much, and I felt it was because it tells us not only what God has not promised, but also what He has promised us.

What He has promised is much better.

We can hold God faithful to give us what He has promised.

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Micah

Philippines

Oct 1, 2020

God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
...
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Read more
Yohan Yosef

Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines

Feb 12, 2020

Thank You Lord Jesus, as we pass through many cares and burdens, You are giving us the opportunity to experience Your promise strength, rest, light, help, grace, unfailing sympathy, undying love.

You are all the possitivity that we need in the midst of every negative situation that we may be in.

So that our faith will not fail and be able to say, Your will be done.

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Stephen Bellingham

United States

Jul 20, 2019

"God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care."
Praise the Lord!

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Ana Lara

Tolland, Connecticut, United States

Apr 29, 2019

Annie Johnson Flint's life was marked with a series of tragedies that inspired her to write poetry and hymns which are still enjoyed today. (1866-1932).

Annie was born on December 25th, 1866 - a year after the Civil War was over- In the small town of Vineland New Jersey to Eldon and Jean Johnson. When she was 3, her mother died giving birth to Annie’s baby sister. Mr. Johnson who himself was suffering from an incurable illness, willed the children to the Flint family who would bring them up in the Baptist Faith.

At age eight, Annie attended a revival meeting which brought her to faith in Christ. The Spirit of God came upon her and she was converted. At 10, she joined the church and never doubted “the eternal work was then wrought. ” She strongly believed that children could comprehend spiritual truths and that divine mysteries were often plainer to the simple faith of a child than to many adults blinded by their own concepts and intellectual doubts.

After high school, she spent one year in teacher training and was offered a position. In her second year of teaching, arthritis began to show itself. Her condition worsened until she could hardly walk and soon she was forced to leave teaching. The next 3 years Annie experienced continued lack of movement. This was followed by the death of her adoptive parents within a few months of each other leaving her and her younger sister alone again. There was little money in the bank and the twice-orphaned sisters came to a real “Red Sea” place in their lives.

Annie Flint’s verses provided solace for her in the long hours of suffering. Then she began making hand-lettered cards and gift books and decorating some of her own verses. Testimonies came from many directions of blessings received so two card publishers printed some of her greetings and released the first little brochure of her poems. The publication of her booklets and the action of the “Sunday School Times” linked her up with a world wide fellowship and she carried most of the correspondence, though one wonders how she was able to write with those twisted fingers. Her letters were as rich as her poems, always bringing a touch of humor that was refreshing.

Annie learned how to share the hard moments of her life with others who could not understand life’s hardships. She put into poetry “What God Hath Promised” and through these words she became convinced that God intended to glorify Himself through her in her weak earthen vessel; and like Paul, she gained real assurance and could say like the apostle “And He had said to me My grace is sufficient for you for My power is perfected in weakness”. She could affirm “Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me”(2 Corinthians12:9). She believed God laid her aside for a purpose even though that purpose was at times obscure.

The marvelous thing is that Annie’s faith never faltered and that at all times she was able to say, “Thy will be done. ”

www. homecomingmagazine. com (excerpts)

Other hymns of hers in this hymnal are: Christ is the Alpha of our Prayers, He Giveth More Grace, I Will Not Be Afraid, Pressed Out of Measure, and Though We are Often Tossed.

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Wilson Lin

Los Angeles, CA, United States

Apr 13, 2019

God hath promised strength for the day!!

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