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About Numbered Notation

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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Christ has put on human nature

Gospel Life

English1017
1
Christ has put on human nature
and become a man like me,
He has died upon the cross that I from Adam
might be free,
He has risen and as Spirit He has come
to live in me
That He might be my life.
 
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
For Christ is now my life!
2
Christ has put on human nature
and become a man like me,
He has died upon the cross that I from Adam
might be free,
He has risen and as Spirit He has come
to live in me
That He might be my life.
 
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
For Christ is now my all!

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Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Aug 17, 2025

Christ has come to live in me, He has now become my life and nature, and has come to set me free.

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Un Hermano

United States

Apr 18, 2025

THE GOD-MAN

Although Christ is God, He is not God only. If He were simply God, He could not be our Christ. To be the Christ to us, He had to be incarnated. Through incarnation, Christ became a man with flesh, blood, and bones. How wonderful that God put on human nature! Our God is not merely God. In Christ He has become a God-man.

LIFE-STUDY OF EPHESIANS

MESSAGE 55 (LSM)

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Dec 11, 2023

What a crucial truth. God died that we could be free from our old Adamic nature. This comes about by the subjective work of the cross in us. This work in us is ultimately for us to gain Christ as our life. Many people enjoy redemption, but how many see that God’s goal is to be lived out of us. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Now we can participate in His victory!

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Ann Barton

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Feb 12, 2023

He has risen and in spirit. He has come to live in me

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Ana Lara

United States

Jan 6, 2020

Although this Civil War hymn gave Mrs. Howe her first national acclaim (please see the original verses from Steve Miller’s post), she was also known for other publications, including three volumes of poetry-“ Passion Flowers” 1854; “Words of the Hour, ” 1856; and “Later Lyrics” 1866. Julia Howe was also a mother of four children, all of whom became successful in the fields of science and literature. She continued her active life in causes for human betterment until she died in Newport Rhode Island, on October 17, 1910, at the age of 91.

It is recorded that this hymn was sung at a large patriotic rally which President Abraham Lincoln attended. After the singer had finished, the audiences responded by a long series of applauses. Lincoln overcome by emotion with tears in his eyes, cried out, “Sing it again, ” it was sung again as was requested. It later became one of the nation’s most popular hymns finding its way to almost every American hymnal. Its original purpose of serving as a battle song for the North during the Civil War was soon forgotten.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Nov 17, 2019

This hymn is based on the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" written by Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War.

"Deeply anguished at the growing conflict between the 2 sections of the country, Mrs. Howe often watched troops marching off to combat singing "John's Brown's Body", a song about a man who had been hanged in his efforts to free the slaves. Julia felt strongly that this catchy camp meeting tune should be sung with better words.

One day, as a parade of soldiers passed by singing this song, a visiting friend turned to Mrs. Howe - "Julia, why don't you write some decent words for that tune?"

The new words came to her that same night.

"I awoke in the gray of the morning, and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, 'I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep and forget them. '

The text first appeared in the 'Atlantic Monthly Magazine' in 1862 as a battle song for the republic. Soon, however, the entire nation was united in singing these new words rather than the derisive phrases in "John's Brown's Body."

On one occasion at a large patriotic rally President Lincoln heard the hymn sung. As the audience responded with loud applause, the President, with tears in his eyes, cried out - "Sing it again." - 52 Hymn Stories Dramatized by Kenneth W. Osbeck

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

Here are the lyrics:

1. Mine eyes hath seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;

His truth is marching on.
----
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
---

2. I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;

His day is marching on.

---

3. I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;

"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal";

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,

Since God is marching on.

---

4. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
---

5. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free;
While God is marching on.
---

6. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,

Our God is marching on.

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Roxanne Webber

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States

May 29, 2018

This song is so full of energy!! I love the way it represents our vetrans and militia and how they fight. It is a great fight for freedom, and this song represents it fully!! This is such a wonderful piece!! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!!

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James Shau

Cupertino, CA, United States

Mar 15, 2018

Hallelujah for Christ is now my life!

With the recent speaking on the new man since last fall, I felt it maybe quite fitting to add a stanza 2 to this hymn:

2 Put off the old man with his lusts
and practices of deceit # Col. 3:9; Eph. 4:22; cf. Gal. 5:24
Put on the new man practicing
living the reality # Eph. 4:24
Calling on the name, Oh the sweetest,
and praying and singing
That we are living Christ!

Chorus
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
Vict’ry! vict’ry! Hallelujah!
For Christ is *all in* all! # Col. 3:11
Background:

Because of the speaking on the new man in 2017 ITERO Leipzig, I had the feeling to pray read the verses on putting on the new man this morning. It turned out I was touched more by the verses above on putting off the old man (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) and the related verses (Rom . 8:13; Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:5) especially with the practices of the old man / of the body. Putting off = put to death = crucify; by the Spirit ie. by turning to the spirit and enjoying the Spirit. Oh, we need the practices of the new man, replacing the practices of the old man! In addition to practices, also the passions and lusts of the flesh, which actually are “of the deceits” (Eph. 4:22). It is the enemy’s lies that we want this and that (lust for something not necessary sinful things but “all things practiced by our body apart from the Spirit” (Rom. 8:13 note 3 ) ), e. g. to relax to “wind down” by things apart from the Spirit.

Notes:

Stanza 2 is to apply the accomplished fact of Christ in stanza 1 in our living through our exercise that His victory becomes our corporate victory and His riches/spoils become our all in experience. Such corporate God-man living, the reality of the Body of Christ, will fulfill God's eternal purpose and consummate the age (Matt. 24:14; 28:20).

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Wendy :) Risso

United States

Sep 19, 2009

Yes mingling IS the way!!!

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rExen catalan

Philippines

Oct 5, 2008

Mingle, mingle, Hallelujah. 3x

Yes, mingling is the way.

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