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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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We sing the praise of Him who died

Praise of the Lord His Death

English102
1
We sing the praise of Him who died,
Of Him who died upon the Cross;
The sinner’s hope let men deride,
For this we count the world but loss.
2
Inscribed upon the Cross we see
In shining letters, God is love!
He bears our sins upon the tree,
He brings us mercy from above.
3
The Cross: it takes our guilt away;
It holds the fainting spirit up;
It cheers with hope the gloomy day,
And sweetens every bitter cup.
4
The balm of life, the cure of woe,
The measure and the pledge of love,
The sinner’s refuge here below,
The angels’ theme in heav’n above.

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Un Hermano

Oct 20, 2025

GOD’S LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY

Why is salvation of Jehovah? Why is God interested in man? In a general way, we can say that it is because God is love. But more specifically, it is because God loves man. If God did not love man, He would not need to save him. Salvation is accomplished because, on the one hand, man has sinned and, on the other hand, God has loved. If man had not sinned, there would be no place and no way for the love of God to be manifested. And if man had sinned but God had not loved, nothing would have been achieved either. Salvation is accomplished and the gospel is preached because on the one hand God has loved and on the other hand man has sinned.

Man’s sin shows us man’s need. God’s love shows us God’s provision. If there is only the need without the provision, nothing can be done. But if there is the provision without the need, the provision will be wasted. Salvation is accomplished and the gospel is preached due to the two greatest facts in the universe. The first is that man has sinned and the second is that God loves man. These are two immutable facts. They are two facts that the Bible emphasizes. If you drop either of these two ends, salvation will be lost. You do not need to drop both ends. As long as one end is gone, there will be no possibility for salvation to be accomplished. God has love and man has sin. Because of these two facts, there is salvation and there is the gospel.

GOD’S LOVE

The Bible never fails to point out the love of God. In our Bible study this time, we will cover the truth of the gospel only in a sketchy way. We will mention a lot of things, but will not consider them in detail. Tonight I cannot cover every aspect concerning the love of God found in the Bible. I can mention this matter only briefly. We must consider three aspects of the love of God. First, God is love. Second, God loves man. And third, the expression of God’s love is in the death of Christ.

God Is Love

Let us come to the first point: God is love. This is recorded in 1 John 4:16 . Here it does not say that God loves. Nor does it say that God may love, or that God can love, or that God has loved or will love. Rather, it says that God is love. What does it mean to say that God is love? It means that God Himself, His nature and His being, is love. If we can say that God has a substance, then God’s substance is love.

The greatest revelation of the Bible is that God is love. This revelation is what man needs the most. Man has many conjectures and theories about God. We ponder all the time about what kind of God our God is, what kind of heart our God has, what intentions God has toward man, what God Himself is like. You can ask anyone about his idea of God, and he will give you his concept. He will think that God is this kind of God or that kind of God. All the idols in the world and all the images made by man are products of man’s imagination. Man thinks that God is a fierce God or a severe God. He pictures God this way and that way. Man is always trying to reason and to explore what God is like. In order to correct the different conjectures man has concerning God, He manifests Himself in the light of the gospel and shows man that He is not an unapproachable or unfathomable God.

What is God then? God is love. This statement will not be clear to you unless I give an illustration. Suppose that there is a patient person. He has patience no matter what he encounters and no matter how difficult or bad the conditions are. For such a person, we cannot say that he has acted patiently. The adverb patiently cannot be used to describe him. Nor can we say that he is patient, using an adjective. We must say that he is patience itself. Perhaps we would not refer to him by his name. Instead, behind his back we would say that Patience has come or that Patience has spoken. When we say that God is love, we mean that love is the nature of God. He is love from inside to outside. Therefore, we would not say that God is loving, using an adjective, or that God loves, using a verb. Rather, we would say that God is love, applying the noun to Him.

The Gospel of God

Chapter 2 (LSM) CWWN, vol. 28

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Diana Bona

Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Apr 20, 2019

Thank you very much for making it possible for me to access this hymn upon a click of a button.

Indeed this is one of my favorite hymns. It's so inspiring and soul touching and also gives we the hope as Jesus Christ died on the cross to cleanse away our sin.

May the Lord help us to flee from sin and do His will.
May the good LORD bless you.
Amen.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Oct 31, 2014

Thomas Kelly was the only son of Judge Kelly of Kellyville, Ireland. While studying to become a lawyer, he became convicted of sin. Eventually he found peace with God through justification by faith. In 1792, with several other evangelicals, he was ordained a minister of the Church of Ireland. Kelly met with great opposition from his family because he preached the doctrine of justification by faith alone and not by works. Apparently, he said it would have been less of a trial to go to the stake than to set himself against those he loved. He married at the age of 30. Soon after his ordination, he left the established church and became a Dissenter. He raised up a number of independent churches. He suffered a stroke at the age of 85 while preaching and died a year later. Most of his life he went from place to place in Ireland, preaching the gospel. He is credited with 765 hymns. Kelly is able to handle difficult meters with dexterity. Most of his hymns which are still in use today are hymns of praise. This hymn is one of his most popular. - Songs of the Spirit by Martin

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See Patrick's comment on 3/31/2010 for another stanza. It goes before the last stanza.

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Re. HopethroughJesus' comment 10/14/2011. I find it odd that "Cross" is capitalized. Most publications of this hymn do not capitalize it at all, but some do. The Little Flock Hymnbook of the Brethren capitalizes it in stanza 3, but not in stanzas 1 or 2, which makes sense because in stanzas 1 & 2 it refers to the instrument of His death, but in stanza 3 it refers to the Lord's death on our behalf.

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David

Feb 24, 2012

Thank you, Patrick, for your very thoughtful comment. St John says, We beheld His glory, the glory of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The disciples saw this glory in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. And this fullness we receive!

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Hopethroughjesus

Oct 14, 2011

I like the tune, but believe some of the words should be altered to give Jesus praise for His sacrifice. It sounds like a piece of wood did everything which I don't believe the writer intended.

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Patrick

London, United Kingdom

Mar 31, 2010

"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" Psalm 85:10

This hymn is like that scripture. A beautiful tune and powerful words are joined together. There is another verse to this hymns that goes:

"It makes the coward spirit brave, and nerves the feeble arm for fight; it takes the terror from the grave, and gilds the bed of death with light."

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