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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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Just as I am

Gospel Coming to the Lord

English1048
1
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
2
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
3
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt;
Fightings within, and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
4
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind;
Yes, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
5
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
6
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

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Linda Cunningham

Orange, California, United States

Oct 28, 2021

This is such a beautiful song. I really appreciate this song, because it tells me no matter my situation or where I'm at I can come to the Lord just as I am. Amen

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Mark Luce

Napa, CA, United States

Oct 17, 2021

I am not worthy and never will be. But by his grace I am cleansed and welcomed into his eternal love. My eternal hope, just as I am.

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Greg

MS, United States

Oct 2, 2021

I come to HIM in mercy and pray to be found worthy

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King Chris

Buea, SWR, Cameroon

Sep 26, 2021

We continue to stay surrendered to the Lord 🙏. Many reasons to leave His presence but, we can find none like him

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Rita E

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Aug 22, 2021

Inspirational

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Njideka

Onitsha, Anambra, Nigeria

Aug 12, 2021

My Lord I come to thee whose blood can cleanse every spot of sin in me. Have mercy on me and blot out my transgressions. Oh lamb of God I come, I come.

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Elisha Okpanachi

Kogi, Nigeria

Aug 5, 2021

Draw me near to yourself father!

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Anonymous

Jun 29, 2021

Omg this is awesome👍

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

May 14, 2021

Charlotte Elliott was born at Clapham in 1789. From her earliest years, through weakness and ill-health she was precluded from sharing in the many activities of life; and yet, although free rarely from pain, she was ever bright and cheerful, for Charlotte Elliot had come to realize that the quiet of her sick-room was to be her own special sphere of labor. And from this obscure place, away from the glare of publicity, there went forth songful messages, which found a place in the hearts of multitudes all over the world. The best known of all the hymns of this gifted writer, is the hymn that has appealed to so many unto salvation:

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee—
O Lamb of God, I come!

Written when Miss Elliot was 45 years old, this hymn has been translated into almost every European language, and is found in practically every collection of Christian hymns. So many wonderful stories have been woven around the birth of this hymn that is this refreshing to learn the true story of how “Just as I am” came into being. The story is told by the late Dr. Moule, Bishop of Durham whose wife was a close relative of Miss Elliot.

“Charlotte Elliott was living in Brighton with a married brother, a clergyman, the Reverend Henry Van Elliot. The whole family had gone off to a bazaar in which they were greatly interested; and the frail invalid had been left at home alone, lying on the sofa, with her heart a little sad being, as usual, shut out from all the good works. For her own comfort she began to ponder on the grand certainties of salvation—her Lord, his power and his promises. Then came a sudden feeling of peace and contentment, and taking her pen, she wrote the beautiful verses of ‘Just as I am. ’ Surely they were God-given—a precious and priceless gift indeed— from her Heavenly Father to His chastened and much loved child. As the day wore on, her sister-in-law, Mrs. H. V. Elliot, came in to see her and bring news of the bazaar. She read the hymn and asked for a copy. So the hymn first stole out from that quiet room into the world, where since that day it has been sowing and reaping till a multitude which only God can number have been blessed through its message. ”

It is said that after Miss Elliot’s death, a locked box, discovered from among her belongings, when opened, was found to contain over 1, 000 letters which Charlotte had received from grateful writers to whom her hymn,

“Just as I am, ” had been a blessing. Charlotte Elliot lived to the advanced age of 82, and died at Brighton on the evening of September 22, 1871.

Possibly the next best known hymn by Charlotte Elliot is, “ My God, my Father, while I stray, ” which had its origin following the death of her younger brother, with whom for a time, she made her home. They were very close to one another, and though his death cast a shadow over the closing years of her life, Miss Elliot writes with a true spirit of resignation in these lines:

My God, my Father, while I stray
Far from my home, in life’s rough way,
Oh teach me from my heart to say,
“Thy will be done. ”
If dark my path and hard my lot,
May I be still and murmur not;
I breathe the prayer divinely taught,
“Thy will be done. ”

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Deborah

Alimosho, Lagos, Nigeria

Apr 24, 2021

Though Im religious but within me I know I am far from God. My plea is to be closer to God, I want to obey all His commandments and live for Him.

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