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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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No blood, no altar now

Praise of the Lord His Redemption

English106
1
No blood, no altar now,
The sacrifice is o’er!
No flame, no smoke ascends on high,
The lamb is slain no more,
But richer blood has flowed from nobler veins,
To purge the soul from guilt, and cleanse the reddest stains.
2
We thank Thee for the blood,
The blood of Christ, God’s Son
The blood by which our peace is made,
Redemption great is won,
Delivering us from hell, and sin, and woe;
That His eternal life God may to us bestow.

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Unknown

Jun 21, 2026

I thank the Lord amen

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Un Hermano

Oct 21, 2025

SATURATED WITH THE TRIUNE GOD

Because redemption has been accomplished and the blood of Christ has been sprinkled upon the propitiation cover, as believers in Christ, we have the Triune God in our spirit. There is no need for us to fast or wait in order to experience Him. We simply need to say, “Lord, I thank You for Your provision. I thank You for the blood and for the Spirit. I also thank You, Lord, for being so real within me. ” When we pray like this, the divine dispensing will take place within us. Through this dispensing we will be saturated with the Triune God, and in this way our whole being will be sanctified. By this dispensing we are soaked with the Triune God. As long as we believe in the Lord Jesus, call on His name, and apply His redeeming blood to our situation, we may experience this divine dispensing.

The goal of God’s salvation is to make us sons of God so that we may be the living members of the Body of His Son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah for the dispensing of the Divine Trinity! Hallelujah for the goal of God’s salvation!

The Divine Dispensing
of the Divine Trinity
Chapter 22 CWWL, 1983, vol. 2 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Oct 21, 2025

(1) By the Blood of Jesus God’s Son

First John 1:7 says, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ” When we live in the divine life, we are under its enlightenment, and it exposes, according to God’s nature, all our sin, trespasses, failures, and defects, which contradict His pure light, perfect love, absolute holiness, and excelling righteousness. At such a time we sense in our enlightened conscience the need of the cleansing of the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus, and it cleanses us in our conscience from all sins so that our fellowship with God and with one another may be maintained.

The tense of the verb “cleanses” in Greek is present and continuous. This indicates that the blood of Jesus the Son of God cleanses us all the time, continuously and constantly. Cleansing here refers to the instant cleansing of the Lord’s blood in our conscience. Before God, the redeeming blood of the Lord has cleansed us once for all eternally ( Heb. 9:12 , 14 ), and the efficacy of that cleansing lasts forever before God, needing no repetition. However, in our conscience we need the instant application of the constant cleansing of the Lord’s blood again and again whenever our conscience is enlightened by the divine light in our fellowship with God.

In 1:7 the words “all sin” denote every single sin we have committed since we have been regenerated. The sins we commit after regeneration defile our purged conscience and need to be cleansed away by the blood of Jesus in our fellowship with God.

The blood by which we are cleansed is the blood of a wonderful person—the Lord Jesus—who has both humanity and divinity. The Lord’s humanity qualified Him to have the blood to shed for our redemption. His divinity insures the efficacy of the power of this redeeming blood. The efficacy of the cleansing blood of Jesus is insured forever by His divinity.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament: The Believers,
Message 145 Volume 2 (LSM)

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Joe

Washington

Jan 7, 2018

Tried to find a video of this song but couldn’t find one. Can Someone help?

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John K

Sep 8, 2016

So many Glorious truths about our Savior! This hymn reminds me of one.

...Here's one thought. In Isaiah 6 there was the altar, the blood stained live coal. In Rev 4-5 there is no blood or altar. Only the resurrected Lamb... with wounds as rhough it had just been slain. Hmmm... love You Lord Jesus.

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Yap

Malaysia

Oct 31, 2015

Thank the Lord for His precious, eternal efficacious blood.

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David Stuart

Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, United Kingdom

Jan 25, 2012

This hymn by Horatio Bonar is taken directly from Hebrews 10 and is of great consolation to the believer as are many hymns irrespective of author.

A truly wonderful website. Thank you.

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Thomas

Trivandrum, Kerala, India

Dec 19, 2011

The complete hymn:

No blood, no altar now, The sacrifice is o'er!
No flame, no smoke ascends on high,
The lamb is slain no more,
But richer blood has flowed from nobler veins,

To purge the soul from guilt, and cleanse the reddest stains.

We thank Thee for the blood, The blood of Christ, Thy Son:

The blood by which our peace is made,
Our victory is won:
Great victory o'er hell, and sin, and woe,
That needs no second fight, and leaves no second foe.

We thank Thee for the grace, Descending from above,
That overflows our widest guilt,
The'eternal Father's love.
Love of the Father's everlasting Son,
Love of the Holy Ghost, Jehovah, Three in One.

We thank Thee for the hope, So glad, and sure, and clear;
It holds the drooping spirit up
Till the long dawn appear;
Fair hope! with what a sunshine does it cheer
Our roughest path on earth, our dreariest desert here.

We thank Thee for the crown Of glory and of life;
'Tis no poor with'ring wreath of earth,
Man's prize in mortal strife;
'Tis incorruptible as is the throne,
The kingdom of our God and His incarnate Son.

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Donna Layne

Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Mar 7, 2011

I found a third verse, which follows:

We thank Thee for the grace,
Descending from above,
That overflows our widest guilt,
Eternal Father’s love.
Love of the Father’s everlasting Son
Love of the Holy Ghost, Jehovah, Three in One.

I thank God for your website.

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Donna Layne

Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Mar 7, 2011

This hymn and Alvin's comment edify me to remember that Jesus died for me, so why should I crave anything or anyone else, past and present, more than Him? It is only by His blood that I am healed and set free. I would try to play and sing this hymn for God's glory.

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