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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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We’re gathered here, O Lord, as Thy one Body

Praise of the Lord Remembrance of Him

English1107
1
We’re gathered here, O Lord, as Thy one Body:
Though we be many, yet we all are one.
We share Thy life and own that we are members,
And thus within, in life we all are one.
 
There is one Body in this universe,
And we express it here on earth;
We stand as one in each locality
For all to see, for all to see.
2
There is one loaf, the symbol of Thy body:
’Twas broken so that all the saints may share.
We eat this bread and, as we are partaking,
Our actual oneness with all saints declare.
3
One bread, one cup are now upon the table,
Showing that we can be naught else but one.
Christ has redeemed us, made us His own Body:
What can we say but, “Amen, Lord, we’re one!”
4
We stand as one, and cannot be divided,
Because our oneness is of Christ alone.
We eat as one: one loaf, one cup partaking,
And thus our oneness visibly is shown.
5
Oh, what a joy to have this blessed oneness!
We sense that Thou, O Lord, art satisfied;
And we too share this blissful satisfaction—
Sweet foretaste of the Bridegroom with His Bride.

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Anonymous

Baarlo, United Kingdom

Oct 25, 2026

1 Corinthians 12:12 – For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:17 – Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

There is one Body in this universe,
And we express it here on earth;
We stand as one in each locality
For all to see, for all to see.

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C

London, United Kingdom

Oct 4, 2026

First Lord’s Table in Esch-sur-Alzette.
Christ is the head
We are one body of Christ
Hallelujah
We’re gathered here, O Lord, as Thy one Body:
Though we be many, yet we all are one.
We share Thy life and own that we are members,
And thus within, in life we all are one.

There is one Body in this universe,
And we express it here on earth;
We stand as one in each locality
For all to see, for all to see.

Read more
Robert Schodowski

Gdańsk, Poland

Sep 20, 2026

Oh, what a joy to have this blessed oneness!

It's O Lord for your and our full satisfaction.

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Eric Z.

San Diego, California, United States

Nov 23, 2025

Amen! We stand as one, and we cannot be divided!!!!!!!!

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Un Hermano

Aug 25, 2025

8. Members of Christ

as the Head of the Body

We have seen that we are brothers of Christ as the firstborn Son of God. Now we need to see that we are members of Christ as the Head of the Body. In 1 Corinthians 6:15 Paul asks, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? ” Because we are organically united with Christ and because Christ dwells in our spirit ( 2 Tim. 4:22 ) and makes His home in our heart ( Eph. 3:17 ), our entire being, including our purified body, becomes a member of Him. To practice such membership we need to offer our body to Him ( Rom. 12:1 , 4-5 ).

First Corinthians 6:17 indicates that we are organically united with Christ. To be one spirit with the Lord is to enter into an organic union with Him, to be united with Him organically. This organic union makes it possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ. Christ indwells our spirit, and from our spirit He spreads throughout our entire being, thereby making His home in our heart. Furthermore, according to Romans 8:11 , from our inner being He seeks to impart Himself as life into our physical body. Therefore, Christ spreads from the spirit to the soul and from the soul to the body. In this way our bodies become His members.

a. Produced Out of Him to Be His Parts

As members of Christ, we are produced out of Him to be His parts ( Eph. 5:30-32 ). In Ephesians 5:30 Paul says that we are members of Christ’s Body. This indicates that we are members of Christ, parts of Christ. According to our natural constitution, we cannot be members of Christ’s Body. Christ Himself is the element, the factor, that makes us parts of Him. Hence, in order to be parts of Christ as members of His Body, we must have Christ wrought into our being.

In Ephesians 5:31 and 32 Paul goes on to say, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church. ” Christ and the church being one spirit ( 1 Cor. 6:17 ), as typified by the husband and wife being one flesh, are the great mystery. The first couple in the Bible, Adam and Eve, present a picture of this. According to the book of Genesis, God did not create man and woman at the same time and in the same way. First God formed man’s body from the dust of the ground. Then He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul ( Gen. 2:7 ). Later, in order to produce a counterpart for Adam, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” ( Gen. 2:21 ). While Adam slept, the Lord took one of Adam’s ribs and used it for the building of a woman ( Gen. 2:22 , lit. ). In life, nature, and form the woman was the same as the man. Therefore, when God brought the woman to Adam, Adam exclaimed that she was “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” ( Gen. 2:23 ).

Because there was no counterpart for Christ in the created universe, God caused Christ to die on the cross. As He “slept” there, His side was opened, and blood and water came forth ( John 19:34 ). Because in Genesis 2 the problem of sin had not come in, that chapter mentions only the rib that was taken out of Adam; it says nothing about blood. But John 19 speaks of blood, which solves the problem of sin. The water signifies the flowing life of Christ, the eternal life, which produces the church. This life is also typified by the rib. According to John 19 , not one of the Lord’s bones was broken when He was on the cross. This was a fulfillment of the Scripture which said, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken” (see Psa. 34:20 ). The unbroken bone of Christ signifies Christ’s unbreakable eternal life. Hence, Adam’s rib typifies the unbreakable eternal life of Christ. It is with this eternal life that we are produced out of Christ to be His parts. The fact that Eve had the same life and nature as Adam signifies that, as members of Christ, we have the same life and nature Christ has. Furthermore, together Adam and Eve made a complete unit. In the same principle, Christ and the church make a complete unit. The church is Christ’s other half. Adam and Eve became one flesh, but Christ and the church are one spirit.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
Message 103 (LSM)

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Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Jun 15, 2025

There’s only one Body in this universe, we stand together as one in each locality, oh what a joy to have this oneness.

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Edu Hilary

Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Oct 11, 2024

Beautiful 😍

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Nathan David Reilly

Sep 8, 2024

Hallelujah

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Maria L

Fremont, California, United States

Sep 1, 2024

There is one Body in this universe,
And we express it here on earth;
We stand as one in each locality
For all to see, for all to see.
Praise the Lord!

We stand as one, and cannot be divided, Because our oneness is of Christ alone.

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Pedro Menéndez

Bayamon, P.R., United States

Jul 28, 2024

The only way we can be really one is by the application of the cross and the power of Christ's resurrection. His power of resurrection is sufficient for us. He gives us the cross to bear, but He also supports us with the power of His resurrection. It is in this way that we are transformed. Paul said that he desired to know Christ and the power of His resurrection that he might be conformed to Christ's death (Phil. 3:10). We should live and serve not by our natural power, but by the power of Christ's resurrection.

Source: The Constitution and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, chapter 6.

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