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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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O Jesus Lord, when present at Thy table

Praise of the Lord Remembrance of Him

English1110
1
O Jesus Lord, when present at Thy table,
And on the bread and on the wine we gaze;
We praise Thee, Lord, that Thou as food art able
To be enjoyed by man in many ways.
 
So all our being sings in praise to Thee,
How small Thou art, how small Thou art!
And Thee we’ll eat through all eternity;
How small Thou art, how small Thou art!
2
O what a shame—when Christ with all His riches,
Has come into the world, life to supply—
That man would live, not by Him, but by teachings,
So powerless these riches to apply.
 
But all we need to do is eat the Lord;
He’s marvelous, He’s wonderful!
And as we eat, we’re inwardly restored;
Christ grows in us, grows to the full.
3
O Jesus Christ, Thou camest not to mankind
To be a king, to rule us outwardly.
But Thou hast come as food to satisfy us,
And by Thy life to guide us inwardly.
 
(First chorus)
4
We praise Thee, Lord, for all Thy glorious grandeur,
For all Thy strength and majesty replete;
And yet, O Lord, what special thanks we give Thee,
That all Thou art is small enough to eat.
 
(First chorus)

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Un Hermano

Aug 26, 2025

CONCERNING BREAKING THE BREAD

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE LORD

The content of the church is Christ, and the intrinsic reality of every single matter in the church is Christ Himself. If we do not touch Christ and gain Christ, even our worship and service will be meaningless. Just as the reality of believing in the Lord is Christ’s coming into us, and the reality of baptism is our union with Christ, so also all the services in the church should be related to Christ.

After a person is saved, he encounters several things. The first is baptism, and the second is the breaking of bread.

BREAD BREAKING

What is the meaning of bread breaking? And what is the reality of bread breaking? Once we mention the breaking of bread, almost all Christians will say that breaking bread is for remembering the Lord. It is true that in the Bible the Lord Himself said that we should break bread in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19). Thus, based on this word, many Christians conclude that the significance of bread breaking is the remembrance of the Lord. Although this word, this definition, is not wrong, the meaning of remembering the Lord is not simple.

The remembrance spoken of by the Lord is different from our thought concerning remembrance. When we talk about remembrance, we have our own concept. What is this concept? For example, after a father dies, his children remember him. We all understand this kind of remembrance, but is this remembrance the same as our remembrance of the Lord? I am afraid that many people would say that our remembrance of the Lord is simply our meditating on the Lord. This kind of concept, however, is very different from the thought of the Bible.

Guidelines for the Lord's
Table Meeting and
the Pursuit in Life
Chapter 1 (LSM)

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Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Aug 17, 2025

We will eat the Lord through all eternity, as partakers of His divine nature!

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Santiago

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Jan 19, 2025

Thank you dear father for being available for us, we love you Aba Father

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Niro

Hanoi, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Jan 5, 2025

Amen Amen AMEN!

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Esther Wilson

Cypress, California, United States

Jan 3, 2025

All we need to do is eat the Lord. Lord Jesus, I love You and praise You for not asking me to do anything but to come to You and eat You. Lord, grow in us today, grow to the full

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Toni Yulo

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Jan 28, 2024

Lord we praise you for being an eatable God. All thanks to you

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Betty

Lake Forest, CA, United States

Sep 3, 2023

How wonderful! Praise the Lord!

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Clara Lui

Hamilton, New Zealand

Mar 23, 2023

Hallelujah the Lord in John chapter 6 came to us as barley loaves and small fish, by the hands of a small boy. The Lord is the greatest one in the universe, but He is also the smallest! He came in a form, small enough for us to eat! Yet even though He is small, He is still unlimited and inexhaustible, enough to feed all of His people and still have leftovers! Lord we love to eat and be satisfied by You!

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Sister

United States

Dec 15, 2022

But all we need to do is eat the Lord!
He's wonderful! He's marvelous!
And as we eat we're inwardly restored.
Christ grows in us, grows to the full. Amen.

Lord Jesus, help us to keep feasting on You unceasingly. Grow in us, Lord Jesus! Grow to the full, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Liam Taylor

Siloam Springs, AR, United States

Oct 2, 2022

Beautiful

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