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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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Jurdy

Tallahassee, Florida, United States

Jul 18, 2021

Glorious Christ

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Peggy Rees

Atlanta, GA, United States

Jul 25, 2020

And as we eat, we're inwardly restored; Christ grows in us, grows to the full.

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Glory Jung

Anaheim, CA, United States

Dec 9, 2018

He is small enough to come into our being!

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Sue

Calgary

Nov 25, 2018

He is marvellous! He is wonderful! All my bings sings to Thee!

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Dave Common

Sunderland And Pennywell, United Kingdom

Feb 26, 2017

keeping on prayer and raving for Jesus. I love to sing and worship. God is good to me.

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Anonymous

Sep 7, 2014

Hymns, #1110

Praise of the Lord - Remembrance of Him

Eng/Kor:1110  Chin:s212  Span:107  Rus:46  Tag:1110  Fra:-  Por:124

Lyrics
:
Unknown
Music
:
Swedish folk melody, arr. by Mrs. Paul Friedmann
Meter
:
11.10.11.10. with chorus.
Hymns using same tune:
#17, #608, #1107
4 Stanzas
 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.

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!

 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.

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!

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Alan & Ellen Fletcher

Riverside, Ohio, United States

Nov 6, 2010

O Jesus Lord, when present at Your table, we are invited to eat You in so many ways!

Our God Himself, laid aside all His glorious grandeur, strength and majesty, to become a man. Living out 33 years focused on the final goal (Hebrews 12:2) of the full oneness between God and man! And for this joy set before Him he endured the cross! Oh, dear Lord Jesus, You knew WE WERE IMPOTENT so You became SMALL enough for us to receive You. You became the LIFE giving Spirit, full of the riches of God, to get into our spirit.

All we can do is praise the Lord that He became small enough for us.

Here is our Christ in all His riches, He has come into the world... LIFE to supply... so, it is a shame, that man would live by teachings, doctrines, concepts, philosophy, etc., so powerless all these riches to apply. But all we need to do is eat the Lord (he who eats Me shall live because of Me). As we eat Him we are inwardly strengthened, nourished, vitalized!

May His Kingdom come, His will be done! His Kingdom comes from within us. We are His Kingdom people because we are eating the Kingdom food, Christ Himself. We are day by day, feeding on His living Word, being reconstituted, renewed in our minds...

Praise Him for the way.

AND He grows in us...His Word becomes our LIFE supply. Guiding us inwardly, bringing us into the experience of truthing it (Ephesians 4:15) that ...we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, (4:16) out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up if itself in love.

How GREAT Thou art that You would became SMALL enough for us to receive as our rich, daily supply!!!

So all our being sings in praise to You, how small You are :O :O :O

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