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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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Lord, to know Thee as our Person

Experience of Christ As Our Person

English1181
1
Lord, to know Thee as our Person,
Earnestly we seek and pray;
To experience Thy fullness
In a constant inner way.
Never longer only outward
Or with soulish thoughts obsessed,
But, O Lord, in realest contact
We by Thee would be possessed.
 
Lord, Thou art our Person,
In our inmost being,
May we constantly experience
This reality.
2
All the world is under darkness,
Driven by the fallen soul,
And the enemy designing
Does the soulish life control.
Such we were till God, through mercy,
Caused His Son to dwell in us;
Now we fully come to know Him
In His church so glorious.
3
Once we walked a soulish person,
Wandering in the wilderness,
Never knowing that our spirit
Craved God’s fullness to express;
At the moment Jesus entered
Instantly the whole was changed.
Now we’re people spirit-centered!
Hallelujah! Rearranged!
4
Now our spirit is our person—
What a glorious fact is this!
Christ Himself in us expressing
God’s intent and holiness.
Not the soul-life’s vain delusion,
But the spirit strengthened is;
Christ Himself is now our Person—
He is ours and we are His.

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Un Hermano

Jan 19, 2026

HE ABILITY
TO KNOW GOD
------------------

In John 17:2 and 3 we see that eternal life has the ability to know God: “Even as You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ. ” Eternal life is divine life with a special function—to know God. In order to know God, the divine person, we need the divine life.

Because as believers we have been born of the divine life, we are able to know God. In order to know a certain living thing, you need to have the life of that thing. For example, a dog cannot know human beings, because a dog does not have a human life. It takes human life to know human beings. The principle is the same with knowing God. The Lord has given us eternal life, the divine life, the life of God. The life of God certainly is able to know God. Therefore, the life of God, which has been given to us, has the ability to know God and the things of God.

First John 5:20 speaks of knowing the true One. Here the word know actually means “experience, enjoy, and possess. ” Therefore, to know the true One is to experience, enjoy, and possess the true One. In this universe only God Himself is the true One. We need God’s life in order to experience, enjoy, and possess Him.

Life-study of First John

Message 39 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Jan 19, 2026

THE SON OF GOD COMING AND
GIVING US AN UNDERSTANDING
-------------------------

In verse 20 John continues, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we might know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. ” The word “come” here indicates that the Son of God has come through incarnation to bring God to us as grace and reality (John 1:14) that we may have the divine life, as revealed in John’s Gospel, to partake of God as love and light, as unveiled in this Epistle.

In 5:20 John says that the Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true, or know the true One. This understanding is the faculty of our mind enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of reality (John 16:12-15) to apprehend the divine reality in our regenerated spirit. In this verse to “know” is the ability of the divine life to know the true God (John 17:3) in our regenerated spirit (Eph. 1:17) through our renewed mind, enlightened by the Spirit of reality.

The understanding spoken of in verse 20 involves our mind, our spirit, and the Spirit of reality. According to our natural being, our spirit is deadened, and our mind is darkened. Hence, in our natural being we do not have the ability to know God. How can someone with a deadened spirit and a darkened mind know the invisible God? This is impossible.

The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has come and has given us an understanding that we might know the genuine and real God. He has come to us by the steps of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. He accomplished redemption for us, and when we repented and believed in Him, we received Him. Now that we have believed in Him and received Him, our sins have been forgiven, our darkened mind has been enlightened, and our deadened spirit has been enlivened. Furthermore, the Spirit of reality, who is the Spirit of revelation, has come into our being. This means that the Spirit of reality has been added to our quickened spirit and has shined into our mind to enlighten it. Now we have an enlightened mind and a quickened spirit with the Spirit of reality, who reveals spiritual reality to us. As a result, surely we have an understanding and are able to know the true One. Before we were saved, we did not have this understanding. But the Son of God has come to us and has given us this understanding so that we may know God.

Life-study of First John

Message 39 (LSM)

Read more
Jack Petrash

Irving, TX, United States

Nov 26, 2025

Just by having moment by moment conversatin with the Lord throughout our day we will find ourselves spontaneously living Christ! Precious Lord Jesus, we love You!

Read more
Mykola Niemtsev

Edmonton, AB, Canada

Jun 20, 2025

Christ is our person! This is His full salvation!

Read more
Andrea

Tacoma, WA, United States

Sep 3, 2023

Saved from self delusion, Christ our Real Person!

Read more
Zoe

Cupertino, CA, United States

Jan 7, 2021

Lord strengthen our spirit to know You as our Person!
Never longer only outward
Or with soulish thoughts obsessed,
But, O Lord, in realest contact
We by Thee would be possessed

Read more
Gwen

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Oct 2, 2020

At the moment Jesus entered
Instantly the whole was changed.
Now we’re people spirit-centered!
Hallelujah! Rearranged!

Read more