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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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The Lord is ris’n; and death’s dark judgment flood

Praise of the Lord His Resurrection

English120
1
The Lord is ris’n; and death’s dark judgment flood
Is passed, in Him who bought us with His blood.
The Lord is ris’n: we stand beyond the doom
Of all our sin, through Jesus’ empty tomb.
2
The Lord is ris’n: with Him we also rose,
And in His grave see vanquished all our foes.
The Lord is ris’n: beyond the judgment land,
In Him, in resurrection-life we stand.
3
The Lord is ris’n: and now redeemed to God,
We tread the desert which His feet have trod.
The Lord is ris’n: the sanctu’ry’s our place,
Where now we dwell before the Father’s face.
4
The Lord is ris’n: the Lord is gone before.
We long to see Him, and to sin no more.
The Lord is ris’n: our triumph-shout shall be,
“Thou hast prevailed! Thy people, Lord, are free!”

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Un Hermano

Oct 30, 2025

CHRIST AS LIFE AND THE BODY AS

HIS INCREASE AND EXPRESSION

In John 10:10b the Lord stated the reason He had come into this world. He declared, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly. ” The life that the Son of Man came to give us is God Himself in Christ. Christ, the Son of God, is the Life-giver (5:21 ; 17:2). He gives us life, and He Himself is the life (14:6). There is no verse in the Bible that contains the expression the life of Christ, but there is a verse that tells us that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4). Whoever receives Christ receives life (John 1:12-13; 3:16), and whoever has Christ has life (1 John 5:11-12). Life is not something given by Christ that is other than Christ Himself; life is Christ Himself. This means that the life we received when we believed into Christ is a person.

This divine and human person who is our life also declared that He was a grain of wheat (John 12:24). As a grain of wheat He fell into the ground and died. Then in His resurrection He produced many grains. Every grain that He produced is the same as the original grain and is a reproduction of the original grain. Today the Lord Jesus as the original grain is in the many grains (14:20). All the many grains added together are the increase of the original grain. This is why in the Gospel of John there is no record of the Lord’s ascension. The Gospel of John records that after the Lord resurrected, He appeared to His disciples and breathed Himself into them (20:22). After this, wherever the disciples went, the Lord was there with them.

In John 15 Christ declared that He is the vine and we are the branches (v. 5). All the branches, which are the constituents of the Body of Christ, are the increase of the vine. How is it possible that we could be the branches, the increase, the Body, of Christ? This is possible because Christ died and resurrected. In Christ’s resurrection we were all regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3), and through Christ’s resurrection we became His increase (John 3:29-30). Before He died and resurrected, the Lord told His disciples that when He went away, the Spirit of reality would come and enter into them (14:16-17). Then He told them that He would live again and that because He would live, they also would live (v. 19). In 14:20 He went on to say that following His resurrection there would be three in s: “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ” The Lord is in the Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. The words that day in this verse refer to the day of resurrection. When the Lord was on the earth for thirty-three and a half years, He could be only among the disciples; He could not be in them. However, now that the Lord has resurrected, He can be in us. By being in us, the Lord makes us His increase.

Highlights from the Gospel of John

Chapter 2 CWWL, 1963, vol. 1 (LSM)

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Dick Adams

May 14, 2018

Does anyone know the original source of Mackay's testimony about finding his lost Bible? All we can find online is second hand accounts.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Nov 29, 2014

William Paton Mackay originally worked in Scotland as a medical doctor. He resigned that position to become an ordained Presbyterian minister of the Gospel. Mackay was a staunch believer that the Word of God means what it says. This quote from one of his publications is an example of his straightforward, no nonsense Gospel message of grace and commitment: "Creed, or the belief in a certain amount of doctrine, has made Christendom, but never made a Christian. Ye must be born again."

Some of Mackay's writings are still in print today: Abundant Grace: Selected Address (1885) and The Seeking Saviour and Other Bible Themes (1904). He is remembered best for one of his hymns, Revive Us Again. - sharefaith

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The 1st line of this hymn in the original, which is the song's title, is:

The Lord is risen: the Red Sea's judgment flood

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The Brethren hymnal uses the tune of #950, "And is it so", to sing this song. Both tunes work well, but each gives a different feeling.

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Here is MacKay's testimony of his conversion:

My dear mother had been a Godly, holy woman, quite often telling me of the Savior, and many times I saw her on bended knee in prayer for my soul’s salvation. But nothing had made a deep impression on me. The older I grew, the more wicked I became…

One day a seriously injured man was brought into the hospital. His case seemed hopeless, he seemed to realize his condition for he was fully conscious and asked me how much time he had left to live. I gave him my opinion in as cautious a manner as I could.

“Have you any relatives whom we could notify?” I asked.

The patient shook his head. He had only one wish, it was to see his landlady because he owed her a small sum of money and also wished to bid her farewell. He also requested that his landlady send him “The Book…”

I went to see him on my regular visits at least once a day. What struck me most was the quiet, almost happy expression constantly on his face…After the man died, some things about his affairs were to be done in my presence.

“What shall we do with this?” the nurse asked holding a book in her hand.

“What kind of book is it?” I asked.

“The Bible of the poor man…As long as he was able to read it, he did so, and when he was unable to do so anymore, he kept it under his bed cover.”

I took the Bible and-could I trust my eyes? It was my own Bible! The Bible which my mother had given me when I left my parent’s home, and which later, when short of money, I sold for a small amount. My name was still in it, written in my mother’s hand…

With a deep sense of shame I looked upon the precious Book. It had given comfort and refreshing to the unfortunate man in his last hours. It had been a guide to him into eternal life, so that he had been enabled to die in peace and happiness. And this book, the last gift to me from my mother, I had actually sold for a ridiculous price…

Be it sufficient to say that the regained possession of my Bible was the cause of my conversion. - maranatha777

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