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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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Lo! in heaven Jesus sitting

Praise of the Lord His Exaltation

English132
1
Lo! in heaven Jesus sitting,
Christ the Lord is there enthroned;
As the man by God exalted,
With God’s glory He is crowned.
2
He hath put on human nature,
Died according to God’s plan,
Resurrected with a body,
And ascended as a man.
3
God in Him on earth was humbled,
God with man was domiciled;
Man in Him in heav’n exalted,
Man with God is reconciled.
4
He as God with man is mingled,
God in man is testified;
He as man with God is blended,
Man in God is glorified.
5
From the Glorified in heaven
The inclusive Spirit came;
All of Jesus’ work and Person
Doth this Spirit here proclaim.
6
With the Glorified in heaven
Is the Church identified;
By the Spirit of this Jesus
Are His members edified.
7
Lo! a man is now in heaven
As the Lord of all enthroned;
This is Jesus Christ our Savior,
With God’s glory ever crowned!

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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JD Gedeon

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Jan 14, 2024

Lo! a man is now in heaven
As the Lord of all enthroned;
This is Jesus Christ our Savior,
With God’s glory ever crowned!

Read more
Anonymous

United States

Nov 20, 2022

Lo! The Lord is now dispensing
Everything He is to us,
Constituting and producing
Overcomers glorious
(12/25/1993 Winter Training)

Read more
Anonymous

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Sep 25, 2022

Lo! in heaven Jesus sitting,
Christ the Lord is there enthroned;
As the man by God exalted,
With God’s glory He is crowned!

Read more
Tony Pfeiffer

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Jun 3, 2022

This morning I woke up singing "Lo! A man is now in heaven."

Hymn #505 "There's a Man in the glory whose life is for me."

Hymn #203 states we are the duplication of the One in resurrection, the Firsborn Son of God. We are the same as He is in life and nature.

verse 4 sums it with as His reproduction we are His dear Body, His fullness, His expression, and His fulness,

Read more
Sanjay Massey

Delhi, India

May 15, 2022

Man in Him in heav’n exalted,
Man with God is reconciled.
Praise the Lord, Hallelujah

Read more
Elvin Garcia Riza

Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

Mar 29, 2022

Thank You Lord for your everyday guidance, for the desire of everyone's heart my dear Lord, I know your good plan for us Lord. 🙏🥰 We worship and we praise you Lord. Thank you Lord for your new Jerusalem 😇💙❤

Read more
Maria Levi Laylo

Los Angeles, CA, United States

Jun 28, 2021

After His resurrection, The Lord as the Son of Man in His humanity, became the King of the heavenly kingdom, whom all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him!

He is now the God-exalted Jesus, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the Ruler over all the ones who are in power and the chief Ruler in the divine government for the fulfillment of God's eternal plan!

In Christ's ascension, God made Him the unique Head of the Body, the church and inaugurated Him as the Head of the whole universe! Hallelujah!

Read more
Andy Cason

Arlington Heights, IL, United States

Jul 15, 2020

dear God help the virus to go away from California so people can come back to normal, your friend andy

Read more
Robert Maniaci

North Fort Myers, FL, United States

Oct 13, 2019

Christ is victor....

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Sister Tang

Guilin, China

Jul 28, 2019

We love You Lord! Thank You for everything You have done!

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