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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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I’m in Christ, now rejoicing

Assurance and Joy of Salvation Being in Christ

English1350
 
I’m in Christ, now rejoicing—
From old Adam I am free!
All old things are becoming
Both new and heavenly! (Praise God!)
I’m tasting and enjoying
Life and peace and liberty!
Praise God! I’m in Christ eternally!

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Un Hermano

Oct 22, 2025

THE DIVINE DISPENSING OF

GOD THE SON TO THE BELIEVERS

God the Son is also dispensing His divine riches into us (Eph. 1:7, 10-11). Based on the choosing and predestinating of God the Father, we have the redemption of God the Son.

Putting the Believers into Christ

Although the Father chose and predestinated us and gave us His life and nature, we became fallen in Adam. For this reason we need redemption. Without the redemption of the Son, even if the Father wanted to give us His life and nature, He could not do it. This is because on our side there is the problem of sin. Hence, God the Son came to accomplish redemption. He died for us, bore our sins away, and redeemed us. God also forgave us in Christ. Once a person believes in the Lord, he is redeemed and put into Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). Once he is in Christ, his sins are forgiven, death is over, and all his problems are solved. This is the dispensing of the Son into us. Ephesians reveals that when we believe in the Lord, we are put into Christ. This is not superstition or empty terminology. Rather, it is a fact. He is the real One. He is the Spirit, the reality, and the grace. When we are in Him, we are in the reality and in grace. Hence, Christ becomes our sphere and our element. In this sphere we are protected, and in this element we enjoy all the divine benefits.

Having Christ as the Believers’ Element and Sphere,
and Thus Being Made God’s Inheritance according to
God’s Economy by the Dispensing of His Divine Element
I’m in Christ, now rejoicing—
From old Adam I am free!
All old things are becoming
Both new and heavenly!
Praise God! I’m tasting and enjoying
Life and peace and liberty!
Praise God! I’m in Christ eternally!

If every morning, afternoon, and evening and even before we go to bed, we will sing this song concerning our being in Christ, we will be victorious every day. While we sing, the Spirit will operate in us and bring us into the reality. In this way we will be in Christ, and Christ will become our sphere and element. With this divine element God will make those who are in Christ His chosen inheritance. We are not only God’s redeemed ones in Christ; we are His precious inheritance produced in Christ and with Christ as our sphere and element so that God can inherit us. God has purchased us with the blood of His Son. Now we are in His Son, and His Son has become our sphere and our element. If we live in Christ every day, Christ will become our sphere and element, that is, the producing ingredient with which God will make us His inheritance. This is the dispensing of God the Son.

None of us can redeem ourselves, and none of us can become an encircling sphere and an element to make ourselves a precious inheritance to God. Only Christ Himself, God the Son, can dispense to us such a blessing so that He becomes our sphere to surround and protect us, and also our element for our daily enjoyment, so that day by day we may be made more and more precious and may become God’s precious inheritance. This is the dispensing of God the Son.

A Deeper Study of the
Divine Dispensing
Chapter 11 CWWL,
1990, vol. 3 (LSM)

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Maria L

Fremont, California, United States

Nov 12, 2024

Hallelujah! I’ll share my God in all and everywhere. Thank You Lord Jesus for being such a rich One to us! Keep us enjoying You in all things! Praise the Lord 😀

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Frankie Flores

Charlotte, NC, United States

Jul 27, 2024

We're tasting and enjoying
Life and peace and liberty!
Praise God!  
Thank you Lord!

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Judah

Mar 17, 2024

Praise God!

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Steve

United States

Dec 17, 2022

We inherited from Adam sin, death and separation from God. Now in Christ we have a new head of humanity and we inherit much from Him. No condemnation in Him. Accepted in Him. Redemption through His blood, forgiveness, righteousness, and every other spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Praise God!

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Gary

Meriden, KS, United States

Mar 19, 2022

Psalm 34:8 (ESV): 8  Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

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Bob Baer

Brampton, ON, Canada

May 21, 2020

I see by the short exultant comments on this hymn that it has the same effect on me. I'm in my basement with my head phones on in front of the computer but I want to stand up and shout a couple of lines. "I'm in Christ now rejoicing!" Praise God, I'm in Christ eternally! Hallelujah!

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Anonymous

Apr 7, 2020

Ephesians 2:6

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Francis Y Chow

Anaheim, California, United States

Apr 4, 2020

I’m in Christ, now rejoicing! Hallelujah!

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Bro Mandrick

St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

Sep 22, 2018

Praise God for giving us eternal life.

Read more