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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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All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name (Long)

Praise of the Lord His Glory

English138
1
All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
 
And crown Him, crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him Lord of all!
2
Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God
Who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s rod,
3
Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line,
Whom David Lord did call;
The God incarnate. Man Divine;
4
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
5
Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget
The wormwood and the gall,
Go, spread your trophies at His feet.
6
Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
7
O that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song,

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Un Hermano

Nov 8, 2025

B. Their Hearts Have a Deep and Intimate Love toward the Lord Jesus

“If God were your Father you would love Me” (John 8:42). Since they were born of God, they love the only begotten Son of God. Love is in the heart. The likes, dislikes, love, and hatred within one’s heart reveal whether one belongs to God or to the devil. You can sometimes deceive man with your outward conduct, but you cannot deceive God or yourself with the inward condition of your heart. Those who know that they do not love God also know that God is not their Father. If you have already received the life of God, you will constantly long to love the Lord more than anything else. This is a very good test. You must also take the Lord Jesus as Lord; you must crown Him and acknowledge Him as the Master. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God” (1 John 5:1). Only those who are born of God can believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Christ, so He is Lord. This verse does not say to believe Him in a vain way, but to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ and to offer to Him what He deserves as the suffering and glorified Messiah. Because of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus, the children of God are brought to a realization of the preciousness of the Lord. As a result, before the Savior they willingly pour the oil upon His head and on His feet, acknowledging Him as Lord.

The Word of the Cross

Chapter 6 CWWN, vol. 2 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Nov 8, 2025

CHRIST BEING THE LORD OF ALL THINGS

Third, Christ is the Lord of all things. Since all things were created by Him and He is the origin of all things, He is the Lord of all things, the Sovereign over all things.

In Acts 10:36 Peter spoke to the household of Cornelius, telling them that Jesus Christ is Lord of all; that is, He is Lord of all persons and things. We should tell the young people that in the whole universe there is no other Lord besides our Lord Jesus Christ. Only Christianity identifies the One whom it follows as Lord. Buddhism does not say that Sakyamuni is Lord, only that he is Buddha. Islam does not say that Muhammad is Lord. Neither Confucius (Confucianism) nor Lao Tzu (Taoism) claimed that its leader is the Lord. It is remarkable that only the Bible says that Jesus is Lord. This is because He is indeed Lord of all. He is the Lord of all people and all things; besides Him there is no other Lord in the universe. As the Lord of all, He is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord of animals and plants, and the Lord of seas and oceans. He is your Lord, and He is also my Lord. Christ is the Lord of all things. All things were created by Him and came out of Him; hence, all things belong to Him. He is the Lord of all.

CHRIST BEING THE HEAD OF ALL THINGS

Fourth, Christ is the Head of all things. Ephesians 1:22 says that Christ is the Head over all things. The Lord Jesus is not only the Lord of all things but also the Head over all things. All things take Him as their Head and as their end. Nothing is higher than Him, before Him, or above Him. He is the topmost and foremost One; He is the Head over all things.

Leading the Young People with
the Word and the Spirit
Chapter 4 CWWL, 1959, vol. 2 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Nov 8, 2025

AS THE LORD OF ALL

Paul ministered Christ as the Lord of all (2 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 10:12 ; Eph. 4:5). Romans 10:12 says, “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him. ” The Lord of all does not mean the Lord of all things but the Lord of all men. How can He, as the Lord of all, be rich to you? He has to be dispensed into you. If the Lord Jesus has not been dispensed into you, and you do not have Him within you, He cannot be rich to you for your enjoyment. The Lord who is within you is the Lord of all, who is rich to you.

The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity

Chapter 7 CWWL, 1983, vol. 2 (LSM)

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Alma Gould

McKinney, TX, United Kingdom

May 4, 2025

Rev 5:9-10 And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain and have purchased for God by Your blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.

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Rhonda

Texas, United States

Jan 9, 2025

Sang at President James Carter's funeral today. Beautiful.

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Emmanuel Lazarus

Kano, Nigeria

Dec 7, 2024

I just woke up with this song ringing in my mind. Thank you Jesus

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Chukwuma Okonkwo

Obosi, Anambra, Nigeria

May 20, 2024

Enjoyable

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Wisdom Daniel

Uyo, Nigeria

May 11, 2024

I love this hymn 💕💕

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Joy Nwankwo

Lagos, Nigeria

Mar 31, 2024

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today, I join the heavenly hosts, the four creatures and the twenty four elders to worship and crown Him Lord of Lords. Hallelujah!!!! , Amen.

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Anonymous

Dec 31, 2023

Crown Jesus our Lord and savior

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