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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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Great is Thy faithfulness

Worship of the Father His Faithfulness

English19
1
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
 
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
2
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
3
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

© 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188 www.hopepublishing.com All rights reserved.  Used by permission.

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Aso

Accra, Ghana

Jul 13, 2012

I dreamt I was belting this song. The dream was of a flood up to the neck of people in the water and all of a sudden after I had wondered how I was going to cross. Immediately the water started receding very swiftly. Then someone started singing this song and I joined in singing at the top of my voice. Woke up and realised I didnt know the lyrics apart from the first lines of the chorus...so! It ministered to me of God's unchanging love and mercies every day!!

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Treasure Oba

Abuja, Fct, Nigeria

Jul 10, 2012

This is my best ever woship song, even in my unfaithfulness He is ever faithful to me.

I love the song. It has changed my entire being and each time I minister it others get blessed. More wisdom from above to the writer!

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Erwin De Leon

Lansing, MI, United States

Jul 6, 2012

First time I heard this was in 1989, a time when the Lord said it was time for me to come back to Him after living in the world, according to my ways. as He drew me to Himself, this was one of the first Praise Music I've heard with great impact - an assurance that He is with me during my lost times. Now 23 years later, I will sing it with my wife to open our Home Marriage Bible Study (2=1).

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J. Jeffrey Zetto

Houston, Texas, United States

Jun 30, 2012

While many of our congregations will sing patriotic songs this Sunday (1 July) or next, this hymn is a setting of Lamentations 3, Jeremiah's "patriotic song" in the context of Israel's behavior 600 years before Jesus. The "lament" is a classical form of Hebrew poetry: identifying woe, acknowledging sin, and here confessing faith in God's grace, forgiveness, and restoration. An excellent message for us today and tomorrow.

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Priscilla Stewart

Randfontein, Gauteng, South Africa

Jun 26, 2012

6 years in remission. One of the hymns sung at our Sunday service and reminding me once again reminding me how faithful and merciful the LORD is. PRAISE THE LORD.

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Kade

St. Louis, MO, United States

Jun 25, 2012

I grew up with this hymn among many others. Listening to this hymn reminds me how much I have left my relationship stagnant with my Lord, and let myself get carried away by the troubles of this short life. It's such a powerful reminder of the greatness of Him who is there for me, even when I fail to acknowledge His presence and mighty works.

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Andrea Peckham

Buhl, Idaho, United States

Jun 21, 2012

Thank you for our faith - depending on God's faithfulness. This is a wonderful prayer....Each phrase has meaning. I'm reading an exercise from The Road to Heaven..."Pause after each phrase and consider what it means. Then write down below...Allow whatever response that rises in you to flow out to your Heavenly Father...enjoy a time of praise. Great Is His Faithfulness to YOU.

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Mark

Canada

Jun 16, 2012

Amen and Amen!

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Carol Mericle

United States

May 26, 2012

This song has always been a reminder to me of God's faithfulness - even when we are not faithful to Him. It is a comforting song when times are stressful.

Thank You, Lord for Your faithfulness.

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Anne

Paonia, CO, United States

May 25, 2012

I like this song because it speaks of God's greatness... not man's. Reesie: I so enjoyed what you wrote. Sorry about your mother, but I'm so glad for what God has done in your family. I attend a church that still uses a hymnal. I can imagine how starved you get for the good old hymns written by people who knew what they were talking about. Those hymns had something to say! God bless you. I love that song, too.

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