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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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O Lord, Thou art the Alpha

Praise of the Lord His All-Inclusiveness

English202
1
O Lord, Thou art the Alpha
And the Omega too;
Thou art the First, before all,
And art the Last so true.
Thou art the sole Beginning,
The only End of all;
In Thee all is included,
Creations great and small.
2
Lord, since Thou art the Alpha,
All things commenced of Thee;
And as the sole Omega,
All things will end in Thee;
As God’s full Alphabet, Lord,
All is of Thee composed;
Since Thou art all the letters,
All is in Thee enclosed.
3
As First of all the creatures,
Thou art the Head of all;
As Last in God’s creation,
Thou art the close of all.
As First of all the creatures,
All things by Thee consist;
As Last in God’s creation,
All things for Thee subsist.
4
Since Thou art the Beginning,
Thou hast preceded all;
And since Thou art the Ending,
Thou wilt inherit all.
Thou, the unique Beginning,
Didst all originate;
Thou, as the only Ending,
Wilt all things terminate.
5
O Lord, how we adore Thee
And treasure Thee with love;
As Alpha and Omega,
Thou art all things above.
We praise Thee, the Beginning,
The very First we call;
We worship Thee, the Ending,
The only Last of all.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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Cc

London, United Kingdom

Apr 12, 2026

Alpha and Omega
First and Last
O Lord, how we adore Thee
And treasure Thee with love;
As Alpha and Omega,
Thou art all things above.
We praise Thee, the Beginning,
The very First we call;
We worship Thee, the Ending,
The only Last of all.

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Un Hermano

Aug 11, 2025

16. Christ as the Alpha and the Omega

In Revelation 22:12-13 Christ is revealed as the Alpha and the Omega. In Revelation 22:13 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. ” This is the Lord’s declaration at the close of this book; it corresponds with what God declared in the opening of this book. Revelation 1:8 says that the Lord God is the Alpha and the Omega. This indicates that the Lord Jesus is God. This also shows that God and the Lord Jesus are one and that the Son and the Father can never be separated.

The eternal and almighty God is the Alpha, the beginning for the origination, and the Omega, the ending for the completion of His eternal purpose. In the book of Genesis He was the Alpha, and now in the book of Revelation He is the Omega. Whatever He has originated He will complete. Governmentally, He continues His universal operation which He originated from eternity and will bring to completion (21:6). Although man fell, God still intends to accomplish His economy. He is the God with whom is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Once He begins something, He will never give it up. As the Alpha, God is the beginning; He originated all things of the universe. He will be the Omega, the ending for the completion of His eternal purpose; He will finalize and finish what He has initiated.

1) The Basic Factor of the Bible,

the Church, and Our Living

As the Alpha and the Omega, Christ is the basic factor in the composition of the Bible. We can truly say, therefore, that the Bible is written with Christ. Christ is the letters that compose every verse of the Bible. The entire Godhead, embodied in Christ, is the divine alphabet. Actually, the New Testament is not composed of the letters of the Greek alphabet; instead, it is composed of the letters in the divine and heavenly alphabet, letters which are actually the Triune God Himself.

In our human living, Christ should be the entire alphabet. If He is our alphabet, He will automatically become every word, sentence, paragraph, and chapter, and ultimately the whole book. God’s economy is that our entire human living be written, composed, with Christ as the unique factor. Christ is all-extensive; He comes in to fill every part of our living. Therefore, the dictionary of our Christian life should have just one word: Christ.

2) The Beginning and the End

The Lord Jesus is not only the First but also the Beginning; He is not only the Last but also the End. The First indicates that none is before Christ, and the Last that none is after Him; whereas the Beginning indicates that He is the origination of all things, and the End that He is the consummation of all things. Hence, the indication here is not only that there is nothing before or after the Lord Jesus but also that there is no origination or consummation without Him. This assures us that the Lord is strong to promise, encourage, and strengthen us. He will accomplish whatever He has spoken in Revelation.

As the Beginning, nothing precedes Christ, and as the End, nothing succeeds Him. This means that before Christ and after Christ there is no other. Christ is everything. We must experience such a Christ in a full way, all the way from Alpha to Omega. Before Alpha there is no letter, and after Omega there is also no letter. The Alpha is the beginning, and the Omega is the end.

Because the Lord is everything to us and because He is so strong, we should not excuse ourselves by saying that we are weak and that our environment is too difficult. The more difficult our environment, the richer the Lord will be to us. The more trying our circumstances, the stronger the Lord will be to us. We must exercise our faith in this all-inclusive One, the One who is the Alpha, the Omega, the First, the Last, the Beginning, and the End. With Him, there are no problems. Thus, we need to be immersed into Him, believe in Him, and rest in Him.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
Message 434 (LSM)

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ptlw

Honolulu, Hawaii

Aug 10, 2014

Beautifu melody and lyrics. I can sing all day and night long, and not tired out! The more I sing the more I sense the presence of God! There is the harmonous sensation within while singing along. It is priceless. Praise the Lord! , and bless the writer.

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