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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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Lord, we thank Thee for the table

Praise of the Lord Remembrance of Him

English221
1
Lord, we thank Thee for the table,
With the bread and with the wine;
At this table we enjoy Thee
As the feast of love divine.
We partake the bread, the emblem
Of Thy body giv’n for us;
And we share the wine, the symbol
Of Thy blood Thou shedd’st for us.
 
Lo, the holy table!
With the sacred symbols;
Its significance in figure
Is unsearchable!
2
By the death of Thy redemption,
That Thy life Thou may impart,
E’en Thyself to us Thou gavest
That we share in all Thou art.
By the bread and wine partaking,
We Thy death display and prove;
Eating, drinking of Thyself, Lord,
We remember Thee with love.
3
By this bread which signifieth
Thy one body mystical,
We commune with all Thy members
In one bond identical.
By this holy cup of blessing,
Cup of wine which now we bless,
Of Thy blood we have communion
With all those who faith possess.
4
Thou art our eternal portion,
Here we take a sweet foretaste;
We are waiting for Thy kingdom,
And Thy coming now we haste.
At Thy coming, in Thy kingdom,
With all saints that overcome,
We anew will feast upon Thee
And Thy loving Bride become.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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Maria L

Fremont, CA, United States

Jun 29, 2026

Praise the Lord! The bread on the Lord’s Table signifies both the body of Christ broken for us to eat and the Lord’s mystical Body constituted with us, the many members of the Body regenerated through the resurrection of Christ. Hallelujah! We all become the one Body of Christ 😀

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Rebecca Suzanne Wilging

Riverside, CA, United States

Mar 29, 2026

Thou art our ETERNAL portion,
Here we take a SWEET foretaste;
We are WAITING for Thy kingdom,
And Thy COMING now we haste.
At Thy coming, in Thy KINGDOM,
With ALL saints that OVERCOME,
We ANEW will feast upon Thee
And Thy LOVING BRIDE become.

Read more
Rebecca Wilging

Moreno Valley, CA, United States

Dec 21, 2025

Thy coming now we haste!

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Francis Y Chow

New York Ciry, New York, United States

Oct 5, 2025

Lord thank You for taking th cup of suffering so we can take cup of blessing

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Marie

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Aug 31, 2025

You came down to be man, we are sinful Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord we can participate in your death and ressurection.

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Un Hermano

Aug 17, 2025

B. Attending the Lord’s Table

1) “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one Body; for we all partake of the one bread”( 1 Cor. 10:16-17 ).

First Corinthians 11:23-25 shows us that the emphasis in eating the Lord’s supper is the remembrance of the Lord, whereas 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 21 tell us that the stress in attending the Lord’s table is the fellowship with the saints.

In the bread-breaking meeting, we are eating the one bread, which signifies the body of Christ, and drinking the one cup, which signifies the blood of Christ. Our eating and partaking of one bread and our drinking and sharing in one cup imply mutual fellowship. We have this fellowship because of the Lord’s body and the Lord’s blood. Hence, such fellowship becomes the fellowship of the blood of Christ and the fellowship of the body of Christ. In this way, when we eat and drink together, sharing in the Lord’s bread and the Lord’s cup, we “partake of the table of the Lord” ( 1 Cor. 10:21 ). At this table, we share in the Lord’s body and the Lord’s blood with all the saints and have fellowship one with another. The blood of Christ, which we enjoy together, removes all the barriers between the saints. The bread, which we share and which symbolizes the individual body of Christ, comes into us to make us one bread, signifying the one corporate Body of Christ. In the aspect of eating the Lord’s supper, the bread refers to the Lord’s individual body, which He gave for us on the cross, while in the aspect of attending the Lord’s table, the bread points to the Lord’s corporate Body, which He constituted with all the regenerated saints through His resurrection from the dead. The former is physical and was put to death and given for us; the latter is mystical and is constituted with all the saints in the Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, each time that we break the bread, on the one hand we remember the Lord and enjoy Him by receiving the body which He gave for us on the cross; on the other hand, we enjoy the mystical Body which He produced through His resurrection from the dead, fellowshipping with all the saints in this mystical Body and testifying the oneness of this mystical Body. There is not only a relationship between us and the Lord, but a relationship between us and all the saints.

Life Lessons, Vol. 2

Lesson 17 (LSM)

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Catherine C

London, United Kingdom

Jul 27, 2025

Lord Jesus Lord Jesus
Lo, the holy table!
With the sacred symbols;
Its significance in figure
Is unsearchable!
Amen Amen

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Maurice Ward

Irving, Texas, United States

Jul 6, 2025

By the bread and wine partaking,

We Thy death display and prove;

Partaking of Christ at His table and throughout every week strengthens us to display and prove the death of Christ. To prove is to make known, bring to reality through our experience.

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Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Apr 20, 2025

Lord, thank You for Your table, and all that Your table signifies. You are our eternal portion, our forever enjoyment.

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Selene Leyva Hernandez

Fort Stockton, TX, United States

Dec 22, 2024

Lord Jesus thank You for this invitation!! We are the privileged ones. What an honor You have bestowed upon us to be in the reality of Your table! ❤️

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