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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, breathe Thy Spirit on me

Fullness of the Spirit As the Breath

English255
1
O Lord, breathe Thy Spirit on me,
Teach me how to breathe Thee in;
Help me pour into Thy bosom
All my life of self and sin.
 
I am breathing out my sorrow,
Breathing out my sin;
I am breathing, breathing, breathing,
All Thy fullness in.
2
I am breathing out my own life,
That I may be filled with Thine;
Letting go my strength and weakness,
Breathing in Thy life divine.
3
Breathing out my sinful nature,
Thou hast borne it all for me;
Breathing in Thy cleansing fullness,
Finding all my life in Thee.
4
I am breathing out my sorrow,
On Thy kind and gentle breast;
Breathing in Thy joy and comfort,
Breathing in Thy peace and rest.
5
I am breathing out my sickness,
Thou hast borne its burden too;
I am breathing in Thy healing,
Ever promised, ever new.
6
I am breathing out my longings
In Thy listening, loving ear;
I am breathing in Thy answers,
Stilling every doubt and fear.
7
I am breathing every moment,
Drawing all my life from Thee;
Breath by breath I live upon Thee,
Lord, Thy Spirit breathe in me.

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Joanna Smathers

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

May 8, 2013

I looked this up for our nephew doing finals at OU. I enjoyed all the comments especially A.B. Simpson's testimony. I had not heard this. Lord keep us breathing You in all day, in all the situations, complexities, enjoyments, environments, times of rest, relaxation.

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Leira Ruth Fulgueras

Philippines

May 1, 2013

It's just a matter of breathing.. a matter of what we breathe in. Christ is the Fullness! Our need is to breathe this Fullness in!

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Annie Punzalan

North Caloocan, NCR, Philippines

Nov 18, 2012

How crucial for us to breathe in and breathe out the Lord moment by moment.... Our Lord went through a process to become pneumatic so that we can take Him in and take Him out by calling on His precious name... We can come to the Lord and tell Him everything that we feel... He can be whatever we need...

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Tony Pfeiffer

Anaheim, CA, United States

Jul 2, 2012

Genesis 2:7 Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

God breathes into us to form our human spirit. Christ, in His resurrection breathes His Spirit into our spirit. God's word is His breathe. He breathes into us so we can receive Him and be filled with Him.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit!

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李 菲 麗

NC, United States

Feb 19, 2012

I am also impressed by a sister's sharing regarding the brother who wrote this hymn.

"I am breathing out my sickness , breathing out my sin....." The hymn was written by A.B. Simpson, who lived in America in the 1800's. At the age of 35 he was told by doctors that he only had a few months to live, due to a respiratory ailment. They told him to prepare his family of wife and five children for his inevitable soon departure. He spent the next few months asking the Lord if He really wanted to take him now. Simpson felt that they Lord had more work for him to do on earth, and so began to seek for healing. This was at the very beginning of the Pentecostal movement, and some were having genuine and miraculous instant healing. But this never happened to Simpson, and he grew more desperate. Then he learned how to breathe in the Lord, and to draw life from the Lord Spirit. In fact, he began to practice having a time every morning to breathe in the Spirit and receive the life supply for his spirit, soul, and body. Simpson testified that he was never "once for all" healed. His symptons would return daily, forcing him to go to the Lord in a moment-by-moment way to breathe in life for his whole being. He was DAILY healed, and lived to the age of 70. At the end of his life, he testified that he lived the first half of his life by his own energy and strength, and that he lived the second half of his life in resurrection life!

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李 菲 麗

NC, United States

Feb 19, 2012

Praise the Lord, a very effective, simple healing! simply by breathing....(of course, no "side or adverse reactions") ... has become a "priceless medication and treatment" to take daily...even moment by moment.. under His care, grace and mercy, in resurrection. He is without fail, the sweet Encouragement, the wholesome Energy and the edifying Strength. O Lord Jesus!!!

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Ojie Dela Cruz

Caloocan, National Capital Region, Philippines

Feb 27, 2011

Only by breathing out every negative things in us which includes all our sorrows, our own life, our sinful nature, our longings, our opinions, our desires, our ambitions, our preferences, and our choices, the Lord as the Spirit can fill us.

When the Spirit fills our entire being, that is, when we gain the infilling Spirit by breathing Him in, we cannot help but become burning. We will have power inwardly, filled with joy and peace deep within. We will be freed from bondage and oppression.

This is the way for us to grow and mature in life, be ready to meet our dear Bridegroom. Hallelujah!

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Alvin Lo

Hong Kong

Jun 16, 2009

No doubt this is a very deep and true spiritual experience. I find no reason to criticize this hymn.

Every day I do this. In the morning, I breathe out all my sorrow and sins to the Lord, and inhale in all the fullness of the Lord. I like this hymn because it lists all the things that block me from the Lord, and that we can breathe all of them out to the Lord. This leaves me with no recourse, no excuse not to touch the Lord, especially in the morning when I am just awake. I feel refreshed after performing spiritual breathing.

This hymn changes my spiritual life.

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Chris Reinish

New Haven, CT, United States

May 31, 2009

I used this song in a home Sunday worship service recently; while we were waiting for the midi to replay, I realized it was the perfect moment to actually DO what the song says: we all took the time to breathe, until the next stanza played. What a wonderful way to be involved, to be in the Spirit, to relax into the deep peace of God. I'm going to suggest that we sing more songs this way--taking time between stanzas and the chorus, to breathe in God's peace and light, and breathe out our own sorrow, darkness.

Peace,

CR

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