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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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I will sing of my Redeemer

Assurance and Joy of Salvation Redeemed by the Blood

English305
1
I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.
 
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me,
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.
2
I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.
3
I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.
4
I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

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Lucy Austin

Picayune, Miss., United States

Oct 13, 2014

Beautiful.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Mar 21, 2014

Born in a log cabin, young Philip Bliss had left home at the age of 11 to work on farms and in lumber camps. He had become a Christian at the age of 12 and soon afterward developed interest in the study of music.

In the early 19th century, popular music training in America was centered in 'singing schools' - schools that were characterized by a strong spiritual emphasis and which also provided social activity for the small towns and rural communities. The 'singing school' was strictly a 1-man operation; a musician of some degree of ability traveled from place to place, organizing the classes, teaching them and collecting his fees (which might be paid either in cash or in farm produce!).

Most of the classes in sight-reading and in conducting were held at night. In the country schoolhouses, churches or town halls, the students sang the syllables (do-re-mi) while seated on planks placed between 2 chairs. Each music student also 'beat time' for himself by moving his hand and arm in a prescribed pattern. Many of our early gospel musicians started out as 'singing school' teachers. This tradition lasted more than 100 years, and had a profound effect on the quality of congregational singing and the development of church choirs.

Philip Bliss found himself strongly attracted to 'singing school' life. At the age of 21, he was married and a year later began a career as an itinerant music teacher. Using a little 20-dollar folding organ hauled from place to place by his faithful horse Fanny, he taught music during the winter seasons. During the summer he followed his own musical education and became a student himself at the Normal Academy of Music at Geneseo, NY.

Song writing came naturally to Bliss; he composed equally well in both words and music. Even during his short lifetime he was recognized as the leading writer of simple sacred songs, many of which are still widely used today. The new "Baptist Hymnal" published in 1956, includes 12 hymns for which Bliss wrote either the words or the music or both.

Although Bliss' ministry was very brief, his influence has continued down through the years. It was D. L. Moody who challenged him to leave teaching and to give his time to evangelistic crusades. In turn, Bliss urged his close friend and fellow-musician James McGranahan to undertake a similar task in gospel work. - Cliff Barrows "Crusader Hymns and Hymn Stories" quoted in "Songs of the Spirit" by Martin

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Feb 1, 2014

The death of Mr. and Mrs. Bliss on Dec 29, 1876 was indeed tragic. Mr. Bliss was just 38 and at the time was producing some of his best hymns. A writer of words and music, and a soloist and song leader as well (he often conducted services with Major Whittle), Mr. Bliss is described as handsome, tall and with a strong, moving bass baritone voice. Yet, friends seemed to be more impressed with his gentleness than anything else. They mourned in great numbers when he and his wife lost their lives in a fiery train wreck. Reportedly, Mr. Bliss survived the crash and climbed through a broken window to safety, but then returned to the coach trying to rescue his wife. Neither got out. In Mr. Bliss' effects was found a copy of this unpublished hymn he had recently completed. - George Beverly Shea in "Songs that Lift the Heart"

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Apr 24, 2013

Bliss was the songleader for evangelist Major Daniel Webster Whittle, based in Chicago. This hymn text was found in Bliss's trunk after he and his wife died in a train accident in 1876. James McGranahan, who succeeded Bliss as Whittle's songleader wrote the music and used it in their meetings. - Great Songs of Faith by Brown & Norton

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Jim Appleman

Machias, Maine, The Great Pine Tree State!, United States

Sep 15, 2010

WOW!! I finally located the Rhythm for this BEAUTIFUL Hymn!! I am the musician at my church here, and just needed to find the correct beat of the music for tomorrow's service!

GOD BLESS YOU!! All the other "STUFF" I found prior to your site was a bunch of singers messing up the song; I could NOT figure out the RHYTHM!

Thanks to the ONE above I located this GREAT site!

I hope you sell sheet music, I lost my copy of "I BELIEVE" at some Church or rest home. WHERE??

Thanks a BIG BUNCH!!
JIM APPLEMAN!
HAVE A GREAT AUTUMN!!
PS: EVERY DAY you wake up is a BLESSING, also!

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Joel

Nov 18, 2009

Sing O sing indeed.

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