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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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Come, Thou Fount of every blessing

Assurance and Joy of Salvation Saved by Grace

English319
1
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the face of God;
He, to save my soul from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
2
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee.
Teach me, Lord, some rapturous measure,
Meet for me Thy grace to prove,
While I sing the countless treasure
Of my God’s unchanging love.
3
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love:
Take my heart, oh, take and seal it
With Thy Spirit from above.
Rescued thus from sin and danger,
Purchased by the Savior’s blood,
May I walk on earth a stranger,
As a son and heir of God.

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Nzeakor Atulomah

Lagos, Nigeria

Sep 11, 2021

Today, I played this hymn on the organ as a processional for a wedding, to the tune Normandy. I was overwhelmed by the sheer force of the wordings:

‘O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be; let that grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to thee’.

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Sister Vali Ruth

Tirane, Albania

Aug 20, 2021

Teach me, Lord, some rapturous measure,
Meet for me Thy grace to prove,
While I sing the countless treasure
Of my God’s unchanging love.

Read more
Leanna

Kennesaw, Georgia, United States

Jul 1, 2020

This is my absolute favorite song. I sang it at a talent show in February. My performance could have gone better, but ever since then it's always been my song. And I hadn't messed up then I probably wouldn't be this good at playing it on my ukulele. Since I was singing this on my tablet just now, I couldn't see all the words without scrolling down. So the Lord told me to close my eyes, and play and sing it from memory, just like at the talent show. And I did it. Twice. Sure I made a few mistakes but I just kept on going and I had sounded better than I ever had before. So just as a reminder, had things happen for a purpose. God's purpose. This "awful" pandemic is so that we can redeem the time, praise Him and focus on Him. All had things happen for a reason. He will rescue us from sin and danger, He has purchased us by the Savior's blood. And when this is over, we will walk on earth, a stranger, as a son and their of God.

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Judy Joute

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

May 21, 2020

The lyrics are not same as in The United Methodist Hymnal.

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Joyce

Singapore

Apr 27, 2020

In his youth, Robert Robinson was apprenticed to a barber in London and lived a wild and reckless life. But one day he heard a sermon by George Whitefield on the stern words of John the Baptist to the Jewish leaders of his day, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ” (Matt. 3:7). The Spirit of God convicted the wayward young man and he put his faith in Christ.

Associated with the Wesleys for a time, Robinson served as a pastor in several churches. He wrote a number of works on theology, and two hymns that we know of, Mighty God, While Angels Bless Thee, and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The latter hymn begins:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

The song is autobiographical in its confession of a proneness to wander away from the Lord. Though a man of intellectual brilliance, Robert Robinson was, in the words of Scripture, “unstable as water” (Gen. 49:4). In his later years he drifted away from God. This weakness is reflected in a later stanza of the hymn above:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

In a spiritually backslidden condition, the author was traveling in a stage coach one day. His only companion was a young woman unknown to him. In the providence of God, and not realizing who it was she spoke with, the woman quoted Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, saying what an encouragement it had been to her. And try as he might, Robinson could not get her to change the subject.

Finally, he said, with tears in his eyes, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who composed that hymn, many years ago. And I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I then had! ” Gently, she replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing. ” He was deeply touched by that. As a result of the encounter he repented. His fellowship with the Lord was restored through the ministry of his own hymn, and a Christian’s willing witness.

Source: wordwisehymns

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Barbara

Tallahassee, FL, United States

Apr 21, 2020

I praise God for this and other old hymns. Though I enjoy modern hymns, when I am burdened it is the words from the old hymns that comfort best and send my spirit flying back in the heavenly realms. This morning I was repenting for myself and my country in how we squandered God’s Grace and Mercy. We had financial prosperity but deep spiritual impoverishment. For myself, though I love God and seek to be a fully devoted follower of Christ, I still manage to sin against God and my fellow man, offending Him and sullying my Holy God’s reputation before an unholy culture that desperately needs to see His True Character. As I was journaling that confession the words of this hymn came to mind: “Oh to Grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be. Let Your Grace, Lord, like a fetter bind my wand’ring heart to Thee” became my prayer. Thank you, God, for the great hymn writers, old and new!

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Oluwasegun Oluwadare

Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria

Mar 24, 2020

Thank God for this and other inspiring hymns.

The soundtrack drew my attention to it, same soundtrack as the Baptist hymn 'Ka to sun Olugbala wa... '

One question always come to my mind and that is, The hymn writers contributed to the spiritual growth of the Church of God and are remembered with fond memories, what am I doing to the Church of God and how will I be remembered?

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Rose

McGregor, Ontario, Canada

Mar 21, 2020

Acknowledging that God is good, that He helps me and speaks to my heart. Acknowledging that He loves me and I have experienced His love for me-

All means that He is real, that I need Him, that I am accountable, answerable to Him.

Yet why would I still want to be like a sheep, going my own way, why would I want to be so stubborn still?

The words to this hymn came to me as I asked myself those questions.

Yes Lord, You Have taken my heart and sealed it with Your Spirit. The rest of me is learning that You are SO trustworthy that even my stubbornness can melt in Your love.

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Jonathan Sanders

Memphis Tennessee, United States

Mar 18, 2020

Janet Amen! Literally had a teacher send a video of himself sharing what God was speaking to Him, talking about how the coronavirus is calling us to depend on Him. God sends tribulation to keep our eyes fixed on Him so we won’t try and be independent. We are like the sheep who are prone to wander, and He is our Great Shepherd. In the Hebrew in Psalms 23 the Rod and Staff were sticks used for protection, support, and discipline. It’s a beautiful picture of how God is using this to strengthen our faith and to show that He is present here with us through His Holy Spirit, and that this period may sting but that He loves us enough to stay awake to the reality that we need Him!

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Janet

West Des Moines, IA, United States

Mar 18, 2020

Coronavirus is raging all over the world… We just bought some laying hens..... Sitting in the fenced in area with the chickens, the label on the new chicken waterer said FOUNT. What a crazy way to bring this whole song to mind and I am listening to the words like I never have before. But the words in the melody are stuck in my head from childhood. Praise Jesus for hymns of old with words that meant so much when they were written and mean so much even today!

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