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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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Far away the noise of strife upon my ear

Assurance and Joy of Salvation Satisfied with Christ

English324
1
Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling,
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand;
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling,
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.
 
I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
O yes, I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.
2
Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating,
Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand;
Safe am I within the castle of God’s word retreating,
Nothing then can reach me, ’tis Beulah Land.
3
Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me,
I am safely sheltered here, protected by God’s hand;
Here the sun is always shining, here there’s naught can harm me,
I am safe forever in Beulah Land.
4
Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation,
Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way is planned;
Dwelling in the spirit, here I learn of full salvation,
Gladly will I tarry in Beulah Land.

Beulah means Married in Hebrew (cf. Isaiah 62:4)

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Mar 18, 2026

I have sung this hymn many times but not really understood it. I looked up the words Beulah Land. It is a biblical term from Isaiah 62:4, meaning "married," used to describe a restored, divine relationship between God and Israel. It symbolizes a shift from being "forsaken" to "delighted in" by God. Often used in hymns and literature. This really opened up the hymn to me.

In the Old Testament God promised a good land which is likened to a garden full of riches. That was God’s promise to the Israelites.

Now in the New Testament we see the reality of the promised land is just Christ with all His rich person. Now we rejoice because we have the true “ Beulah Land” in our spirit. Here we can dwell where Christ is.

Our goal should be to always dwell where Christ is in our spirit. Since we have touched Him in our spirit we can sing:

I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
O yes, I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land [Christ].
This is our experience and joy in Christ.

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Un Hermano

Oct 14, 2025

To be in the church life is to live a life in paradise. Eventually, the consummation of the church life in the age to come and in eternity will be the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem is the tree of life growing by the river of water of life for our eating and drinking. That will be our enjoyment in eternity. Even today we have the privilege of eating the tree of life and of “drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry” ( Hymns, #322). In the church life we are in the Paradise of God enjoying Christ as the tree of life.

Today Christ as the embodiment of God is our tree of life, and this tree of life is growing in us. The Lord Jesus told a parable of a sower going out to sow the seed ( Mark 4:1-20 ). The Lord is both the sower and the seed of life. He sows Himself as the seed of life into us, the earth. We are the earth that grows Christ. On the day we were regenerated, Christ was sown into our being. Our very being is the earth that contains Christ and grows Christ. We have received the divine life, and this very productive divine life is growing within us. We have to grow Christ.

Our Urgent Need—Spirit and Life

Chapter 3 CWWL, 1988, vol. 3 (LSM)

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LC

San Juan, Philippines

Oct 29, 2023

Christ our Land!!!

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SL

Feb 6, 2023

Why we can't just enjoy and be happy. Christ wants us to be happy. He doesn't like long faces. When I hear this song, all I have is smile. This isn't the whole story of our Christian life, but this is the goal. We want to eventually be happy with Christ without any outside factors.

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Cooper Selee

Monrovia, Liberia

Aug 5, 2021

I love this song, heard it for the first time almost 50 years ago in a choir practice at The Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Thank Google I am hearing it again today.

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J. Kevin Watts

Ksm, Nyza, Kenya

Apr 10, 2020

Upon the land that we all await this song floods hope to our bright future which is comparable to nothing down here for the glory yet revealed is far much great that no mind can fathom ear nor eyes heard or seen... wherefore looking forward to such great reward brethren let's be diligent that we may be found in him have no wrinkled or spot/ blame but in perfect peace in harmony with his character... such that violence be heard no more in thy land wastage nor destruction within thy border but rather call our gates praise and walls salvation

Blessed are we if we do his commandment that we may have a right to life eternal and may enter the city through the Gates.... Amen

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Keerthi

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Dec 12, 2018

What a life in Christ as our land!
Living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,
Drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
Feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
Dwelling in Christ our Land!

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Becky

Stockholm, Sweden

Dec 2, 2018

Christ is the best land to live in.

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Phyllis Coates

Greensboro, North Carolina, United States

Jan 22, 2015

I loved this song; beautiful.

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Anonymous

Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia

Jan 17, 2015

very beautiful song to me..alleluya no sad anymore..!

Very beautiful song.. It blessed me..thx you for this website

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