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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 Tempo menu slows it down without changing the pitch.

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I know not why God’s wondrous grace

Assurance and Joy of Salvation Secured by Divine Provisions

English333
1
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
 
But “I know Whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”
2
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His word
Wrought peace within my heart.
3
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
4
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
5
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noon-day fair,
Nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him,
Or “meet Him in the air.”

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Olubunmi Afolabi

Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

Sep 2, 2026

Thank you for keeping this hymn alive.

I am encouraged by this hymn; for I know that the Lord is able to keep me true to the end.

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Ron H Steele

Chilliwack, BC, Canada

Jul 8, 2026

An old hymn but " 'tis old yet ever new.

Thanks for providing this hymn

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Lois

Jun 19, 2026

This song truly blesses my heart. Thanks so much! I wish we had more songs like these in our worship services today. Thank YOU for keeping the flame ablaze through this Ministry. God’s blessings- always!

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Jobie

Indiana, United States

Jan 8, 2026

Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
for You are with me.
You lead me
in the paths of righteousness
for Your name's sake

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Un Hermano

Oct 19, 2025

a. Having Made Us Alive Together with Christ for Our Salvation by Grace

God has made us alive together with Christ for our salvation by grace. In Ephesians 2:5 Paul says, “Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). ” The salvation by grace here is not merely the salvation from God’s judgment, condemnation, and the lake of fire; it is the salvation that saves us to the uttermost ( Heb. 7:25 ), the salvation that saves us from anything that suppresses, oppresses, enslaves, or holds us back.

As sinners, we need God’s forgiveness and justification, but as those who are dead in offenses and sins ( Eph. 2:1 ), we need to be made alive. Forgiveness and justification bring us back to God’s presence to enjoy His grace and participate in His life, whereas being made alive causes us, the living members of the Body of Christ, to express Him. God made us alive by imparting His eternal life, which is Christ Himself ( Col. 3:4 ), into our dead spirit through His Spirit of life ( Rom. 8:2 ). God enlivened us together when He enlivened the crucified Jesus. Therefore, He made us alive together with Christ.

In Ephesians 2:5 Paul says, “By grace you have been saved. ” Grace is free; here it denotes not only God freely dispensed into us for our enjoyment but also God’s action in freely saving us. By such grace we have been saved out of our wretched position of death into the marvelous realm of life.

We were saved not only as sinners but also as dead persons, and not only by Christ’s death with its redemption but also by His resurrection with its resurrection life, and even by His ascension with its transcendency. This is the transcending salvation given to the dead sinners by the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ, the very embodiment of the processed Triune God. Such a salvation produces the church as the issue of the processed Divine Trinity for His expression.

The Conclusion of the New Testament:

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ,

Message 335 (LSM) Volume 2

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James Irikefe

Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria

Jun 15, 2025

It's one of the hymns that refreshes my soul, considering His love and wondrous works in my life.

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Mary Bonsu

Amakom, Kumasi, Ghana

Jun 10, 2025

How sinful I am, but He found it Worth in saving me

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Samuel O'Inyang

Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria

Jun 6, 2025

God is a the only true lover of humanity

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

May 23, 2025

In the past, when I sang this song I only thought of my faith and that I had confidence in the Lord keeping me. I believe there is more here. The chorus of this hymn is quoting 2 Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”. What boldness Paul had in preaching the gospel even in suffering. Even if he died trying he was confident the Lord had his back. When we consider God’s grace and our former pitiful condition, we must say “I know not how and I know not why He saved me. Then by this very grace we must preach the gospel.

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Lanae

Mar 14, 2025

The vale or valley refers to the valley of the shadow of death from Psalm 23.

We don't know if we will have to do through death or whether Jesus will come on the clouds first and we'll meet him in the air. BUt we do have a wonderful Savior who will bring us safely through whichever one God has planned for us!

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