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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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Father, ’twas Thy love that knew us

Worship of the Father His Election

English34
1
Father, ’twas Thy love that knew us
Earth’s foundation long before:
That same love to Jesus drew us
By its sweet constraining pow’r,
And will keep us, and will keep us,
Safely now, and evermore,
Safely now, and evermore.
2
Now that changeless love enfolds us,
All its wealth on us bestows;
While its pow’r unchanging holds us
In a holy calm repose.
God and Father, God and Father,
Unto Thee our worship flows,
Unto Thee our worship flows.
3
God of love, our souls adore Thee!
We would still Thy grace proclaim,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
And in glory praise Thy name;
Praise and worship, praise and worship
Be to God and to the Lamb!
Be to God and to the Lamb!

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Jun 18, 2026

James George Deck was born in Suffolk, England. His father was a postmaster and their Godly Huguenot heritage came through in Mrs. Deck’s piety. She never punished her children without first praying with them. Every evening she prayed alone to God for her children and grandchildren, and she had the joy of seeing everyone come to Christ. As a teenager, James went through officer’s training in Paris, under one of Napoleon‘s generals and was commissioned to India in 1824 as an officer in the E. India Company in the 14th Madras Native Infantry. At this time, he struggled with the belief in God because of all the negative experience. Later, he remembered his mother reading about Jesus and His love and grace. Deck’s conviction led him to become a moral and righteous person, but he could not follow through in his commitment. In 1826, stricken by cholera, he returned home a sick and humbled young man, his ambition had been to become a heroic soldier and to represent his hometown in Parliament, but the sickly 19 year-old on a stretcher did not look too gallant or dynamic. His sister Clara had recently been converted listening to an evangelical Anglican and she brought James to hear him. There he was brought under the power of the gospel and was converted. All things passed away, and all things became new. His life’s ambition then being to follow Jesus and win souls for the Kingdom. Three years later, he married a Godly young lady named Alicia Field. Returning to India he made a bold stand witnessing alongside other Christian officers, and several soldiers became believers through his work. In 1833, he met Anthony Norris Groves, who may have influenced him in a major way. Distressed by a conflict of interests, he saw the goals of the military vs. the goals of Christianity. James took a stand for non-resistance and resigned his commission in the army. He returned to England in 1835 with his wife and two children intending to become a clergyman like his father-in-law Samuel Field. While staying with him at the Vicarage of Hatherleigh in Devon, James’s second son was Christened. In conversation, Field complained to his son-in-law about those troublesome Baptists. This stirred his curiosity to go to the Word of God to find what it said about baptism and the sprinkling of infants. What he found turned him against the errors in the “Prayer Book. ” How could he ever be ordained as an Anglican priest to something he could never consent to? “all and everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer” He told Alicia, “I have left the army to become become a clergyman but now I see that the Church of England is contrary to the Word of God. What shall we do? ” She replied “Whatever you believe to be the will of God, do it at any cost. ” Leaving the Anglican Church and future in a salaried pastorate, James and Alicia were baptized by immersion as believers. Having left the state church, he began to preach Christ wherever possible all the while trusting the Lord to supply the young family’s material needs. His son would later testify that his parents enjoyed “a trust, never disappointed. ” James preached in the nearby villages. It was in Devon that he contacted simple gatherings of Christians and acquired both lifelong friendships and settled convictions about what the Church is. Moving to Somerset, he labored in the gospel in villages around Taunton. This was a happy time of blending and building-up. In that part of England singing became a trademark of the Awakening. During the period of 1838 to 1844 Deck penned his hymns: Abba! Father! We Approach Thee; Lamb of God! Our Souls Adore Thee; Jesus We Remember Thee; and A Little While! Our Lord Shall Come. The themes of worship, consecration and our Lord‘s return were prominent. Deck’s hymns were published as Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1842. In 1838, George Wigram published a collection of hymns called “Hymns for the Poor of the Flock. ” In 1856, The most common edition was later edited by Darby in 1881. The Little Flock Hymnbook has 44 hymns by Deck and one by his sister.

(J. Bjorlie)

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Francis Y Chow

Church In New York City, United States

Dec 28, 2025

God of love, our souls adore You! Thank You for loving us before foundation of earth

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Melaina Desimone

Norman, Oklahoma, United States

Nov 16, 2025

unto thee our worship flows!

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Un Hermano

Jun 3, 2025

VI. SERVING GOD AND THE LAMB

Revelation 22:3 also says, “His slaves will serve Him. ” To serve God and the Lamb will also be a blessing to God’s redeemed in eternity. The pronoun Him in this verse refers to God and the Lamb; God and the Lamb are one in eternity. It is the same with His in the next verse.

VII. SEEING THE FACE OF GOD

Verse 4 says, “And they will see His face. ” This also is a blessing to God’s redeemed in eternity. The His in this verse refers to both God and the Lamb. Seeing His face means seeing the face of God and the Lamb.

VIII. HAVING THE NAME OF GOD AND THE LAMB ON THEIR FOREHEADS

God’s redeemed will have the name of God and the Lamb on their foreheads (v. 4). This is still another blessing of God’s redeemed in eternity. We will not have two names; we will have just one name, the name of God and the Lamb. This is similar to Matthew 28:19, which speaks of being baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In eternity both God and the Lamb will have one name. Because we belong to Him, this name will be written on our foreheads forever. Not only will we belong to Him; we will also be one with Him.

Life-study of Revelation

Message 66 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Jun 3, 2025

A. The Throne of God and of the Lamb

Revelation 22:1 says, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. ” The throne of God and of the Lamb, showing that there is one throne for both God and the Lamb, indicates that God and the Lamb are one—the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer. In eternity the very God who sits on the throne is our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction. This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, who is symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself into His redeemed under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity.

Notice that there are not two thrones, one for God and another for the Lamb. According to the traditional terms used in Christianity, the reference to God and the Lamb means that two distinct persons, God and the Lamb, are on one throne. How could God and the Lamb sit on one throne? Do They sit side by side? In 21:23 we find a clue to the correct answer to these questions. In this verse God is likened to light, and the Lamb is likened to a lamp. The light and the lamp cannot be separated; neither can they stand side by side. Rather, the light shines out from within the lamp. Therefore, God as the light is in the Lamb as the lamp. God and the Lamb are not sitting side by side; rather, the very God is within the Lamb as the lamp and shines out through Him.

Life-study of Revelation

Message 65 (LSM)

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Christian M

McKinney, TX, United States

Nov 6, 2022

God of love, our souls adore Thee!

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Billy Bob Jones Jr.

Nov 14, 2021

Be to God and to the Lamb!

Lord we will praise you till the end of our days.

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Nancy Northrup

Crescent City, CA, United States

Apr 21, 2021

The writer of this hymn died in 1884, when there wasn't as much clarity about God's economy. The line in stanza 3, "Till we cast our crowns before Thee," is a problem. The hymn is all about the saints love for the Father, and has nothing to do with the angels. According to Rev. 4, it is not WE the believers, but the 24 ANGELIC ELDERS who cast their crowns before the Man on the throne. "According to the preceding verses, this section of the holy Word implies that when the redeemed saints--represented by the man among the 4 living creatures who are redeemed--have been perfected and glorified to be the proper priests and kings (20:6), the temporary priests and kings, the 24 angelic elders, will resign from their offices... (RcV, v. 10 fn. 1)." This error can be corrected by just changing the line to, "AS WE GATHER HERE BEFORE THEE, and in glory praise Thy name."

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Nkemdilim Umezude

Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Jan 5, 2020

Unto thee our worship flows!

Thank you Lord that you are the only one we worship! Keep us looking into you! The author! The finisher of our faith!!

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Tamara Paulding

Irondale, AL, United States

Mar 24, 2019

God of love, our souls adore Thee!
We would still Thy grace proclaim,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
And in glory praise Thy name;
Praise and worship, praise and worship
Be to God and to the Lamb!
Be to God and to the Lamb!

Read more