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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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My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace

Longings For God

English350
1
My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
’Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
2
So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.
3
No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
No matter though the cost be oft-times great,
He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
The way that leads to Him must needs be strait.
4
One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my great Reward.

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Maria L

Fremont, California, United States

Feb 21, 2026

My goal is God Himself, not peace, not joy, not even blessing, but God Himself. Because when I have Him, I have everything: no anxiety, and full enjoyment. Praise the Lord 😀

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Un Hermano

Oct 26, 2025

LOVING THINGS OTHER THAN GOD

If we feel that in a particular environment we are suffering, this indicates that we still love certain things other than God. If we love God uniquely and wholly, we shall not be troubled by any kind of environment. This is the reason the Lord Jesus indicated that we must love Him more than we love our parents, brothers, sisters, wife or children (Matt. 10:37; Luke14:26). If we feel that it would be a suffering to lose our parents, children, wife, or husband, this means that we do not love God solely. It means that we place our love on something or someone other than God. If we love God solely, giving our love entirely to Him, having nothing to divide our love, we shall not be bothered by whatever happens to us.

Suppose you lose your house. Would that be a suffering to you? Would you still be able to praise the Lord, praising Him even for the loss of your house? If losing your house is a suffering and if you would not praise the Lord for it, this indicates that you love your house as well as God, perhaps more than God. If you did not love your house, you would not suffer as a result of losing it. Rather, you would say, “Hallelujah! My house is gone, but my God is not gone. He is more to me now than before. When I had a good house, God was not so much to me. But now that I have lost my house, God has become much more to me. ”

As a father of many children and a grandfather to many more grandchildren, I know that every parent wants his children to be successful. Perhaps you would like your children to be apostles, elders, deacons, or deaconesses, or you may want them to be doctors, lawyers, or computer scientists. But how would you feel if none of your children were an apostle, elder, deacon, or deaconess, or if none of them were in a respected profession? Would you be happy or disappointed? Recently I heard someone praising the Lord that his son had become a medical doctor. But I never heard a parent praising the Lord because his child received a failing grade.

The point of these illustrations is that even seeking Christians may not live a life of jubilee. On the contrary, because they love things other than God, they have suffering instead of enjoyment, satisfaction, and rest.

We all should do our job; however, we should not labor in the sense of struggling to be good, worrying, dreaming, and suffering. We should be able to say, “I only love my God. He is my portion. Nothing and no one apart from Him is my portion. A new car, a nice house, a good promotion, the top salary—all these are not a real portion to me. ”

Life-study of Luke

Message 69 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Oct 25, 2025

C. He Who Opens and Shuts

Verse 7 also says that Christ is the One who “opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open. ” Because the universal key, the key of God’s economy, is in His hand, He opens and shuts.

As we have pointed out, nearly everything found in the book of Revelation is not new but a fulfillment of things revealed in the Old Testament. This is also true of the key of David. Isaiah 22:22-24 is a prophecy concerning Christ as the One who holds the key of David. The deep thought in Christ’s holding the key of David is found there. In Isaiah 22 it was prophesied that Christ would not only be the One holding the key of David, but that He would also be a nail or peg. Very few Christians have heard that Christ is a nail. If you consider the context of Isaiah 22 and if you read the context of the word regarding Christ as the One holding the key of David in Revelation 3 , you will realize that Christ’s holding the key of David is for God’s house, for God’s building. The crucial subject in Isaiah 22 is the house of God. And the epistle to the church in Philadelphia eventually speaks of the New Jerusalem. The overcomers in Philadelphia will be pillars in the temple of God, and the temple of God will ultimately be enlarged into the New Jerusalem. According to Revelation 21:22 , there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, for, in eternity, the temple will be enlarged into a city, which, having three equal dimensions ( 21:16 ), will be the enlargement of the Holy of Holies. This is the ultimate consummation of God’s house. Christ’s holding the key of David, fighting the battle for God, and building the temple and establishing the kingdom of God are all for God’s building.

Christ holds the key of David and He opens and shuts, not that we might be holy or spiritual, but that we might be built up. He does not care for so-called holiness or spirituality. During the past two centuries, certain people claimed to be holy and spiritual. Although they saw something, they were rather short-sighted. Holiness is not for holiness, and spirituality is not for spirituality. Both holiness and spirituality are to enable us to be pillars in the temple of God. Eventually, we shall not bear the name of holiness or spirituality but of the New Jerusalem. In 3:12 the Lord did not say, “I will write holiness upon you, ” or, “I will write spirituality upon you”; He said, “I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ” What we have here is neither holiness nor spirituality but God and the New Jerusalem. God’s purpose is not to make us holy or spiritual; it is to make us part of the New Jerusalem. God already has all the holiness He needs, but He does not yet have the New Jerusalem. God’s desire is not for more spirituality. He is seeking the New Jerusalem. God desires a builded church. He wants today’s Bethel, the house of God which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Are you willing to see this?

Life-study of Revelation

Message 15 (LSM)

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Sister Vali Ruth

Tirane, Albania

May 20, 2022

He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark
Cdo dit' lavdia ime , Zot , je Ti
Dhe ne lavdi do jesh shperblimi im

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Apr 11, 2022

Francis Brook daughter of Reverend James Brook, M. A. , of Helme Edge, Melham, Huddersfield, was born in Bath in 1870. Her interest in Mission was deep, and delicate health alone prevented her from giving her services in the foreign field where two of her sisters were laboring. Her first hymn leaflet was: –

1. There is Singing in the Homeland. It was written in 1895 in memory of the Rev. Robert Stewart and his little band in the Hawa Sang martyrdom of that year. It was printed in the C. M. S. Gleaner March, 1896, No. 163. The original leaflet is entitled “Martyrs of Jesus, Called to be with Christ, at Kuching, S. China, August 1, 1895. ”

2. My Goal is God Himself. [God All in All. ] Written in April, 1896. “The need of a friend called forth and formulated the unspoken attitude of my soul towards God, ‘My Goal is God” (Author’s MS. ), included Hymns of Consecration and Faith, revised edition, 1902, No. 306.

3. My Home is God Himself; Christ brought me there. [ Rest in God. ] Written in Sept. , 1899 “The helpful testimony of another of God’s children, and my own deep of restfulness in Him led me to the truth as expressed in ‘My Home is God’s (Author’s MS. ). It is the most extensively used of the authors leaflets.

4. O Lord, with Thee ‘tis but a little matter. [God the strength of His Labourers. ] In the Church Missionary Hymn Book, 1899, No. 138, having previously appeared in the C. M. S Gleaner, Oct. , 1896, p. 157, as “ Council and strength for the War. A Battle Prayer. ”

Hymnary. org.

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Phoebe Chong

Round Rock, TX, United States

Feb 2, 2021

"He knowth how I best shall reach the mark, The way that leads to Him must needs be strait." It is easy to sing but when it comes to the experience it is really hard to praise and fully be subdue to His leading. But, how blessed we are through this ministry we can be carried on and finishing the course.

"How can you praise God on such days? You cannot praise because you are wounded, suffering pain, and in difficulty. You feel that the most obvious response would be complaint rather than praise. You feel that the most obvious thing to do would be murmur rather than give thanks. You do not feel like praising, and you have no intention to praise. You feel that praise is not suitable under this kind of circumstance and mood. At that very moment, you should remember that Jehovah's throne and His glory has not changed. You should praise Him simply because HE IS WORTHY OF PRAISE." -By Watchman Nee on " Praising".

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Glenn Haman

Manassas, Virginia, United States

May 25, 2020

I was led to sing this hymn after a time of prayer because at the conclusion of my prayer I had the most beautiful realization that God had worked in my heart to only want Him. What a blessed freedom to desire only one thing - God Himself!

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Shane Gabbert

Alamogordo, NM, United States

Mar 12, 2020

At any cost, the union of Spirit with my spirit to rule my soul and flesh only serve to have God, Himself that He would then fully have me.

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Chris Abraham

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Jan 30, 2019

“So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.”

Read more
Rina

Taipei, Taiwan

Sep 25, 2018

O LORD JESUS
Abiding in HIM , HIM in me
Thank LORD save me again and again
Today listen this song feel a creative in spirit
Every thing only towards LORD JESUS

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