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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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Thou Magnet of my soul

Longings For Christ

English356
1
Thou Magnet of my soul!
Let me come nearer, till
The life of self pulsates no more,
But is forever still.
2
Thou Sunshine of my heart!
Fill Thou each crevice there,
And let Thy garden yield to Thee
A fragrance sweet and rare.
3
Thou Ransomer from death!
Possess Thy ransomed one:
Appropriate to Thine Own use
The spoil that Thou hast won.
4
Thou Lord of Life and Light!
I bow beneath Thy sway,
And count it holy privilege
Thy precepts to obey.
5
Thou Gift unspeakable!
Straight from God’s heart of love;
I break my heart to give Thee room
And thus Thy sweetness prove.

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Un Hermano

Feb 21, 2026

(5) Looking unto Jesus Who Is Now Seated at the Right Hand of the Throne of God in the Heavens

-----------------------

The believers run the course of the race also by “looking away unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2). The Greek word translated “looking away unto” means to look with undivided attention by turning away from every other object. The runners in a race should turn away from everything else and look at the goal with undivided attention. We need to turn away from everything other than Christ and look to Him with undivided attention. This is the way to run the race.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look away unto Jesus, “the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ” In the book of Hebrews Paul points us particularly to the Christ seated in heaven with so many aspects to care for us in every way. If we would enjoy this heavenly Christ, we need to look away from all things on earth unto Him who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. By His death and resurrection He accomplished everything that is needed for both God and us. Now in His ascension He is sitting in the heavens as the Son of God (Heb. 1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all things (1:2), the anointed One of God (1:9), the Captain of our salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (2:11), the instant Helper and constant Succor (2:18), the Apostle from God (3:1), the High Priest (2:17 ; 4:14 ; 7:26), the Minister in the true tabernacle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (8:6), the surety and the Mediator of a better covenant (7:22 ; 8:6 ; 12:24), the Executor of the new testament (9:16-17), the Forerunner (6:20), the Author and Perfecter of faith (12:2), and as the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20). If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive One, He, ministering heaven, life, and strength to us, will transfuse and infuse us with all that He is to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth, carrying us through all the lifelong pathway and leading and bringing us into glory (2:10).

The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9), is the greatest attraction in the universe, like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers unto Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him that we may run with endurance the race which is set before us.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament: The Believers,
Message 171 The Believers—Their Present
(LSM)

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Un Hermano

Feb 21, 2026

E. By Looking unto Jesus Who Is Now Seated at the Right Hand of the Throne of God in the Heavens

-------------

The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and “crowned with glory and honor” (2:9) is the greatest attraction in the universe, like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers unto Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him. Without such a charming object, how could we look away from so many distracting things on this earth?

Life-study of Hebrews
Message 50 Run the Race
(LSM)

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Maisha Parkar

Pflugerville, Texas, United States

Dec 23, 2023

Thus Thy sweetness prove

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Alexzandrea

TX, United States

Aug 1, 2022

Such precious sweetness He proves to us. His love is a Gift unspeakable!

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Konrad

Apr 25, 2021

🔥

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Jerrylou Salzmann

Yakima, WA, United States

Feb 25, 2020

I've a fairly comprehensive enjoyment/knowledge of our hymns, but do not recall this GEM STONE among them. Quite a prayer of consecration, and an inspiration to PURSUE CHRIST!! ♥️♥️♥️

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Ashley

Texas, United States

Feb 12, 2020

I break my heart to give Thee room Lord amen

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Jeffrey

Los Angeles, California, United States

May 30, 2019

Thou Magnet of my soul!
Let me come nearer, till
The life of self pulsates no more,
But is forever still.

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Ana Lara

Tolland, Connecticut, United States

Jan 20, 2019

Robert Jackson was born in May 1842 in Lancashire, England and died July 12, 1914 in Oldham, Lancashire, England. He attended The Royal Academy of Music at Saint Mark’s Church at Grovenor Square in London. He also played in the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

In 1868, he took over his father’s duties as organist in St. Peter’s Church. He played there for the next 46 years. Together between them, they served almost an entire century. He also served in the Oldham Musical Society from 1891-1906.

Jackson has composed the music for well known hymns such as: Come and Rejoice with me, Jesus Fountain of my Days, Jesus I Live to Thee, I come to Thee Dear Lord, O Lord I’ve Seen Your Worth and many more found in this hymnal.

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Nelson Liu

Irvine, CA, United States

Dec 23, 2018

Straight from God’s heart of love!

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