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About Numbered Notation

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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More love to Thee, O Lord

Longings For Love to Christ

English368
1
More love to Thee, O Lord,
More love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
2
Once earthly joy I craved,
Sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek,
Give what is best;
This all my prayer shall be:
More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
3
Let sorrow do its work,
Send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers,
Sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me,
More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
4
Then shall my latest breath
Whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry
My heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!

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James Adisa

Jos, Nigeria

Aug 7, 2020

Let's simply to desire to keep loving Christ no matter what may come our way. If it pleases the Lord to send suffering our way to test or try our faith, we should ask God to remain faithful to him, knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose. More love to thee, O Lord.

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Henrich Brockhaus

Bellingham, United States

Jun 17, 2020

Steve Miller Sept 21, 2013 quotes: „But despite her many blessings, Prentiss' life was not easy. She suffered from severe headaches and chronic insomnia. One of her children suddenly died, and a short time later a 2nd child died. At this, Prentiss cried in anguish, "Our home is broken up, our lives wrecked, our hopes shattered, our dreams dissolved. I don't think I can stand living for another moment." Her hymn indicates she learnt to live with, to accept God’s ways, how difficult they are to understand, and trust Him all the more.

On Feb 27, 2020 He adds his own thought: „This is a beautiful hymn, but I think stanza 3 line 2 is too much. We should not pray for the Lord to send us grief and pain. Nor should we pray things that we don't really mean. ”

Here is the beginning of the third stanza:

“Let sorrow do its work,

Send grief and pain; (other, original(? ), come grief and pain;

Sweet are Thy messengers, …. ”

Eno-Obong Udo April 11, 2020 “Dear STEVE Miller, that stanza 3 is very important and it's an integral part of our Christian walk here on the earth. Christ said ‘in this world there would be tribulation’". He didn't say to always pray against... but to live in peace inspite of it. Evil is bound to happen…. ”

Hannah, May 4, 2020 responds in a similar vein “Christians are refined by trials of various sorts…. ”

Both responses talk about a Biblical truth, but neither one is an answer to Steve’s statement.

Steve finds it wrong, to ask for grief and pain. And it is wrong. It smacks of arrogance, self-deceit or even hubris. Prentiss is not, I am sure, a masochist (glutton for punishment). ”Punish me some more, I can take, it is good for me! ” As we saw above, she couldn’t take it.

Line 2 ends with a semicolon and not with an exclamation mark that normally follows an imperative (command form). Line 1 cannot be separated from line 2. Of course, there is great sorrow accompanying the grief and pain caused by the loss of a child and then a second one. Prentiss is not asking for more grief and pain, she is saying in a shortened form, caused by the demands of metric considerations: “Let sorrow do its work” (sorrow is needed for overcoming and healing), NO MATTER, YOU “send grief and pain; ” This is similar to: Let the game take place, NO MATTER, come rain, come shine. Nobody would be so foolish to mistake these two “come” for an imperative, there is no exclamation mark.

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Oluwayanju

Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria

May 12, 2020

Stanza 3 is a sound biblical mystery. I think that was what Paul was writing about in 2 Cor 12: 7–10, Phil. 3: 10. The spirit of those verses forbids us from praying against sorrow, rather it gives us the victory over it and the blessings of it.

If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.

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Hannah

AR, United States

May 4, 2020

Amen and I agree, Mr. Eno-Obong Udo.

Christians are refined by trials of various sorts, if we are faithful in them by the grace of God. No trials, little progress. But with many trials, there is opportunity for much growth to become Christ-like! If we truly want to be made more like Christ (who loved and obeyed the Father to the fullest degree, that is perfectly) we can pray for refinement. Refinement comes through hardship- the crucifying of the flesh. May we also pray humbly for the grace to endure well.

I question, "What is love?" One definition might be to seek the highest good of another with no thought to one's self. Is Christ not glorified when we suffer well in His name? Is it not in the midst of trials and testings and adversity when we can reflect Christ the most? Love is laying one's own life down for another. As Christians, we must lay our own selfish desires, comforts, expectations down in our loyalty to Christ and Father and Holy Spirit.

"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8 (NASB)

May we learn obedience too, from the things which we suffer. "Send what will enable me to love You more, LORD."

More love to Christ!

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Eno-Obong Udo

Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria

Apr 11, 2020

Dear STEVE Miller, that stanza 3 is very important and it's an integral part of our Christian walk here on the earth.

Christ said "in this world there would be tribulation". He didn't say to always pray against... but to live in peace inspite of it. Evil is bound to happen.

Difficulties and tribulations produces character and character produces perseverance and perseverance strengthens our hope. And whoever has this hope will not be disappointed.

So let sorrow do its work.

Amen

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Anonymous

Apr 3, 2020

Then shall my latest breath
Whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry
My heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Lord, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!

Read more
Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Feb 27, 2020

This is a beautiful hymn, but I think stanza 3 line 2 is too much. We should not pray for the Lord to send us grief and pain. Nor should we pray things that we don't really mean.

Read more
Renyta Suwuh

Austin, Texas, United States

Feb 16, 2020

This all my prayer shall be, more love oh Lord to Thee. I love You Lord Jesus!

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Frank Pytel

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Jan 7, 2020

“I will give you my loves” – S. of S. 7:12. The bride gives love upon love to the Beloved Christ both in her hidden private fellowship with Him, and in her union with Him in activities of public service to sinners in the field, seekers in the vineyards and discouraged ones in the wilderness. Inwardly and outwardly, her desire is more loves to Him!

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Chris Abraham

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Jul 18, 2019

This still its prayer shall be:

More love, O Lord, to Thee,

Read more