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About Numbered Notation

Numbered Notation (also called Jianpu, 简谱) writes each melody note as a number from 1 to 7 instead of a note on a staff. The number shows the note's position in the song's scale -- not its exact pitch -- so the same tune looks identical no matter what key it's sung in.

Within one octave, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 correspond to the familiar do re mi fa sol la ti. A dot above a number raises it an octave higher; a dot below lowers it an octave lower -- no dot means the middle, as-written octave.

A plain number lasts one beat. A dash (-) right after a number holds that same note for one more beat. A line underneath a number shortens it instead -- one line is half a beat, two lines a quarter of a beat. A 0 is a rest: silence for one beat.

The label at the top of the sheet, like "1=C" or "1=Ab", shows which pitch scale degree 1 ("do") is tuned to. A song in a minor key is labeled "6=X" instead -- scale degree 6 ("la") is the true tonic. Chord names printed above the notes (like "C" or "G7") always use their familiar letter names, never numbers.

For example, under a "1=C" heading, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sound as C D E F G A B. Under a "1=G" heading, those very same numbers sound as G A B C D E F# instead -- same shape, different key.

Abide with me! fast falls the eventide

Longings For Fellowship with Christ

English370
1
Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
2
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
3
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings;
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings:
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea;
Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.
4
I need Thy presence every passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me.
5
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless:
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

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Elvira

Malawi

Dec 16, 2022

Thank you.

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Paul Oyekunle Onipede

Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria

Nov 26, 2022

This is a spirit-filled hymn that has not ceased to bring still to my heart since I've been rehearsing it. The Rev. Francis Henry Lyte was indeed a born hymnodist! May God continue to abide with him and all of us!

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Daisy Lafall

Stanton, California, United States

Sep 21, 2022

Fantastic hymn

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Sarita Samson

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Aug 30, 2022

6. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me
Abide with me, abide with me

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Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

Aug 19, 2022

Reverend Francis Lyte handed this hymn to a family member along with a tune he composed on the last day he preached to his congregation before going to be with the Lord.

It wasn’t until eight years later that Henry Ward Beecher introduced it to American Congregationalists, and fourteen years after his death that it began to be sung in England.

Before dying, Lyte wrote these words, the work of a dying man who had hoped he might not be “wholly mute and useless” while lying in his bed and who had prayed—

O Thou whose touch can lend

Life to the dead, The quickening grace supply,

And grant me swan-like my last breath to spend in song that may not die!

His prayer was answered by the Lord. Henry William Monk wrote the melody that propelled this hymn to great heights and revealed to the world its immortal value.

By the time it had gained recognition in England, it was tuneless and the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) realized the need for a tune and asked Dr. Henry Monk, their music director, to write it. “In ten minutes, ” it is said, “Dr. Monk composed the sweet, pleading chant that is wedded permanently to Lyte’s swan song. ”

William Henry Monk, Doctor of Music, was born in London, 1823. His musical education began at an early age and was extensive. At the age of 26 he was organist and Choir Director in Kings College, London. Elected in 1876 to be professor of the National Training School, he became actively interested in popular musical education, delivering lectures around educational institutions and establishing choral services. His hymn-tunes are found in many song manuals of the English Church as well as Scotland and several have gone to America.

Dr. Monk died in 1889.

(Brown and Butterworth)

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Ajiboye Oluranti

Owode -Ede, Osun, Nigeria

Aug 8, 2022

What a song of consolation!
What a song I love to hear!
What a song I love to sing!
Abide with me, abide with me.
Abide with me O Lord.
Abide with me forever and ever!

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Belinda

Johannesburg, South Africa

Aug 1, 2022

Thank you so much Adriel Lowe for adding the 6 th verse. A triumphant end to a beautiful hymn.

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Elizabeth Kafweleketa

Kabwe, Central, Zambia

Jul 18, 2022

Nice

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Adriel Lowe

Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana

Feb 12, 2022

Verse 6
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

This is such a wonderful soothing song dripping with scriptural assurances. Our God is a great God and Jesus came to ensure we understood, that God became flesh because of His desire to abide with you and me. Forever!

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Chidiebere Anosike

Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria

Nov 21, 2021

"when other helpers fail and comfort flees help of the helpless O! abide with me" my energy would expire, the arm of flesh would be confronted by its inadequacies but their is a lender of last resort. Never fails, ever present help. This assurance is all I need each day.

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