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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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Lord, reveal Thyself to me

Longings For Knowing the Flesh

English412
1
Lord, reveal Thyself to me,
That the flesh I’ll fully know;
May Thy grace so work in me,
That in dust I’ll lowly bow.
How I long for victory,
Yet, thru all my life, how weak!
Evil things I cannot leave,
Nor can do the good I seek.
2
Inwardly I want the Lord,
But my conduct hateful is;
Though I would, I cannot change,
O what real bondage ’tis!
By God’s law my sin’s revealed,
But the law of sin doth bind;
Though I struggle to be free,
No release my soul can find.
3
Many times I fall and rise,
Oft resolve, and often fail;
Craving vict’ry, I retreat,
And my sad defeat bewail.
Truly I am sold to sin
And completely powerless;
There’s no good within my flesh,
All is dark and sinfulness.
4
Now I know myself in part,
And confess my helplessness;
All my temperament is odd,
All my life corrupted is.
Subtle self I cannot trust,
Nor to fleshly strength can cling;
All my trust and all my hope
Is in Jesus Christ my King.
5
May the Cross put me to death
That on Christ I may rely;
May His Holy Spirit fill,
That Himself I may apply.
May His death so work in me
Daily deeper than before,
That my self may be destroyed
And His life thru me may pour.
6
O how bitter is my case!
Who this wretched slave can free,
Who deliver from this death,
To a life of victory?
Jesus shed His blood for me,
Christ is now my holiness;
I receive Him as my life
And my portion measureless.
7
Now I’m wholly sanctified,
Selfless, I obey His word;
Nevermore to feel ashamed
When I come before the Lord.
How transcendent is this life!
Grace thru faith He gives to me!
Praise the Lord, He heard my cry
And has made me wholly free.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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Un Hermano

Nov 6, 2025

51. The One Revealed in the Apostle

In Galatians 1:16 Christ is presented as the One revealed in the apostle. When Saul of Tarsus, on his way to Damascus to bind those who call upon the Lord’s name, was opposing Christ and persecuting the churches, Christ appeared to him. When Christ met him there, he saw Christ, was captured by the appearing of Christ, and became Paul the apostle. Years after his conversion, the apostle declared in Galatians 1:15-16 that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. Here Paul did not say that Christ revealed Himself to him but that the Father in His pleasure revealed Christ into Paul. This revelation was not merely an outward vision but an inward seeing. Paul had an inner vision of Christ; inwardly he began to see Christ. This inner vision made him and qualified him to be an apostle in order that he might present the very Christ who had been revealed in him, rather than merely teaching doctrines and theology according to a certain religion.

a. The Apostle Receiving the Gospel through the Revelation of Him

In 1:11-12 Paul says, “I make known to you, brothers, concerning the gospel announced by me, that it is not according to man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation by Jesus Christ. ” These verses reveal that Paul’s gospel was not taught by man, that man was not the source of his gospel, and that he received a marvelous revelation of the gospel directly from the Lord Himself.

The apostle received the gospel through the revelation of Christ. Here the revelation of Christ does not refer merely to a revelation received through Jesus Christ or to the revelation concerning Christ. Rather, it refers to the person of Christ, who was revealed in the apostle. Paul received the gospel through such a personal revelation. Revelation is the opening of the veil in order to show something hidden from view. One day God opened the veil to Paul, and he immediately saw the revealed Christ.

Christ, a living person, is the focus of Paul’s gospel. Hence, the book of Galatians is emphatically Christ-centered. Christ was crucified to redeem us out of the curse of the law and rescue us out of the present evil religious course of the world ( 3:1 , 13 ; 1:4 , 15-16 ). Christ was resurrected from the dead that He might live in us ( v. 1 ; 2:20 ). We were baptized into Christ, being identified with Him, and we have put on Christ, clothing ourselves with Him; thus, we are in Christ and have become of Him ( 3:27-29 ; 5:24 ). Christ has been revealed in us, He is now living in us, and He will be formed in us ( 1:16 ; 2:20 ; 4:19 ). To Christ the law has conducted us, and in Christ we are all sons of God ( 3:24 , 26 ). In Christ we inherit God’s promised blessing and enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit ( v. 14 ). In Christ we all are one ( v. 28 ). We should not be deprived of all profit from Christ and thus be separated, severed, from Him ( 5:4 ). We need Christ to supply us with grace in our spirit that we may live Him ( 6:18 ). God’s desire is that His chosen people receive His Son into them; this is the gospel ( 1:15-16 ; 2:20 ; 4:19 ).

b. It Pleasing God to Reveal Him, the Son of God, in the Apostle

In Galatians 1:15 and 16a Paul says, “It pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me. ” The Son of God, as the embodiment and expression of God the Father ( John 1:18 ; 14:9-11 ; Heb. 1:3 ), is life to us ( John 10:10 ; 1 John 5:12 ; Col. 3:4 ). God’s heart’s desire is to reveal His Son in us that we may know Him, receive Him as our life ( John 17:3 ; 3:16 ), and become the sons of God ( 1:12 ; Gal. 4:5-6 ). As the Son of the living God ( Matt. 16:16 ), He is far superior to Judaism and its traditions ( Gal. 1:13-14 ). The Judaizers had bewitched the Galatians into considering that the ordinances of the law were above the Son of the living God. Hence, in the opening of this Epistle the apostle testified that he had been deeply involved and had become far advanced in the realm of Judaism, but that God had rescued him out of that course of the world, which was evil in God’s eyes, by revealing His Son in him. In his experience he realized that there was no comparison between the Son of the living God and Judaism with its dead traditions handed down from his forefathers.

1) God’s Pleasure to Reveal His Son in Us

In 1:16 Paul emphasizes the fact that the Son of God was revealed in him. This indicates that God’s revealing of His Son to us is in us; it is not outward but inward, not by an outward vision but by an inward seeing. It is not an objective revelation but a subjective one.

Moreover, Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. This indicates that to reveal the Son of God brings pleasure to God. Nothing is more pleasing to God than the unveiling, the revelation, of the living person of the Son of God.

The Conclusion of the New Testament:

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ,

Message 324 Volume 2 (LSM)

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Maurice Ward

Irving, Texas, United States

Feb 5, 2025

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Thank you Lord! Thank you Lord Jesus! I've never ever appreciated this verse but tonight the Lord shined on it. In my desire to change from the wretched man that I am there is Jesus showing again and again that He suffered, was killed, and was raised. His cross and His resurrection is our only answer.

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Brian

Baton Rouge, United States

Apr 25, 2020

Isn’t it so true that when He reveals Himself to us our flesh we fully know? Inwardly we want the Lord but our conduct hateful is. Many times we fall & rise, often resolve & often fail. We see our self & confess our helplessness. May the cross put us to death. May His Holy Spirit fill. May His death so work in us that our self may be destroyed and His life through us may pour. Christ is now our holiness. We receive Him as our life. Soon we will be wholly sanctified. Nevermore ashamed to come before the Lord. Grace through faith He gives to us. Praise the Lord He heard our cry. How we love & thank Him! I really enjoyed singing this to the Lord this morning.

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Toyin Diyan

London, United Kingdom

Sep 15, 2016

Thank You our Saviour Christ Jesus. Good job done; delivering us from death and bringing us into life! What a victory. Thank You. Grow in us until we arrive at Your full stature. Amen!

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T.diyan

London, United Kingdom

Nov 26, 2012

How bitter is our case - wretched slaves; sold to sin, no release our soul can find, all is dark and sinfulness. Who will deliver us from the body of this death! Hallelujah! Jesus shed His blood for us. Now He is our life our portion measureless.

Could we ever stop thanking the Lord for what He has gained and obtained for us? Never! From eternity to eternity we would love Him! What a precious One!

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Frank Pytel

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Jul 5, 2010

This hymn brings out the sorrow and pain we have in the war in Romans 7, and the longing to be released. We all make mistakes in our actions, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Yet here we are captives to something within that is stronger than ourselves. It seems like we can never find freedom in certain areas, even after repeated struggles to be right. This situation can last for years! Romans 7:7-25 uses "I" (27 times), "me" (12 times), "my" (5 times), and "myself" (1 time)to describe all my resources. Christ is only mentioned at the end of the struggle (v.25), wih no mention of the Spirit. How wonderful when Christ is revealed! It is "through Jesus Christ our Lord" (7:25)! It is "in Christ Jesus" (8:1)! It is "Christ in you" (8:10)! "All my trust and all my hope is in Jesus Christ my King!"

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