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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 Tempo menu slows it down without changing the pitch.

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From pray’r that asks that I may be

Longings For Deliverance from Self

English418
1
From pray’r that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From falt’ring when I should climb high’r,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.
2
From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified),
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.
3
Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, O flame of God.

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Un Hermano

Mar 29, 2026

C. With Endurance

----------

There is much opposition to this race. Thus, we must run it with endurance (12:1). This means that in order to run the race of Christ, we must suffer the opposition with endurance, never growing weary or fainting in our souls.

D. By Looking Away from All Things

In verse 2 Paul told the Hebrew believers to look away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith. 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, such as the hundred yard dash, turn away from everything else and look at the goal with undivided attention. In this verse Paul seemed to be saying, “Hebrew brothers, do not stand there considering and looking around. You must turn away from everything other than Christ and look to Him with undivided attention. This is the way to run the race. ” The Hebrew believers had to look away from all the things of their situation, away from their old religion and its persecution, and away from all earthly things that they might look unto Jesus who is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God in the heavens.

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

Paul told the Hebrew believers 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. ” From 1:3 , this book points us continually to the Christ seated in heaven. In all his other epistles, Paul mainly presents to us the Christ who dwells in our spirit (Rom. 8:10 ; 2 Tim. 4:22) as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45 , ASV) to be our life and our everything. But in this book, he points us particularly to the Christ seated in heaven with so many aspects to care for us in every way. In Paul’s other epistles, the indwelling Christ is versus our flesh, self, and natural man. In this book, the heavenly Christ is contrasted with the earthly religion and all earthly things. To experience the indwelling Christ we need to turn to our spirit and contact Him. To enjoy the 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 has accomplished everything that is needed for both God and us. Now in His ascension He is sitting in the heavens, in the Person of the Son of God (1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), in the Person of God (1:8) and 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).

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

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Un Hermano

Mar 29, 2026

Let us see how the Lord Jesus ran the race. He, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. ” The Lord Jesus ran straight by looking unto the joy set before Him. What kind of joy is this? He Himself had said, “Good and faithful slave... enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21). This refers to the joy of His millennial reign. According to His holy nature, our Lord is submissive to God. But the Bible also reveals another side of the truth: God’s reward and approval, especially the kingdom, exercised some influence on Him. Our Lord went through all the shame and the cross and never drew back because of the joy set before Him.

Notes on Scriptural Messages
Message 24 Running the Race That Is Set before Us
(LSM)

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Un Hermano

Mar 29, 2026

Jesus, the One we look unto, is such a Jesus. He “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). This is His case. In principle, the process should be the same for us too.

Shame was given to Him by men, and He despised it. The cross was given to Him by God, and He endured it. He was misunderstood, expelled, accused, forsaken, and condemned by people, but He did not care. It was not that the shame was never very severe; the shame He encountered was something ordinary men have never encountered. It was not that His holy emotion did not feel shame when He was insulted; His feeling was probably keener than that of anyone else. However, He despised it; He did not pay attention to the shame. The cross God gave Him was not light. What He went through before men, demons, and angels was not something easy. However, our Lord endured the cross. He took it. He endured it. What was the result? He was victorious to the end and “has sat down on the right hand of the throne, ” waiting for the appearance of glory.

Notes on Scriptural Messages
Message 24 Running the Race That Is Set before Us
CWWN, vol. 17 (LSM)

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Allen In Christ

Lagos, Nigeria

Aug 12, 2019

Oh I haven’t found the vocals to this song, I wish I could sing it! Anyone knows if there is a recording for this song?

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI

Apr 13, 2014

Naturally we like to take the easy way. Amy Carmichael was not this kind of person. She also expected that those who served with her had the same willingness and heart to suffer for the Lord's sake. This hymn has some descriptive expressions such as "silken self," "love of softening things," and "easy choices" which describe the hindrances in following the Lord. - Songs of the Spirit by Martin

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Sid And Ran

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Dec 23, 2010

The piano music is so excellent that it sounds like a live piano being played. It musters all my strength to obtain the mercy and grace of the Supreme Lord and battle the Devil and Satan.

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