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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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Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him

Consecration Attracted by the Lord’s Beauty

English437
1
Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?
Is not thine a captured heart?
Chief among ten thousand own Him;
Joyful choose the better part.
 
Captivated by His beauty,
Worthy tribute haste to bring;
Let His peerless worth constrain thee,
Crown Him now unrivaled King.
2
Idols once they won thee, charmed thee,
Lovely things of time and sense;
Gilded thus does sin disarm thee,
Honeyed lest thou turn thee thence.
3
What has stripped the seeming beauty
From the idols of the earth?
Not a sense of right or duty,
But the sight of peerless worth.
4
Not the crushing of those idols,
With its bitter void and smart;
But the beaming of His beauty,
The unveiling of His heart.
5
Who extinguishes their taper
Till they hail the rising sun?
Who discards the garb of winter
Till the summer has begun?
6
’Tis that look that melted Peter,
’Tis that face that Stephen saw,
’Tis that heart that wept with Mary,
Can alone from idols draw:
7
Draw and win and fill completely,
Till the cup o’erflow the brim;
What have we to do with idols
Who have companied with Him?

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Pam C

San Diego, CA, United States

Mar 3, 2026

This hymn has grown in sweetness through the years. The entire hymn deeply touches me but one particular line from the chorus stands out and comes back to me in timely ways - "Let His peerless worth constrain thee". This speaks to me about our cooperation in being constrained by His peerless worth. It reminds me of scripture that include the word "let". For example, "Let high praises...." (Psa 149:6); "Let love..." (Rom 12:9); "Let this mind..." (Phi 2:5); "And let the peace"... " Let the word...." (Col 3:15-16). Oh Lord, captivate me/us more by Your beauty, Your peerless worth today.

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Jan 17, 2026

I saw this hymn in a different way this morning. It starts with some very important questions. Have you heard Him? Have you seen Him? Have you known Him? The Apostle John would say yes! This hymn is the experience of the author and John as recorded in 1 John.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; )

This beautiful man that John saw in the flesh we now know by His Spirit. He is beautiful and captivating. Without seeing Him and knowing Him I could not give up my idols. What a key experience in our Christian life! This experience leads to deeper love and consecration.

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Ray Stump

Waco, TX, United States

Nov 15, 2025

How can we be divine and shining too if our heart is veiled? And if our heart is veiled, our gospel is veiled, and our mouth, shut up, defeats us. The heavens opened for Stephen. He saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus at the throne — standing! The people were in one accord against him, but he would not speak a word against them. Even while being stoned to death, he prayed for them. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake… to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:5, 6b).

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Un Hermano

Nov 13, 2025

c. The Full Romance in Song of Songs

Among the 39 books in the Old Testament, there is one book called the Song of Songs. Song of Songs is more than a romance; it is a fantastic romance. Have you ever read a romance like the Song of Songs? As far as I am concerned, the Song of Songs is the finest romance. It speaks of two people who fall in love. Although I do not like to use this term, “fall in love, ” I cannot deny the fact. In Song of Songs we find a woman falling in love with a man saying, “Oh, that he might kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. I am thirsty for this. ” Immediately, her beloved is at hand, and the pronoun changes from “he” to “you” (S. S. 1:2-3). “Your name is sweet, and your love is better than wine. Draw me, my beloved. Don’t teach me, draw me. I don’t need a pastor or a preacher. I don’t need an elder or even an apostle. I need you to draw me. Draw me, we will run after you. ” What a romance!

In the case of Adam and Eve we saw that the couple had one source, one nature, one life, and one living. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea we saw that God desires to have a wife who will live together with Him. God longs to have a marriage life, to have divinity live together with humanity. But His people failed Him. In Song of Songs, however, we see the genuine marriage life. What is the secret of such a romance? The secret is that the wife must take her husband not only as her life and her living, but as her person.

Life-study of Romans

Message 1 (LSM)

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Eric Chong

Rohnert Park, CA, United States

Nov 1, 2025

There is no comparison to the One of peerless worth. Thank You Lord for Your constraining love!

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張恒睿

Taipei, Beitou, Taiwan

Jul 30, 2025

Really enjoyed this hymn

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Colleen

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Mar 10, 2025

The beaming of His beauty, the unveiling of His heart

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Deidre Johnson

Vista, CA, United States

Jan 3, 2025

Have you HEARD HIM? His beauty CAPTIVATES us! And he has PEERLESS WORTH! UNRIVALED!

These are uplifted human virtues in Him after hHis resurrection and divine attributes that we cannot attain in ourselves! Thank and praise the Lord, “We need Jesus, more and more and more! ”

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Avram Liban

Quezon City, NCR, Philippines

Nov 18, 2024

Lord keep captivating us with Your beauty.

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Selene Leyva Hernandez

Fort Stockton, TX, United States

Jun 2, 2024

Lord thank You in You is all the fullness

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