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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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I’ve turned my back upon the world

Consecration Separated unto the Lord

English438
1
I’ve turned my back upon the world
With all its idle pleasures,
And set my heart on better things,
On higher, holier treasures;
No more its glitter and its glare,
And vanity shall blind me;
I’ve crossed the separating line,
And left the world behind me.
 
Far, far behind me!
Far, far behind me!
I’ve crossed the separating line,
And left the world behind me.
2
I’ve left the old sad life of sin,
Its follies all forsaken;
My standing place is now in Christ,
His holy vows I’ve taken;
Beneath the standard of the cross
The world henceforth shall find me;
I’ve passed in Christ from death to life,
And left the world behind me.
 
Far, far behind me!
Far, far behind me!
I’ve passed in Christ from death to life,
And left the world behind me.
3
My soul shall ne’er return again
Back to its former station
For here alone is perfect peace,
And rest from condemnation;
I’ve made exchange of masters now,
The vows of glory bind me,
And once for all I’ve left the world,
Yes, left the world behind me.
 
Far, far behind me!
Far, far behind me!
And once for all I’ve left the world,
Yes, left the world behind me.
4
My choice is made forevermore,
I want no other Savior;
I ask no purer happiness
Than His sweet love and favor;
My heart is fixed on Jesus Christ,
No more the world shall blind me;
I’ve crossed the Red Sea of His death,
And left the world behind me.
 
Far, far behind me!
Far, far behind me!
I’ve crossed the Red Sea of His death,
And left the world behind me.

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Miguel Soltero Jr.

Farmington, MI, United States

Apr 22, 2026

Lord, I want to set my heart on the better things-the higher, holier treasures. You are now my standing place! My heart is fixed on Jesus Christ, I've left the world behind me!

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Un Hermano

Nov 14, 2025

NOT LOVING THE WORLD

In 2:15 John charges us not to love the world or the things in the world. He tells us that if we love the world, love for the Father is not in us. Not loving the world is the ground for overcoming the evil one. However, if we love the world, this will give the evil one the ground to occupy us. Whenever we open ourselves to the world, to Satan’s anti-God system, we lose the battle against him.

THE THINGS IN THE WORLD

In verse 16 John speaks concerning the things in the world: “Because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. ” The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body; the lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes; and the vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, and display of material things, of the present life. These are the components of the world.

TWO TRINITIES

According to the Bible, the world is against the Father ( v. 15 ), the devil is against the Son ( 3:8 ), and the flesh is against the Spirit ( Gal. 5:17 ). On the one hand, we have the Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. On the other hand, we have an evil trinity—the world, Satan, and the flesh. If we enjoy the Divine Trinity, we will have nothing to do with the evil trinity.

THE FATHER AND HIS WILL

First John 2:17 goes on to say, “And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. ” As the world is against God the Father, so the things in the world ( v. 15 ), which are its lust, are against the will of God. On the positive side, we have the Father and His will. On the negative side, we have the world and all the things in the world. The world is against the Father, and the things in the world are against the will of the Father.

According to John’s word in verse 17 , the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. To do the will of God is to do it habitually and continually, not merely occasionally. The world, its lust, and those who love the world are passing away. But God, His will, and those who do His will abide forever.

Life-study of First John

Message 20 (LSM)

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Brian Law

Singapore, Woodlands

Mar 15, 2025

🙏

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Chukwuma Okonkwo

Onitsha, Anambra, Nigeria

Sep 9, 2024

Great hymn, telling us to leave the world with all its pleasures behind us. And we have passed in Christ from death to life.

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Aug 16, 2024

I believe I crossed the line and left the world behind me at my baptism. But I still constantly need to experience this line as the cross.

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Nelson Liu

Irvine, CA, United States

Mar 9, 2024

I’ve crossed the separating line, and left the world behind me.

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Abiding

Salem, OR, United States

Oct 19, 2021

Lord Jesus! transform our soul and conform us to Your image until every word of this hymn becomes our daily experiential reality.

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Jeffrey Hall

Sterling, MA, United States

Nov 28, 2020

So far reaching into our being to realize our new true position, We have been bought with a price, brothers and sisters, as blood bought children we are being transformed to become many sons, in oness for the Kingdom of God!

Now comes the tough part, NO LOOKING BACK! We'll follow Him..............

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One Who Found Grace In The Lord

Metro Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines

Oct 30, 2020

Look away to Jesus!

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Andrea Carla Haway

Lucena City, Quezon, Philippines

Oct 28, 2020

Stanza 2:
I've left the old sad life of sin,
Its follies all forsaken;

["... And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." John 8:11]

My standing place is now in Christ,

His holy vows I've taken;

["Through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and boast because of the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:2]

Beneath the standing of the cross

The world henceforth shall find me;

["But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." Galatians 6:14]

I've passed in Christ from death to life,

And left the world behind me.

["We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4]

["In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:21]

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