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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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In full and glad surrender

Consecration Surrendering All to the Lord

English443
1
In full and glad surrender,
I give myself to Thee,
Thine utterly and only
And evermore to be.
2
O Son of God, who lov’st me,
I will be Thine alone;
And all I have and am, Lord,
Shall henceforth be Thine own!
3
Reign over me, Lord Jesus;
Oh, make my heart Thy throne;
It shall be Thine, dear Savior,
It shall be Thine alone.
4
Oh, come and reign, Lord Jesus,
Rule over everything!
And keep me always loyal,
And true to Thee, my King.

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Un Hermano

Apr 22, 2026

TAKING THE SUBJECTIVE CHRIST
AS OUR LIFE AND OUR PERSON
----------

Practically, we all have to learn how to take Christ as our life and our person. This very Christ who is our life and our person is the life-giving Spirit. This is a crucial point. According to traditional teaching, Christ is merely objective and in the heavens to be worshipped, adored, and praised. However, according to the New Testament, our Christ is the life-giving Spirit, who indwells our spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b ; Rom. 8:16). He is not merely objective but altogether subjective to us. He is the Spirit dwelling in our spirit, making our spirit one with Him. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. ” Today we are not simply worshipping an objective Christ in the third heaven. We are experiencing, enjoying, and partaking of a very subjective Christ who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. We all must learn to say, “Lord Jesus, since You are such a Spirit, I surrender myself and my all to You. I surrender all my knowledge, ordinances, practices, rituals, works, doings, and everything to You. I do not care for these things. Lord Jesus, I would simply take You as my life and my person. Lord Jesus, it is not I but You who live in me. I do not like to do anything, be anything, or say anything that You would not do, be, or say. Lord Jesus, You are my life and You are my person. ”

The One New Man
Chapter 4 Christ—the Life and Person
of the New Man CWWL, 1977, (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Apr 22, 2026

We must pray to the Lord from the depth of our being, “I surrender to You. I am defeated by You. I am captured by You. ” We all need to be thoroughly defeated, captured, gained, and taken over by Christ. When we are willing to be subdued and captured by Christ, we will give Christ the ground to establish us as gifts to His Body. The more Christ ascends and descends within us, capturing and vanquishing us, the more He fills us with Himself to constitute us as gifts to His Body.

The Conclusion of the New Testament:

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ,

Message 340 Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ in the Epistles (LSM)

Section 2 of 4

Volume 2 (Msgs. 323-381)

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Un Hermano

Apr 22, 2026

Brothers and sisters, we are helpless. In order for us to receive deliverance from God, the first thing that we have to do is admit to Him that we cannot make it and that we do not intend to make it. We have to tell Him, “God, I surrender to You. I am finished. I am over. I will not fight any further. ” This is the meaning of surrendering. Brothers and sisters, this is the first condition for deliverance. It is saying, “I cannot make it anymore, I will not fight anymore, and I will not struggle anymore. In the past I tried to change my pride a little. But Lord, I do not intend to change myself anymore. In the past I tried to change my temper a little. But Lord, I do not intend to change it anymore. I had thought of correcting my quick tongue, but now I have given up on trying. I cannot do anything. I will not try to change myself any longer. I give up. ”

SURRENDERING BEING LETTING GO

----------

Brothers and sisters, what happens when we see the Lord’s death for us on the cross, and what happens when we believe? We immediately stop trying to do good. As soon as we believe, we are saved. Similarly, when we see that the Lord has brought us to the cross and crucified us there, we will cease fighting and stop improving ourselves. Once we believe that the Lord is living within us and overcoming for us, we will stop our own work and allow God to rescue us. We will say, “Lord, I will never improve, and I do not intend to improve. From now on I will not do anything, I will not manage anything, and I will not be concerned about anything. From now on I will let go, and problems will no longer be my problems. ” Brothers and sisters, this is surrendering. This is letting go.

The Overcoming Life
Chapter 6 Surrendering
CWWN, (LSM)

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Aug 19, 2025

What a deep desire for the Lord and commitment to Him. The author of this hymn often speaks of God’s ruling and reigning in her hymns and she calls Him Master in several of her hymns.

This is a little bit of information I found on the dear sister who wrote this hymn.

Frances Ridley Havergal experienced frequent illness throughout her life, including a near-fatal bout of typhoid fever in 1874. She also suffered from peritonitis, which ultimately led to her death at the age of 42. Her health challenges often interrupted her work and ministry, but she viewed these periods of illness as opportunities for spiritual growth and submission to God's will. Except for a brief period of study in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1852–53, she lived a sheltered life, residing first with her parents and then with her sisters; she never married.

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James Hall

Austin, Texas, United States

May 22, 2019

Lord Jesus, I come to You as nothing so that You might send me out as something.

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Claris Regis

Princes Town, Trinidad And Tobago

Oct 8, 2018

One day God showed me that I was not fully submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He gave me this song to show me what full submission is.

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Dan Abbott

United States

Feb 9, 2012

This song helps to prepare my heart in the morning. Thank you!

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Jonabel Serino

Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, Philippines

Jun 2, 2011

Lord, may You reign in us. Set Your throne in our heart!!

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Ngoc

Dong Nai, Vietnam

May 13, 2011

Oh Lord Jesus! We love You.

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