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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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What a wondrous fact, I’m crucified with Christ

Union with Christ Identified with His Death and Resurrection

English487
1
What a wondrous fact, I’m crucified with Christ;
Of my flesh and passion I’m relieved;
What a glorious fact, with Christ, the Lord, I live,
Resurrection life in Him received.
 
On the Cross of Calvary the Lord and I
Were crucified, were crucified;
Now in resurrection life with Him I live
And in Him e’er abide.

Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.

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Un Hermano

Dec 1, 2025

DEALING WITH THE SELF

Now we come to see the matter of dealing with the self. This experience is very closely related to dealing with the flesh. This is an important experience in the stage of the cross.

If we desire to deal with the self, we need first to define what the self is. There are many spiritual terms that we use quite often, but when we press for the real meaning, it is difficult to explain them. So it is with the self. We often hear people speak about the self, but few can define it. What, really, is the self? Simply, the self is the soul-life with the emphasis on human thoughts and human opinions. We can discover this from the Bible, where the self is clearly mentioned.

Let us first read Matthew 16:21-25 : “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. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it. ”

THE PROCESS OF DEALING WITH THE SELF

Seeing That the Old Man Has Been Crucified

The process in dealing with the self is quite similar to that of dealing with the flesh. The first requirement is to see the fact that our old man has been crucified. This means that we must receive revelation from God so that we may see that our old man has been crucified with Christ.

Seeing That Our Opinions Are One of the Expressions of the Old Man

The second requirement is to see that one aspect of the expression of the old man is our opinions. The old man expresses itself not only in the flesh but also in the opinions, which are the self. If one only sees that the old man has been crucified and yet does not recognize the manners or ways in which the old man is being expressed, he cannot have the subjective experience. Therefore, the first step in our dealing with the self subjectively is to see that our opinions are one of the expressions of the old man.

Applying the Crucifixion of Christ to Our Opinions

Once we know that our old man has been crucified and done away with in Christ, and once we realize that opinions and ideas are the expression of the old man, we naturally will not allow the old man to express itself again in opinions. Therefore, we will apply the crucifixion of Christ through the Holy Spirit to our opinions. This is our subjective experience in dealing with the self. This is also what the Lord refers to in Matthew 16 as the denying of the self and the bearing of the cross.

The Experience of Life
CHAPTER 10 DEALING WITH THE SELF
CWWL, 1953, vol. 3 (lsm)

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VC

Tampa, FL, United States

Jul 6, 2025

♥️ Resurrection life in Him received. ♥️

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Stefan Misaras

London, United Kingdom

May 7, 2025

Amen! What a wondrous fact!

[To be conformed to Christ’s death is] to take Christ’s death as the mold of one’s life. Paul lived a crucified life continually, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. through such a life the resurrection power of Christ is experienced and expressed. The mold of Christ’s death refers to Christ’s experience of continually putting to death His human life that He might live by the life of God (John 6:57). Our life should be conformed to such a mold by our dying to our human life to live the divine life. Being conformed to the death of Christ is the condition for knowing and experiencing Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. (Footnote 4 on Philippians 3:10, New Testament Recovery Version)

Hallelujah, we are crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us! Amen, Lord, live in us today. Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through us! We want to live by faith, the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us. Oh Lord Jesus, may we realize that our old man has been crucified with Christ so that we no longer serve sin as a slave. May we remain in the organic union with You so that we may live by faith, even live out Christ!

I was recently enjoying this hymn and the HWMR.

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