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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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Jesus, my Savior, is all things to me

Experience of Christ As Everything

English517
1
Jesus, my Savior, is all things to me;
Oh, what a wonderful Savior is He,
Guiding, protecting, o’er life’s rolling sea,
Mighty Deliv’rer—Jesus for me.
 
Jesus for me,
Jesus for me,
All the time everywhere,
Jesus for me.
2
Jesus in sickness, and Jesus in health,
Jesus in poverty, comfort or wealth;
Sunshine or tempest, whatever it be,
He is my safety—Jesus for me.
3
He is my Refuge, my Rock, and my Tower,
He is my Fortress, my Strength and my Pow’r;
Life everlasting, my Daysman is He,
Blessed Redeemer—Jesus for me.
4
He is my Prophet, my Priest and my King,
He is my Bread of Life, Fountain and Spring;
Bright Sun of Righteousness, Daystar is He,
Horn of Salvation—Jesus for me.
5
Jesus in sorrow, in joy, or in pain,
Jesus my Treasure in loss or in gain;
Constant Companion where’er I may be,
Living or dying—Jesus for me.

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Daniel John Batiller Dalmino

Pierson, Florida, United States

Apr 27, 2026

Praise the Lord for he is all things to us!!!!!!

He is our everything!!!!!!

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Omobude Mercy

Benin, Edo, Nigeria

Jan 27, 2026

Jesus is my Lord and my saviour, He is the light of my soul. I am so happy to find this hymn on line after many years.

Thanks for your good works. I have saved it and also forwarded it to some of my loved ones. Glory be to God.

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Anonymous

May 31, 2025

This wonderful song always reminds me of the promise I made to my LORD JESUS

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Ndubuisi Martins Aniemeka

Prague, Czech Republic

Nov 29, 2024

Just a powerful song this is! As a devout Catholic -- except that some cracks had happened in recent years -- the song is not new; I have sung it /heard it sung in many Eucharistic celebrations. However, I must confess that, on encountering it again in a different matter and mode, the song has lifted my soul. This is to suggest that I had not taken a close look at the song or the lyrics until one of my mentor's -- Professor Nduka Otiono -- post about his mother's passing on Facebook, which accompanied the firm believer and nonagenarian singing this song, meditating on the lines and providing to us the symbolic renactment and reinforcement of her belief in Jesus, her Saviour. Seeing the post and hearing Mama's meditative singing lifted my soul. I quicky searched the entire lyrics to sing and sing for more than two hours, praying to Jesus for forgiveness. The song means so much to me now. Why? The full significance of the song is obvious to me that Jesus must be at the centre of ALL believers' lives -- but it took my playing Mama Benedicta Otiono singing it to come to terms with this again -- as it strengthens belief. Importantly, the song has helped my drowning faith in my Lord and Saviour, Jesus, and timely it is in my difficult moment of my wife's illness that has stretched my faith! I am deeply grateful to the composer of the song and also very grateful to Mama Otiono for pointing me back to my Jesus, Who is EVERYTHING to me, Who alone is the Deliverer, The High Priest, the Healer, and the King of the World. It takes only people who consider deeply their heritage in Jesus, to be rooted in Him, and I have an example in Mama Otiono. May God rest her gentle soul! For me, her death has helped to re-ignite my faith in my Saviour, realising that I need to submit totally to Him and put Him in charge of EVERYTHING, Praise for ALL THINGS, and blame Him for NOTHING!

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Christy Odukoya

London, United Kingdom

Oct 28, 2024

This are the one of the first hymnal l love when I got born again in 1985 Hallelujah Jesus is my Saviour

Thanks what a blessing to be able to have it on line God bless

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Tanko Blessing

FCT, Abuja, Nigeria

Oct 25, 2024

This hymn we usually sing it during the apostolicship of prayer league of the sacred heart of Jesus prayer meeting.

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Victoria Okwori

Jos, Nigeria

Oct 19, 2024

I learnt this song over 30 years ago and today I was deeply blessed by the lyrics as I recalled what a blessing the knowledge of the Love and presence of Jesus has made in my life through different seasons.

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Jim Balster

Anamosa, Iowa, United States

Oct 10, 2024

Life everlasting, my Daysman is He,

Blessed Redeemer - Jesus for me.

We have a daysman not only laying His hand on man but on God. He is the mediator to reconcile. If a day is assigned in a court of law, the daysman is the one who appears on my behalf to undertake my cause. Not only has Christ come to me in my sins, but He has come to answer for me, taking up the whole cause. He has done it - settled the whole thing as to my sins, and is gone back to appear in the presence of God for me. He has appeared for God amongst us, but now He is gone to appear for us in the presence of God. I have given up all attempt to answer for myself: He has taken it up. Has God accepted His answer for me? Here faith comes in to accredit God when He says He has accepted Him. The work that the daysman has done is accepted. We know not only that there is a daysman, but that the daysman has sat down, the work being finished, no more remaining to be done (as to the sacrifice). The Holy Ghost is the witness of that: "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." ~

~John Nelson Darby~

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Uche Ikemelu-Obiadi

Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Jun 14, 2024

I heard this song again after many years. It really overwhelmed me, and I said I must search for it online. Thanks for providing it.

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Stella

Lagos, Nigeria

Dec 7, 2023

Remembered the first line and had to search online

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