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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 love my Lord, but with no love of mine

Experience of Christ Love for Him

English546
1
I love my Lord, but with no love of mine,
For I have none to give;
I love Thee, Lord, but all the love is Thine,
For by Thy love I live.
I am as nothing, and rejoice to be
Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in Thee.
2
Thou, Lord, alone, art all Thy children need,
And there is none beside;
From Thee the streams of blessedness proceed,
In Thee the bless’d abide.
Fountain of life, and all-abounding grace,
Our source, our center, and our dwelling-place.

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Un Hermano

Jan 22, 2026

If you take this concept of God’s dwelling found in the first book of the Bible and read the book of Psalms in the light of it, the Psalms will be new to you. The entire book of Psalms is concerned with this matter of God’s dwelling. Many verses concern the city, the temple, the house, the dwelling place, or the tabernacle. If we put all these verses together, we see that the Psalms are absolutely concerned with God’s dwelling. It was in one of the Psalms that Moses said, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (Psa. 90:1). If we would take the Lord as our habitation, we must firstly be His habitation. If God has no dwelling built up on earth, we could never have Him as our habitation. But when He has a dwelling on earth, He becomes our habitation and we become His habitation. This is what is called the mutual habitation, which is revealed in John 14 and 15 , particularly in the words, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). “Abide in Me”—this is our habitation; “and I in you”—this is His habitation. In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said clearly, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him. ” We shall be God’s dwelling, and He will be our habitation. If we all praise the Lord for this, we shall be with Him in His dwelling place.

The last of the ten aspects of the universal blessing is the matter of dwelling. Thus, eventually all the blessings consummate in the dwelling. The reason God gives us so many items of blessing is that we may be His dwelling. Why did God save you? It was for His dwelling. Why does He give you grace upon grace? For His dwelling. Why is God doing everything for you today? It is all for His dwelling. All the blessings issue in God’s dwelling. This is God’s good will, the desire of God’s heart. What God wants is a dwelling place.

Life-study of Genesis

Message 107 (LSM)

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Paul Gilchrist

Spokane, WA, United States

Nov 10, 2025

This song brings back many sweet memories for me. Back in 2003, I was serving as a bus driver for FTTA.

One day, I was tasked with picking up some Korean Saints for a trip. As I approached the house, I heard the most beautiful sound—that still brings me to tears—These Saints were singing this hymn in a 4 part harmony.

Later on, I took these same Saints on a blending trip to San Diego and into Mexico.

“Hey Guys—Could you sing that one song again for me? ” They always did😀

After driving them around SoCal for nearly two weeks, I was exhausted and ready to go home.

I had to pick them up from the locality in San Diego for the airport. “Okay—Last trip! Then I’m done! ” In the parking lot, they encircled the other driver and myself and sang this hymn one last time. I’m tearing up as I write this.

I’ll never forget that experience. Not only did the sound bring me to the 3rd heavens, but also, these Saints would always sing this with their whole being. All three parts were in full gear—every single time they sang.

I was so supplied by this—I felt like I had been well paid for my hard labor. “Alright! Sign me up for another two weeks 😉 Let’s Go! ”

Years later at a home meeting in Oklahoma City, I ran into the Sister who had arranged this melody for that blending trip in California. We sang this as a duet in somebody’s living room. Praise the Lord!

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Jim Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Nov 26, 2024

Lord all credit for our love goes to you.

1 John 5:19 is a crucial verse. “We love [God] because He first loved us”. This verse is the same in all translations. Even the Amplified Version does not add to this.

(Ezekiel 36:26) God has given us a new heart and spirit. Our love for God issues from our spirit, the deepest part of our heart. It is here that the effectual love of God first changes our hearts in order to make us capable of real love. It is His example of love that reminds us again and again of our need to love other brothers, even our neighbors. (Ref. 1 John 4:20) The Lord said If you don’t love the brothers you see, how can you love me that you can’t see? Aren’t we even taught of Him to love one another. We need His love for this. His is a deep sacrificial love that we would not posses without Him. This is truly a selfless love. Our natural love does not cut it. If we don’t love other brothers [believers], it is an indicator that we really don’t know the depths of God’s love. God’s love is a higher spiritual love deep in our spirit. It is a a selfless, self sacrificing love. God’s grace and mercy testifies of this great love. Throughout our life God is stirring us up to love Him and by extension other brothers. This is truly Grace to us.

I like the way the Apostle Paul ends his letters. (2 Tim 4:22) “The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen”.

(Ephesians 6:24) “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. ” John 4:8 says God is Love. If you don’t know Him, you don’t know true love.

Our spirit is where the action is! It is where God is moving through Grace. He is making His home in all our heart and drawing us to love Him more and more. It may sound hokey, but we are becoming Jesus lovers.

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Joanna

Baton Rouge, United States

May 25, 2024

In 1974 midst the early heart surgery experiments the oldest of our six little brothers was having a difficult time. He told me when I went to visit him, “ I am not going to make it. I can’t live the Christian life”. About ten years later I learned I couldn’t live the Christian Life either. There is One in us Who can. We just lay our hands on Him.

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Natalie

Illinois, United States

Jun 11, 2023

The old songs are the best songs. Come Lord JESUS ❤️

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Aksana Coker

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States

Apr 16, 2023

For by Thy love we live!

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Linny

Hsinchu, Taiwan

Mar 24, 2023

I love my Lord, but with no love of mine,
For I have none to give;
I love Thee, Lord, but all the love is Thine,
For by Thy love I live.

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Hannahlise McDaniel

Waco, TX, United States

Feb 26, 2023

Lord Jesus we love You

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AK

United Kingdom

Feb 19, 2023

I love my Lord, but with no love of mine,

For I have none to give...

What a relief in these words! That is truly my experience... my own love is so full of shortages, so conditional, so limited, so preferential... and many times runs out so quick... unexisting when is the most needed...

We love because He first loved us. He is the source. He loves becayse He is love. He does because that is who He is, His very nature, very fibre, basic element of His being...

One brother said: 'We cannot love Him without knowing FIRST how much He loved us and loves us... loves me. ' This word moved my all inward being and begot desire in me to know Him, the One who is Love.

And there might be days when saying - 'Lord, I love You' - may not come experientialy easy. But, without single exeption, this small prayer 'Lord, thank You for another day to be loved by You' always brings comfort...

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Janice McKenzie

Mission, Texas, United States

Feb 10, 2023

Thou, Lord, alone, art all Thy children need,
And there is none beside!
Thank you Lord! You alone are all that we need! There is
none beside You! You are our All in all, our Life, and Love!

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