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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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God in heaven hath a treasure

Experience of Christ Expressing Him

English589
1
God in heaven hath a treasure,
Riches none may count or tell;
Hath a deep eternal pleasure,
Christ the Son, He loveth well.
God hath here on earth a treasure,
None but He its price may know—
Deep, unfathomable pleasure,
Christ revealed in saints below.
2
God in tongues of fire descending,
Chosen vessels thus to fill
With the treasure never ending,
Ever spent—unfailing still.
God’s own hand the vessel filling
From the glory far above,
Longing hearts forever stilling
With the riches of His love.
3
Thus though worn, and tried, and tempted,
Glorious calling, saint, is thine;
Let the Lord but find thee emptied,
Living branch in Christ the Vine!
Vessels of the world’s despising,
Vessels weak and poor and base,
Bearing wealth God’s heart is prizing,
Glory from Christ’s blessed face.
4
Oh to be but emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed—and unknown,
And to God a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ and Christ alone!
Naught of earth to cloud the glory,
Naught of self the light to dim,
Telling forth His wondrous story,
Emptied to be filled with Him.

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Un Hermano

Feb 5, 2026

4. God Shining in
Their Hearts Bringing
a Treasure into Them,
the Earthen Vessels
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In verse 7 Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us. ” God’s shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. But we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in worthless vessels! This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the new covenant with a priceless ministry. This has been accomplished by the divine power in resurrection. The excellency of the power is surely of God and not out of us.

In the apostles’ speaking concerning their ministry for God’s new covenant, five very significant and expressive metaphors were used to illustrate how they, as the ministers of the new covenant, and their ministry were constituted, how they behaved and lived, and how their ministry was carried out. These metaphors are: captives in a triumphal procession for the celebration of Christ’s victory (2:14a); incense-bearers to scatter the fragrance of Christ (vv. 14b-16); letters written with Christ as the content (3:1-3); mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of Christ in order to be transformed into His glorious image (v. 18); earthen vessels to contain the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure (4:7). These vessels are like today’s camera, into which the image of Christ enters through the flash of God’s shining (vv. 4 , 6).

This treasure, the indwelling Christ, in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life. It is by the excellent power of this treasure that the apostles as the ministers of the new covenant were capable of living a crucified life that the resurrection life of Christ, whom they ministered, might be manifested. Thus, they manifested the truth for the shining of the gospel.

Life-study of Second Corinthians

Message 9 (LSM)

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Maria L

Fremont, California, United States

Oct 9, 2024

Praise the Lord!

We all can testify that, when we spend time with the Lord and enjoy His preciousness, we have a sense of how precious and dear He is, and we have His sweet presence.

Hallelujah 😀

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James Smith

Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Mar 8, 2024

2 Corinthians 4:7 “For we have this treasure in earthen vessels”. We were made a vessel, That is a human being with a soul. This vessel was made just to contain God’s treasure, Christ. This treasure is Christ’s life, His person. We can experience this Christ in us as the living water which is true satisfaction. When we live by this treasure, Christ’s life, and are filled with Him, God gets the glory. When we try to fill ourselves with other things we are the broken vessel and won’t hold any satisfaction. We must empty ourselves and be filled with Him. As we grow God is shaping us to be a proper vessel. In this process we find Him our true value. This is not cheap. This is what we were made for. God values us so highly He died for us, the ultimate price. What a hymn filled with this rich experience of being a vessel for God!

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Anonymous

Budapest, Hungary

Oct 17, 2023

Amen 🙏🏾. Emptied to be filled with You

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Bian

Oct 29, 2020

Oh, to be emptied to be filled with Him.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Dec 31, 2014

I awoke this morning with this song in my heart.

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The hymns of Frances Bevan are chiefly translations from German Pietists (so-called) of the Middle Ages. There is found in them that mystical touch, that indefinable quality (also found in the hymns of J.N. Darby) that reached the inmost recesses of the soul, and calls for the deepest language of the spirit. By her beautiful translations, Mrs. Bevan has taught us something of that wealth of hymnology found in the German language; and in her interesting prose works "Three friends of God", "Sketches of the Quiet in the Land", [and "Trees Planted by the River", F.W.] she has drawn aside the curtain and revealed the atmosphere and environment of the hymnists themselves.

She says, "How distinct was their witness to the truth of the Gospel may be early seen by comparing their writings with those of the true servants of God who remained under the influence of Roman Catholicism only. A comparison of Thomas à Kempis with Johann Tauler will serve as an instance of this contrast. In the case of the latter the present possession and enjoyment of eternal life; in the case of the former an earnest and true desire to attain that possession. In the latter, peace and joy, the starting point; in the former, the goal to be reached by strenuous effort". The translations of Mrs. Bevan have exercised a deep influence upon the hearts of those to whom her poetry more particularly made its appeal, i.e. those with whom she was linked in assembly fellowship.

... Among her prose works, linked up with Church History, are two valuable little biographies, "The Life of William Farel" and "The Story of John Wesley".

When Mrs. Bevan was born at Oxford in 1827, her father Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth was Warden of New College. In 1842 he became Bishop of Chichester, but died two years later, leaving her fatherless at seventeen. He was opposed to Puseyism [following church traditions] and wrote "Scripture not Tradition", a work of "great force and learning".

When a girl, Mrs Bevan was taught by a German governess, and became interested in Gothic art and medieval Christianity; and later on she was much attached to the family of Baron von Bunsen, at one time Prussian ambassador to England, whose scholarly attainments largely influenced her study of German literature.

Mrs. Bevan has given us glimpses of her own life story in two little biographies she has written, "Reminiscences of Ada Frances Bevan" is the touching story of her eldest child, taken from her at the age of four. The other biography, "Recollections of R.C.L. Bevan", is a memoir of her husband, a Christian banker, whose leisure was given so simply, yet fruitfully to God. In this narrative, we read that Frances Shuttleworth (as she was then) came to the house of Mr. Bevan to Bible Readings that made a lasting impression on her, being then 27 years of age; and Mrs. Bevan goes on to say, "As time passed on, I was no more a visitor but at home in his home". She was married to Mr. Bevan when 29, and 3 sons and 6 daughters were born into that happy household. - Songs of Pilgrimage and Glory by Cornwall

--------------------

This hymn has 7 stanzas. The above stanza #2 is a combo of the original stanzas 3 & 4:

1b Christ, the Light that fills the heavens,
Shining forth on earth beneath,
Through His Spirit freely given,
Light of life ’midst shades of death.
Down from heav’n’s unclouded glory
God Himself the treasure brought,
Closing thus His love’s sweet story
With His sweetest, deepest thought.
---------------------
2 God in tongues of fire descending,
Chosen vessels thus to fill
With the treasure never ending,
Ever spent—unfailing still.
Still unwasted, undiminished,
Though the days of dearth wear on,
Store eternally unfinished,
Fresh, as if but now begun.
---------------
2b Earthen vessels, marred, unsightly,
But the treasure as of old,
Fresh from glory, gleaming brightly,
Heav’n’s undimmed, unchanging gold.
God’s own hand the vessel filling
From the glory far above,
Longing hearts forever stilling
With those riches of His love.
------------
2c Thus, through earthen vessels only,
Shining forth in ceaseless grace,
Reaching weary hearts and lonely,
Beams the light in Jesus’ face.
Vessels worthless, broken, bearing
Through the hungry ages on,
Riches giv’n with hand unsparing,
God’s great gift, His precious Son.

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Isaiah Tor

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aug 29, 2008

This hymn is written concerning Christ as God's unique Treasure and One whom He utterly delights in, so much so that He desires to reveal, work, constitute and reproduce this Christ in all those whom He has chosen since eternity past. Everything God does is based on the premise of His economy presented in verse 1. Verses 2-3 speaks of the process where Christ is constituted as the expanded Treasure into us, spirit, soul and body, in spite of all the trials and worldly despisings and persecutions. This constitution is done organically as shown in verse 3 and is not done for self-display or exaltation, but rather that Christ be all in all without any factor dimming the expression of His glory shining from out of us in our daily living, being continually filled with Him.

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Keith McDonald

St. Catharines, ON, Canada

Nov 1, 2002

I used to sing this song many years ago in Christian meetings. The kingdom of God is all about treasure and harvest. Many of Jesus'parables spoke to this point.

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Daniel Jackson

Reading, United Kingdom

Oct 10, 2002

I appreciate the words of this hymn so much! Verse 1 particulary touches me:

God in heaven hath a treasure,
Riches none may count or tell;
Hath a deep eternal pleasure,
Christ the Son, He loveth well.
God hath here on earth a treasure,
None but He its price may know-
Deep, unfathomable pleasure,
Christ revealed in saints below.

Praise Him! God only has ONE treasure - and that is Christ! What is His deep, unfathomable pleasure on earth? It is not us - it is Christ! - Christ revealed in us! How wonderful! I pray that when God would look at us, He would see nothing but the One with Whom He is well pleased! Christ! Oh, may we be filled with Him to such an extent!

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