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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 Tempo menu slows it down without changing the pitch.

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Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted

Experience of Christ Expressing Him

English591
1
Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted,
Not I, but Christ be seen, be known and heard;
Not I, but Christ in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.
 
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.
2
Not I, but Christ to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ to wipe the falling tear;
Not I, but Christ to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ to hush away all fear.
3
Christ, only Christ, no idle word e’er falling,
Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of I be found.
4
Not I, but Christ my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ my strength and health to be;
Christ, only Christ, for spirit, soul, and body,
Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me.
5
Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision,
Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see;
Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling,
Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.

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Nathan David Reilly

Abbotsford, BC, Canada

Aug 9, 2026

For it is not I but ‘tis Christ is in me.

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Pam C

San Diego, California, United States

Jun 29, 2026

A friend and I were talking today about how our shortcomings and failures cause us to realize we cannot live the Christian life independently of Him, by our natural strength and energy. Rather, we are earthen vessels through whom the Lord as the life-giving Spirit is testified and magnified. During our fellowship, this wonderful hymn came to mind. May it be written on our hearts to always remind us of the life-union we have with Him.

Read more
Un Hermano

Feb 7, 2026

Galatians 2:20 follows by declaring, “I am crucified with Christ, ” a phrase which undoubtedly corresponds to Romans 6:6 and 7:4 . These three verses correspond to one another. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live. ” How can we be crucified persons and continue to live? Are we dead or alive? Both are true. As the old man I am dead; as the new man I live. Although I live, yet it is not I, but Christ who lives in me. I like the three words “nevertheless, ” “yet, ” and “but. ” If we concentrate on these three words, we will be clear about our dual status. I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. This is marvelous. This is the emphatic teaching of the Bible. Then, Galatians 2:20 says, “and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. ” This verse reveals that a believer has two statuses—the status of an old man and the status of the regenerated new man.

Life-study of Romans

Message 12 (LSM)

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Un Hermano

Feb 7, 2026

Prayer and the Denial of the Self

Do you know what it means to pray? To pray means that we realize that we are nothing and that we can do nothing. This implies that prayer is the real denial of the self. To pray, therefore, is to deny ourselves, knowing that we are nothing and are not able to do anything. Furthermore, to pray is actually to declare, “Not I, but Christ. ”

Instead of praying, the disciples tried to cast out the demon. Perhaps they said to themselves, “We have been watching the Lord cast out demons for more than two years, and we have learned of Him. We should be able to cast the demon out of this child. ” But although they attempted to cast out the demon, they were not successful. We may say that they tried to cast out the demon without the necessary power, energy, divine electricity.

I wish to emphasize the fact that the word “prayer” in 9:29 actually indicates “no longer I, but Christ. ” Concerning this matter, we need to understand why this case immediately follows the revelation of Christ as our replacement and the Lord’s word about denying ourselves. We need to deny ourselves so that Christ may be our replacement and become everything to us. Although the disciples saw this revelation, they did not practice it or live according to it. To see the revelation is one thing; but to live it is another.

Life-study of Mark

Mennsage 27 (LSM)

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Anna

Dec 29, 2025

Not I, but Christ in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.
Oh, that it may be no more I, But Christ that lives in me.

"I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) Recovery Version

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Isaac Egboche

Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Oct 21, 2025

The third stanza got me teary-"Christ, only Christ, no idle word e’er falling,

Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of I be found."
Lord, help me. Amen.

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Dorothy

Brazzaville, Congo

Oct 1, 2025

When God is at he center, victory against the forces of evil is guaranteed. His word commands us to remove every yeast of the Pharisees meaning our humanity is full of weaknesses and only when we abide totally in him can we be saved. Wonderful prayer and pledge of dedication!

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Connie

Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Apr 16, 2025

Beautiful my brother the Lord is always

waiting for His people to put Him in the centre of all that we do

You and your bride did that and I trust that God is still remaining in the Centre where you allowed Him to be so enjoy the presents of the Lord in your Marriage the Lord is good bless you my Sister and my brother let's make this appointment to meet in the sky when our Lord and the Saviour of the world shall appear 🙏 ❤️ This song fits every limb of mine that not I but Christ let Christ be all in every thought and word

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Keith Cargin

Cedar Rapids, IA, United States

Nov 24, 2023

When my beautiful bride and I married in 1978, she joined with me in having “Not I But Christ” as our entrance march song. The hymn was “announced” with a short and sharp Trumpet fan-fair on the organ.

We then walked at the same time down the left(she) and right(me) aisles as “Not I But Christ” played on the organ, symbolically reserving the center aisle of honor as inviting Christ to walk down with us as the center of our lives and marriage together.

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Dodo, Enoch Mbwanzu

Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Jul 24, 2023

Lord, that there be no trace of I be found in my pursuit of you!

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.

Read more