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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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What a Friend we have in Jesus

Prayer Telling the Lord

English789
1
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
2
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
3
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

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Jumai Ahmed Adangu

Warri, Delta, Nigeria

Aug 19, 2018

Such comforting and assuring words/song. "What needless pain I bear" all because I do not carry everything to God in prayer.

I just finished a study right now, on the importance of casting all my cares upon my Lord, because he loves and cares for me. and while studying, I immediately remembered this hymn. I took the time to read it after my study and indeed it further deepens my understanding and helps me appreciate the more, the light that I contacted through my study.

To God be the glory!

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Nancy

Rensselaer, NY, United States

Aug 18, 2018

This song is one of many seeing me thru the date of 8/18 today. In my life this date represents tragedies that occurred in 3 separate yrs all on the same date. In 1961 the love of my life dissolved our relationship. My mother was involved somehow in this and to this day there is no closure for me. In 1975 my ex husband gathered my 2 children and I in the kitchen called his attorney and told him and us that he was leaving us. In 1985 a boyfriend of 8 yrs left me. He was a separated married man and although I loved him the relationship had to end. This day has almost become unbearable except for the hymn which constantly circulates thru my mind. What a friend indeed taking on burdens. I open my heart to all of you who likewise have such burdens. Hope remains. The emotional impact of this day I cannot shake--I can only cling to Jesus to save me from own drowning in bad memories. My friends I have shared with you deep feelings only God and Jesus can soothe. Peace.

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William Blackson

Clinton, Maryland, United States

Aug 7, 2018

This song gives me so much hope that all I have to do is take my pain and suffering to HIM and leave it in His hands that HE will lift this the pain and suffering and revive me and know that I have a friend in HIM. I ask GOD to revive our nation and get back to being a Blessed nation under God for which we as brothers and sisters must come together as 1 not 2. I love You all in the Name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen!

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Ulander Russell

Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas

Aug 5, 2018

I am so grateful for a song such as this which I know was under the anointing and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The way the world is going right now with all the evil principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places infiltrating our world through conservative so called Christian music etc.

This song gives me so much comfort that I can not only talk to our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST but also he will never leave me nor forsake us, as HIS spirit dwells with in me.

MARANATHA🌿💕🕊

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Ana Lara

Tolland, Connecticut, United States

Aug 4, 2018

Born September 10th Dublin Ireland. Died August 10th , 1866, Joseph Scriven penned a hymn that a century later is still a classic.

The background of this hymn reveals the love and faith Joseph had for His Father God amidst the tragic circumstances of his life.

The day before his wedding, he was to meet his fiancée along the banks of the river near his home. Her horse was spooked and threw her head first into the river where she drowned. Unable to forget the tragedy, in 1845 at age 25, He moved to Ontario Canada where he began to take care of the poor, the widows and the sick. The people of the town of Port Hope called him the Good Samaritan.

In 1844, he met the niece of a sea captain whose children he was tutoring. They were to be married in the spring of 1845. Weeks before their wedding Eliza, his fiancé contracted pneumonia and despite all his efforts to save her, she died.

When his mother fell gravelly ill, he wrote a poem “ Pray without ceasing” which later was changed to “What a friend we have in Jesus” br Charles C. Converse. It was published anonymously and for the next 10 years it remained so until Joseph revealed to a neighbor he had written it.

Joseph died at the age of 66. His body was found in the shore of the lake near Port Hope. He was buried next to his second fiancé Eiiza.

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Cynthia Norfleet-Jackson

Statesboro, GA, United States

Aug 3, 2018

Praise the LORD! Hallelujah! GOD is so good! Thank You Jesus for always being my friend. Thank you for your comments for it shows that we all are friends in Jesus no matter where we are because we all Love Him. Praise GOD!

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Malaika Carol

London

Aug 3, 2018

As I woke this morning, this song was in my mind and spirit. Thank You Jesus for I have a Friend You.

This song has always been a blessing to me, even much so this morning. I know as I take everything to the Lord in prayer, I will find peace and solace in His arms.

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Bikumbi Asuman

Kampala, Uganda

Jul 27, 2018

I feel encouraged whenever I sing this song.

It pushes me into a deep prayer.

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Gigi

Jacksonville, FL, United States

Jul 12, 2018

I learned this song as a child and it is still such a comfort for me today. It reaches deep into my spirit and gives me reassurance of the unconditional love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What a comfort to have such a loving God.

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Blessing Christopher

Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria

Jul 10, 2018

My best song ever.

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