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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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Dearest of all is He

Experience of Christ Loving Him

English8392
1
Dearest of all is He,
The One I love the best;
’Tis Him we all must seek,
And rely on Him at last.
2
Supplying all my need,
In weakness He sustains;
Fairest of fair to me
Ever faithful He remains.
3
He, our joy endlessly,
The same through every test;
Dearest of all is He;
He’s the One I love the best.

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Un Hermano

Jan 3, 2026

THE REQUIREMENTS OF GOD’S GLORY, GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND GOD’S HOLINESS FULFILLED BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST

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Genesis 3:22-24 says, “Jehovah God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever—Then Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. ” Cherubim signify the glory of God (Heb. 9:5). The requirement of the glory of God closed the way to the tree of life from fallen man. The sword signifies judgment by God’s righteousness. We have to fulfill God’s righteousness; otherwise, we are under the judgment of God. Fire signifies God’s holiness. The requirements of God’s glory, God’s righteousness, and God’s holiness kept fallen man from the tree of life. Until these requirements could be fully met, the way to the tree of life could never be open to fallen man.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Having therefore a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin. Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help. ” In these three verses there is Christ as the High Priest ascended to the heavens. Second, this ascended Christ can be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses. Although He is in the heavens and we are on this earth, He can be touched by the feeling of our weaknesses. Third, in verse 16 we are charged to come forward to the throne of grace. Verse 14 tells us that Christ, who is on the throne of grace, is in the heavens. How then can we come forward to the throne of grace in the heavens? Before we solve this problem, let us read verses 12 and 13 of chapter 4 : “The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest before Him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we are to give our account. ” Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh. ” In these verses we are told that we have the boldness to enter the Holy of Holies. The throne of grace is equivalent to the expiation cover in the Holy of Holies (Exo. 25:17 , 21). Thus, to come forward to the throne of grace means to come into the Holy of Holies. We enter into the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way.

We have seen that the tree of life is nothing less than God Himself in His Trinity presented to us. But due to the fall of the human race, man became sinful, and the way to the tree of life was closed. Man had fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Man was also under the condemnation of God’s righteousness, and man was against God’s holiness. God’s desire was still that man would enjoy Him as the tree of life, but His glory, His righteousness, and His holiness kept fallen man away from the tree of life. No fallen man can get through these three items—the cherubim, the slaying sword, and the flaming fire. If man is going to eat the tree of life, he has to fulfill the requirements of God’s glory, God’s righteousness, and God’s holiness.

The Tree of Life
Chapter 9 CWWL, 1965, vol. 2
(LSM)

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Mark

United States

Mar 31, 2024

Dearest of all is He!

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Celine Yang

Montreal, Canada

Apr 14, 2019

Simple as this song seems, the more I sing the more I taste His sweetness. Thank You Lord You are so dear to us and You are everything we need!

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Laurel Jost

Fresno, CA, United States

Jan 13, 2015

This entire song came up in my heart this morning before rising. As the living One, He truly is worthy of our all our heart's love. Lets turn to Him and sing!

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Fretzie Gay Pagaran

Philippines

Jan 20, 2011

Amen!

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Don Kusch

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Oct 4, 2010

Sit down somewhere alone with the words of this song and love the Lord.

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