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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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Stand up! stand up for Jesus

Spiritual Warfare Standing Up

English870
1
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished
And Christ is Lord indeed.
 
Stand up for Jesus
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not, it must not suffer loss.
2
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day.
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger.
And strength to strength oppose.
3
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor,
And, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.
4
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long:
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be;
He, with the King of glory,
Shall reign eternally.

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Raphael-Jude

Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Mar 1, 2019

Ever inspiring, food for the soul

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Bola Bello

Akure, Ondo State, Akure, Nigeria

Dec 23, 2018

Ancient song of charge to warfare.

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Ajunwa Stanley

Abuja, Nigeria

Sep 13, 2018

That arm of flesh will certainly fail, but on the Solid Rock, there is nothing to fear. Hallelujah!

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Ifeanyi Uhuegbu

London

Aug 10, 2018

Awesome hymn. Clarion call for steadfastness in the Lord. I have been greatly blessed.

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Dickson Alban

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Jun 24, 2018

One of my favourite hymn. God is glorius. Amen.

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Moses Mwangi

Nairobi, Kenya

Jun 17, 2018

Ye dare not trust your own.

Put on the Gospel armor,

Do not fight naked of reality or wisdom, be clothed in Truth, in Righteousness, In action of Gospel, In Faith, In Salvation, With the Word and The Holly Spirit.

Amen.

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Ada

Kristiansand, Norway

Mar 29, 2018

This song was beautifully recorded by Henry Burr in 1905. He was a Christian man God blessed with an real angel voice and I heard this song by Henry on Youtube and feeled me really blessed by God. This song mean so much to me. I really love this song and I really thanks God I can hear it with Henry Burr so often I will on Youtube.

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John Meadows

Paraparaumu, Wellington, New Zealand

Mar 12, 2018

On my daily prayer walk with the dog I was lifting up my pastor and prayed 'The Armour' of God over him, when this old hymn came back to mind. I had no idea of the back story on it's creation. Scroll down to view it.

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Wellington

Benin, Especially State, Nigeria

Jan 21, 2018

Stand up for Jesus the king.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Jan 7, 2018

It was in 1858 that a great city-wide revival swept through Philadelphia. It was called "The Work of God in Philadelphia". Of the participating ministers, none was more powerful than the 29-year-old Episcopalian, Dudley Tyng.

Tyng was known as a bold, fearless and uncompromising preacher with great influence on the other spiritual leaders around him. His father, the Rev. Stephen Tyng, was for many years pastor of the large Episcopalian Church of the Epiphany in Philadelphia. After serving a time as his father's assistant, young Dudley succeeded his father as the senior minister.

However, some of the more fashionable members soon became upset with their young pastor because of his strong, straightforward preaching. He resigned this pulpit and organized the Church of the Covenant with a group of his faithful followers.

In addition to his duties in this new and growing congregation, Dudley began holding noonday services at the downtown YMCA. Great crowds came to hear this dynamic young preacher.

At noon, March 30, 1858, over 5, 000 men gathered for a mass men's meeting to hear young Tyng preach from Exodus 10:11 "Ye that are men, go and serve the Lord."

Over 1, 000 of these men committed their lives to Christ. The sermon was described as "one of the most successful of the times." As a climax, the young preacher shouted out, "I must tell my Master's errand, and I would rather that this right arm were amputated at the trunk than that I should come short of my duty to you in delivering God's message."

The very next week, while visiting in the country and watching the operation of a corn threshing machine in a barn, young Tyng accidentally caught his loose sleeve between the cogs; the arm was lacerated severely with the main artery severed and the median nerve injured.

Four days later severe infection developed. As a result of shock and a great loss of blood, the Rev. Dudley Tyng died on April 19, 1858.

On his death bed when asked by a group of sorrowing friends and fellow ministers for a final statement, he whispered feebly, "Let us all stand up for Jesus."

The next Sunday Tyng's close friend, the Rev. George Duffield, pastor of the Temple Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, delivered a tribute to his departed colleague. He chose as his text Ephesians 6:14 "Stand, thereforefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness."

Pastor Duffield closed his sermon by reading a poem that he had just finished writing. He told his people that he had been inspired by the dying words of his esteemed friend. Rev. Duffield's Sunday school superintendent was so impressed by these verses that he had them printed for distribution throughout the entire congregation. The editor of a Baptist magazine received one of these pamphlets and promptly gave the text wider circulation.

And from that time to the present, the hymn "Stand Up for Jesus" has found its way into the hearts and hymnals of God's people around the world. - 52 Hymn Stories Dramatized by Kenneth W. Osbeck

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