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About Numbered Notation

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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A Master of Dreams

The Church The Vision

New Songs919
1
A standing sheaf,
A shining star.
My dream reveals
Who God’s people are.
We’re full of light,
And life divine,
We live in Christ,
In us He shines.
 
A “master of dreams,”
I choose to live in what I’ve seen.
For Christ in me beams,
A shining star, a living sheaf.
2
Though many fail,
And fall to sin.
It doesn’t change—
God’s chosen them.
We’re not a judge,
But shepherds true.
We overcome
So they can too.
3
The world is but
A glance away.
It speaks to me
To sin each day.
But I will flee,
With others too.
We reign as kings,
The lust subdue.
 
Yes, I’ve seen the dream!
I live in Christ and He in me!
His word I believe!
The vision’s real and reigns in me.
4
We won’t be swayed
To love the world.
Though ev’n betrayed,
We’ll gain the Lord.
Restricted now,
In grace He’ll train,
The coming age
With Him to reign.

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Tim

Milwaukee, WI, United States

Oct 5, 2026

Oh Lord Jesus I love You! I’ve seen a dream, I live in Christ, and He in me! His word I believe, the visions real, and reigns in me! Praise You Lord!

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Bryan

Arcadia, California, United States

Sep 1, 2026

Even we fail and sin every day, It doesn't mean that God forgets us. His Love is EVERLASTING!

Read more
Sylvester D Chatman

Saint Louis, MO, United States

Jan 24, 2026

"My burden is to point out that Joseph was released from prison through his speaking by faith. Joseph dreamed that he was a sheaf rising up and that his brothers were bowing down to him. Ten years went by, and still this dream had not been fulfilled. If this had happened to us, we would have been disappointed to the uttermost and said, "Forget about this dream. I'm through with being a dreamer and with hearing about dreams." Joseph was seventeen or eighteen years of age when he was first put into prison, and he was about twenty-eight years of age when he interpreted the dreams of his two companions in prison. He was released from the dungeon by speaking. Eventually, by his speaking, Joseph was released from prison. If he had not spoken to the cupbearer, there would have been no one to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. It was the cupbearer who brought the news to Pharoah that there was someone in prison who could interpret dreams. (Gen. 41:9-13) Therefore, Joseph was released from prison indirectly through his interpretation of the cupbearer's dream. Whether or not the vision works depends upon your mouth. If you say no, it will not work for you. But if you say yes, it will work for you, even though it does not work for others. It all depends on whether you say yes or no. If you say no, it will be no; and if you say yes, it will be yes. Concerning the dream, the vision, it matters a great deal whether we say yes or no, for either our yes or our no will come true.

Joseph was truly a dreamer, and his life was a life of dreams. A victorious and overcoming Christian will always be a dreamer. You need to have dreams, and you need to interpret the dreams of others. Day by day let us all speak according to our vision, according to our dreams. Furthermore, we must interpret the vision of others, and we must live according to our vision. We should not speak according to our feelings but according to the vision. We are visionaries. Because we are visionaries, we do everything according to the vision. Although a certain thing has not yet come to pass, we speak according to what we have seen of it, and we find out that our vision is being fulfilled." (Joseph - The Reigning Aspect of a Mature Believer, Chapter 5, The Secret of Joseph's Release and Exaltation)

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, may we all learn to speak in faith and by faith! Train us and perfect us to speak not according to our feeling or experience, but according to the vision. Cause this vision to constitute us dreamers, living a life of dreams, in order to express Yourself, the Master of dreams, corporately in the church, full of living sheaves and shining stars. We choose to live in what we've seen for Christ in me beams... a shining star... a living sheaf!

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Liora

Cerritos, CA, United States

Jan 18, 2026

But I will flee,
With others too.
We reign as kings,
The lust subdue.

Read more
M.G

CA, United States

Jan 16, 2026

Restricted now,
In grace He’ll train,
The coming age
With Him to reign.

Read more
Nicole Ho

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Dec 6, 2025

I’ve seen the dream, I’m living in it, forever.

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Miguel Soltero Jr.

Farmington, MI, United States

Oct 23, 2025

Christ beams in us! The world is only a glance away, tempting us to sin each day, but we won't be swayed to love the world!! We will flee, subdue the lust, and reign as kings! Lord, we fail so many times, but no matter what, You have chosen us. We want to be those who overcome and turn this age!

Read more
Patty Hollinshead

Fargo, North Dakota, United States

Mar 19, 2025

For Christ in me beams,
A shining star, a living sheaf.
Yes, I’ve seen the dream!
I live in Christ and He in me!
His word I believe!
The vision’s real and reigns in me.

Read more
Kate

Anheim, CA, United States

Dec 27, 2024

“Though many fail,
And fall to sin.
It doesn’t change—
God’s chosen them. ”

Read more
Richard Deng

China

Dec 30, 2023

站立禾捆,发光明星,神子民在我梦中如是。 满了光并神圣生命,住基督里,让祂在我显耀
我是做梦的人,我一生活我所看见,基督照我里面,发光的星,站立的禾捆
虽许多失败,于罪中沉溺。神的拣选无所能改。非为审判官,应是牧羊人,率先得胜引人同得赏
世界离我并不遥远,它时引诱致我日跌倒,但我会逃,同我清心伴,如王掌权,来使欲为奴
我-确-见-其-实!彼此内住何其真实!祂话我所信!真实异象,作我管治
不爱世界,永不动摇。何来亏损,我总赢得。今时受管,恩中成全,不久之日同祂掌权

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