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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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Fade, fade each earthly joy

Experience of Christ As Everything

New Tunes531
1
Fade, fade each earthly joy;
Jesus is mine.
Break every tender tie;
Jesus is mine.
Dark is the wilderness,
Earth has no resting place,
Jesus alone can bless;
Jesus is mine.
2
Tempt not my soul away;
Jesus is mine.
Here would I ever stay;
Jesus is mine.
Perishing things of clay,
Born but for one brief day,
Pass from my heart away;
Jesus is mine.
3
Farewell, ye dreams of night;
Jesus is mine.
Lost in this dawning bright;
Jesus is mine.
All that my soul has tried
Left but a dismal void;
Jesus has satisfied;
Jesus is mine.
4
Farewell, mortality;
Jesus is mine.
Welcome, eternity;
Jesus is mine.
Welcome, O Loved and Blest,
Welcome, sweet scenes of rest,
Welcome, my Savior’s breast;
Jesus is mine.

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Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Jan 23, 2017

Jane Catharine Bonar, née Lundie, was daughter of the Rev. Robert Lundie, some time minister of the parish of Kelso, Scotland, born at Kelso Manse. After losing her father and mother in 1832 (at age 10), Jane moved to a home in Edinburgh. In 1835, she was sent to a school in London. On her return, she spent much time with her sister Mary at the manse in Cleish until 1840, when Mary died. She married Horatius Bonar in 1843, the same year that she wrote this hymn. - John Julian 'Dictionary of Hymnology' and hymntime

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Mr. Sankey tells a very touching incident in connection with this hymn. An evangelist, J. Denham Smith, was holding revival meetings in the city of Dublin. Mr Smith had a little boy, 4 years old. The whole family loved to sing, and one evening after meetings they were singing, "Jesus is Mine". The little laddie went to his mother and said, "Please mummy, don't sing that hymn; I can't sing it yet; Jesus is not mine yet". This incident was related to Mr. Smith, who took the matter lightly, remarking that his son was too young to understand the meaning of the hymn. However, on another occasion when the hymn was sung, little Willie again pled with his mother to stop the hymn, stating that he could not truthfully sing it yet. The following morning Willie did not come down to breakfast after being called, and upon seeking him, his father found him on his knees earnestly praying. Upon hearing his father's voice, he arose and asked his father when the next children's meeting would be held. He was told it would be on Friday evening that week. He said that he wanted so much to find Jesus. At the children's meeting the lad was quiet and attentive and seemed to be drinking in every word as his father told the simple story of Jesus and His love. At the close of the meeting he went up on the platform to his father, and throwing his arms around him, he said, "Now, dear Papa, I can sing with the rest, 'Jesus is Mine!'" - 'More Living Hymn Stories' by Wilbur Konkel

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Joseph Onwuegbuzie

Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria

May 8, 2015

Each time I begin to experiece persecution in the cause of following Jesus the Spirit of God always uses this song to remind me of the joy of eternity.

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Janefrances

Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Mar 20, 2015

I was feeling bad that the advice I gave to a colleague of mine who call me Mum and I call her "my daughter" was interpreted wrongly and used against me with the intention to ruin my career. I got relieved from the hurtful pain inflicted in my heart by her when this song was sang in the morning Mass I attended two days after the incident and immediately I got into my office, I googled it and here it is.

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Sabina

Oct 28, 2014

With Jesus all will always be well.

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Chilaka Ogechi

Abuja, Nigeria

Sep 26, 2014

soul touching

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Nsisuk O. Ekanem

Auchi, Edo, Nigeria

Nov 24, 2013

It was Christ the King day in 2003. I gave a testimony in my native church about the manifest presence of God in the life of a true Christian. I was remarkably raw in my short exhortation. I got home and at night about 0055hrs I was woken by a beam of light incident on my eyes from my window. Behold a black African mamba (serpent) had appeared in my bed room and had climbed my left legs and I shook it off. I praised God that morning and this hymn ministered to me immensely as I sang it repeatedly with excitement. My help comes from God who made heaven and earth.

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Alicehsia

China

Apr 1, 2013

Amen! Christ is the only thing that will never fade!

Hallelujah! Amen! Welcome the eternal One! Christ is our portion, dear saints!

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Christopher

Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria

Jun 16, 2012

Of the few songs that still linger in my soul from my minor seminary days, this is a top choice. Years after, a pentecostal, I find the lyrics thoroughly delightful. It still blesses me. Another that blesses me is "Most Holy Trinity!"

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CHRISTIAN NWATARALI

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, Canada

Oct 22, 2011

I preached some retreats with this hymn back in Nigeria. Not finding it in hymn books I decided to google it, and here I am with it; a rejuvenation.

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Sunny Emman Akintomide OLAMILOKUN

Lagos, Nigeria

Jun 10, 2011

It was some time in 1962, while in a primary school in Makera Baptist School Kaduna Nigeria that my music teacher taught us this song. Early on 10 June 2011, exactly 3 years when I dropped my uniform as a naval officer with an admirable career in the Nigerian Navy, the lyrics of this song kept coming to me. I was urged to go back to the lyrics and I googled it to find the lyrics with this wonderful tune. Certainly, it is a call for evangelism as all we love may fade away. Jesus is Mine and I profess.

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