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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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My God, my Portion

Experience of God As the Everlasting Portion

New Tunes600
1
My God, my Portion, and my Love,
My everlasting All,
I’ve none but Thee in heav’n above,
Or on this earthly ball.
What empty things are all the skies,
And this inferior clod!
There’s nothing here deserves my joys,
There’s nothing like my God.
2
To Thee I owe my wealth, and friends,
And health, and safe abode;
Thanks to Thy name for meaner things,
But they are not my God.
How vain a toy is glittering wealth,
If once compared to Thee!
Or what’s my safety, or my health,
Or all my friends to me.
3
Were I possessor of the earth,
And called the stars my own,
Without Thy graces and Thyself,
I were a wretch undone.
Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore;
Grant me the visits of Thy grace,
And I desire no more.

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Meagan Sanders

Bham, WA, United States

May 17, 2010

Works well with 108 in the new tunes.

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Enoch

Lexington, Kentucky, United States

May 15, 2010

When we struggle, sometimes, we just need to remember that there's nothing here that deserves our joys. What's my safety, or my health, or all my friends to me? For there is nothing like our God.

In these tough times, I always reach into my spirit, and remember-

My God,
My Portion,
and my Love,
My everlasting All.

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B Liu

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Oct 4, 2009

Were I possessor of the earth,
And called the stars my own,
Without Thy graces and Thyself,
I were a wretch undone.

Oh Lord, You are my God, my Portion, my Love and everlasting All. Only in You, I find rest, satisfaction, joy and enjoyment. All things are vain, only Christ is gain.

God's goal in His economy is not merely to redeem His people and save them from the world, typified by Egypt, but to bring them into Christ, typified by the good land, so that they may possess Him and enjoy His unsearchable riches. By enjoying His unsearchable riches, we are built up to be His Body, the church, which is Christ fullness, His expression, and which is also the habitation of God and the kingdom of God. And ultimately, this will consummate in the New Jerusalem in eternity for the fulfillment of God's eternal economy.

Amen!!!

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Tim Naftzger

Boise, Idaho, United States

Mar 6, 2009

Lately, life has been pretty good; friends, family, activities, life in general has just been awesome... but singing this song brings me to tears realizing that nothing I have will ever compare to the Lord and His great love for me. He is the only one that is unchanging, and in the end, nothing in this world even matters. Only our God. There is nothing and no one like Him.

Read more
Tim Naftzger

Boise, Idaho, United States

Mar 6, 2009

Lately, life has been pretty good; friends, family, activities, life in general has just been awesome... but singing this song brings me to tears realizing that nothing I have will ever compare to the Lord and His great love for me. He is the only one that is unchanging, and in the end, nothing in this world even matters. Only our God. There is nothing and no one like Him.

Read more
Tim Naftzger

Boise, ID, United States

Mar 6, 2009

Lately, life has been pretty good; friends, family, activities, life in general has just been awesome... but singing this song brings me to tears realizing that nothing I have will ever compare to the Lord and His great love for me. He is the only one that is unchanging, and in the end, nothing in this world even matters. Only our God. There is nothing and no one like Him.

Read more
Christine Tsung

Malaysia

Feb 22, 2009

Praise the Lord, He is our eternal portion , He is our God, nothing I could find anymore, but just enjoy His presence.

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Rocio Arevalo

Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico

Oct 25, 2008

Disfruto este canto pues me recuerda que Dios es mi porcion y mi herencia ETERNA!!! y que es lo unico que tiene sentido en TODO EL COSMOS. Necesito seguir en este disfrute hasta que sea mucho mas real en mi.

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Everstray Evans

China

Aug 21, 2008

熟悉的旋律，相映的话语！神是我们世世代代的居所！

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Lily Wong

Mississauga, ON, Canada

Feb 22, 2006

Yes, there are a lot of treasures of this world that people seek and run after even ending of given up their lives for, but to us, the Body of Christ, we would say that yet they are not MY God, I really love this verse so much, they are NOT MY GOD, no one and nothing could compare with the Lord I Have, He is the only One I pursue and run after, days after days, years after years, experiences testify and strengthen to me that nothing, yes NOTHING could compare with you Lord either in heaven or on earth. You are my GOD and everything. I love you Lord.

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