The Nashville Number System Explained
..
The Nashville Number System Explained
..Ok.. it's a standard 12 bar in "G" but add a 2 on the bridge ...kick it off from the 5 ... hit the 4 on the way down and then into the 1 ... watch me for the 2 ... Say What !! ... and the place is packed wall to wall with rowdy music fans ... and the management is starting to get real impatient .. and the leader of the band is starting to get edged too ... now is not the time to stand there and blink with your mouth open gawking at the audience, meek out and ask what does this mean ?? ..
Fear Not !! ... The Nashville Number System is a shorthand method of writing
musical arrangements that was developed by Nashville studio musicians based
on the degrees of the scale (do, re, me, fa, sol, la, ti ..). It
is a powerful tool in the written communication of music.
This system uses Roman Numerals ( I II III etc. ) or Arabic Numbers (12
3 etc..) instead of chord letters. This is because people do not always
play the same song in the same key. Also, some will use a capo, while others
will not. This system prevents the musician from having to rewrite chord
charts to reflect his/her own key preference.
All numbers are relative to the key you decide to play it in. For example,
the "3rd" in a C chord is an E note; using the root (C) as the
number one, and counting upwards ie. C = 1, D = 2, and E = 3, etc. The chart
below will help you understand it better and help you to figure out the
chords if you need help.
With the Nashville Numbering System, we can then base these Roman Numeral / Arabic Numbers by Key to find what they are.
The numbers are the notes in the scale in order. For example, in C we have:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
So a 1-6-2-5-1 Progression in the "Key of C" is:
C-Am-Dm-G7-C
Or even adding Extensions:
CM7-Am9-Dm9-G13-CM7....etc.
Just to go over some basics.
The first key point is the "qualities" of the numbers.
In a major key the "natural qualities" of the chords are:
1 - Major
2 - Minor
3 - Minor
4 - Major
5 - Major
6 - Minor
7 - Minor Diminished
You can see how this works if you have access to a piano. Using only the
white keys ( the key of C ), start with a C Major triad with C-E-G. Using
the same fingering, just move the chord up 1 white key at a time and you'll
hear the minor/major, etc..
The next key point is that you can "alter" chords. The 2 is naturally
minor. But we can make it major by writing 2M or IIM, or 2Ma IIMa, etc..
There is not exact standardization of the way the chords are written in
the number system. They can be in Roman Numerals ( I II III etc. ) or Arabic
Numbers (12 3 etc..)
If a chord is written without in alteration, it is assumed to be the "natural"
quality. So if you see this progression:
1 2 3 6
In C, that will be
C Major D Minor E minor A minor
If you see
1 2M 3M 6
In C that would be C Major D Major E Major A minor
The next thing you should know is that you use parenthesis to indicate more
than 1 chord per bar. For example, a progression with 2 chords per bar would
look like this:
( 1 6 ) ( 2 5 ) ( 4Maj7 3mi7 ) ( 2X9 5X )
Now, I through some new stuff at you besides the parenthesis. The 4Maj7
indicates an FMaj7 chord in the key of C. The Maj7 indicates you want the
4 part 7th chord not just the F Major triad.
The 2X9, indicated a dominant 9th chord. The "X" is used to indicate
a Dominant 7th type chord, like G7 in the key of C. The 9th indicated you
want the Dominant 9th, not just the 7th.
Again, there are no exact rules for the way the chords are written. For
example, some people like to use 4M7 for the 4 major 7th chord. Others will
use 4Maj7.
By the way, the "natural" qualities of the 7th chords ( 4 note
chords ), are:
1Maj7 2min7 3min7 4Maj7 5Dom7 6min7 Bhalfdim
You will also find poly chord notation used. If you want to use the common
5 chord over the 1 chord you will see something like this:
1 5/1 4/1 5/1
The "/" is used to indicate a different bass note from the root
of the chord. A few common non-root bass notes are:
1 1/3 4 4/6
5 5/7 1 5
Think of it as a "mental capo" ... you can learn to associate
the SOUND of a chord or a progression with a number, or series of numbers.
So even if you don't know what key a song is in, if you hear a C Ami F G
progression, you know it is a 1 6 4 5 progression. You know the SOUND of
that progression.
Reducing a chord chart to a numerical expression, is nothing new. "Figured
bass" was used in Bach's time, and the solfeggio method, (the do, re,
mi's,) of Italian musical pedagogy performed a function similar to the number
system. What these approaches share is the naming of scale degrees. Do,
Re, Mi; one, two, three; tonic, supertonic, mediant; and l, ll, lll all
name the degrees of the diatonic scale.
By the way ... now that you know that the "2" in the key of "G"
is "A" and you are starting on the "5" ( "D"
) to the "4" ( "C" )... a standard 12 bar progression
is something like "Johnny B. Goode", 'StatesBoro Blues",
"One Way Out", "Crossroads", "Folsom Prison Blues",
etc...
Dr.Duck wants to thank Eric, Mike, Charles , the guys who created the color
chart and all the other web sites that were plagiarized ... line at a time
(isn't copy & paste grand ..) to enable the staff of Ducks Deluxe
to sort out all the info and present you with this (mostly) complete
version of how to understand the Nashville # System ... In turn, in the
interest of furthering the art of music globally, feel free to rip off as
much of this as you want for any reason (your own web site / use in the
band, choir, or...) ... You're Welcome ... Enjoy... Ever Onward ...
Dr.Duck
