The Nashville Numbering System
 
 
Part I
 

By www.Fretmentor.com

 

Once you play music with others, whether you play banjo, mandolin or guitar, you will need to become quickly acquainted with performing in various keys.  For instance, a singer or other instrumentalist may request that the group plays a song in the key of Bb. You may know the particular song but odds are that you learned that song in a different key than Bb.  

 

Professional musicians and those who are studio musicians, will utilize a system of charts that are based on numbers, as opposed to the letters relating to the musical alphabet. Yet, the Nashville Numbering System is an effective tool for all performers, whether or not they play at an advanced level. In fact, once a beginner realizes how useful a numbering system can be, they may quickly adopt it.

 

What is the Nashville Numbering System?  How does it relate to you performing an instrument?  Is it an important thing that a musician needs to know?  How was it developed and by who?

 

The Nashville Numbering System is essentially a tool upon which numbers are substituted for each chord derived from scale degree of a scale, in order to quickly transcribe a piece of music.  Roman numerals (and in other cases, Arabic numerals) are utilized to identify the chord progression used for a particular key.  It was first developed in the 1950s by a group of musicians called the Jordanaires, who are best known as being the studio musicians behind many of Elvis Presley's earliest recordings.

 

To demonstrate this Nashville Numbering System, let's start with the Major Scale.  If you are not familiar with the major scale or what the pattern for the major scale is, please refer to the link by clicking on the following:  MAJOR SCALE

 

The following is the C major scale and its scale pattern:

 

 

C D E  F  G  A B C
 R  W  W  H  W  W  W  H

 

 

Now let's change the interval pattern to Roman Numerals from I to VIII:

 

 

 C  D  E  F  G A  B  C
 I  II  III  IV  V  VI  VII

 VIII

 
 
 
 
 
 
The scale can be thought of as alphabetical numbers or letters.  The Nashville Numbering System will utilize numbers, instead of the alphabetical pitches associated with the scale.  It is important to understand that each scale degree will represent a chord for a song.  For instance, a song played in the Key of C would have its number I root chord as a C Major.  Other major chords include the IV or F and the V or G. The ii, iii and vi chords, however, are minor or major chords. Thus, in the Key of C, you may also use a ii chord (D minor or D major), iii chord (E minor or E major), and the vi chord (A minor or A major).  The seventh note is neither minor or major but has applications as a diminished chord.  The seventh note can also be flatted.
 
 
 
If a singer requests a piece that we were performing in the key of C be moved up to the key of E, we would consider the E major scale.
 
 
 E  F#  G# A  B  C#  D#  E
 I  II  III  IV  V  VI  VII

 VIII

 
 
 
 
A song played in the Key of E would have its number I root chord as a E Major.  Other major chords include the IV or A and the V or B. Other major chords include the IV or A and the V or B. As in the above example, in the Key of E, you may also use a ii chord (F# minor or F major), iii chord (G# minor or G major), and the vi chord (C# minor or C# major).  The seventh note is neither minor or major but has applications as a diminished chord.  The seventh note can also be flatted.
 
 
 
 
Here is a simple song, Amazing Grace, that I have originally written in the Key of C:
 
 
 
 
Amazing Grace in the Key of C
 
 
 
 
 
What if the singer wants the song played in another Key, such as the Key of E.  Below you will see Amazing grace charted in the Key of E. Notice that the same number of measures are played and each chord plays for the same duration of measures. In the different manner, all the chords have changed to corespond to the E major scale.
 
 
 
 
 Amazing Grace in he Key of E
 
 
 
 
While at first it may seem complicated, it is easiest to followed chord progressions by understanding a song charted in numbers.  This way, we can automatically change the song to any Key in which the singer or group of musicians want to play.  At the very least, the rhythm (strums or chops) of each song can remain that same and although we may not be able to quickly transcribe the entire lead of a song, we can back up any song by knowing the chord progressions for a given Key.
 
 
 
The following chart demonstrated Amazing Grace played in numbers.  The musician, now can match the numbers in the scale to the chart.
 
 
 
Amazing Grace Charted in Numbers
 
 
 

One important thing you should notice is that in a chord chart of numbers, the numbers do not reflect whether or not minor chords or used. I will explore this as well as other aspects of the Nashville Numbering System in Part II, so check back soon.

 

Copyright 2009 By www.Fretmentor.com

 

FacebookTwitterDiggGoogle BookmarksRedditLinkedinRSS FeedPinterest
Pin It