… you will know that those notes, in the Key of C Major would be: C – G – F. You’re already probably beginning to see how easy this can be! So, if you see a chord sheet that says: So, let’s take the key of C as a simple example. It’s based on one simple principle: the notes in a key’s major scale are numbered one through seven, each of which represents a chord. It allows you to quickly transpose songs on the fly. Transposition isn’t an “extra skill” to have on your resume, it’s a basic skill that all musicians should have.Įnter the Number System. If you learn a song in the key of C, what do you do if the worship leader decides to move it last minute to the key of B? Or if a female vocalist needs to do it in the key of G? As a musician, you need to have the ability to transpose the chords and parts on the fly as need be. While chord names are certainly a quicker way to just jump into playing the song, the Number System is a far more flexible system for the long-term use of the song. One of the most frequent questions we get asked is, “I downloaded one of your chord charts but it just had numbers on it! Why not just put chords?” For more of this hombre’s ramblings and the rest of L2P check out L2Pbandspace and The Stone, we employ something called the Number System with our musicians. Jake Kelly is a man on the constant search for enlightenment, if anyone finds it let him know so he can get some.
Minor chord in nashville number system chart full#
1.” with each number getting a bar or full measure.īut it is a simple system and great for transposing quickly once you get the hang of it. Someone might say, “the intro is forty-five eleven.”
Things in the studio and on stage move FAST! So short hand is often used. If there’s two chords per bar, it’s assumed they each get two beats, unless under the underline there’s hash marks dividing them otherwise. Otherwise it assumed that it’s one number (one chord) per measure. When there are two chords or more to a bar, they are underlined (and called a split bar). And notated as “b7” (the small “b” representing the flat symbol). Therefore, (keeping in the key of A) if a G major were to be used in the song, it would be called a flat seven. If there’s a flatted chord, it is usually notated before the chord. So, if you saw a “2” it would be a B major (in the key of A), while “2m” would be a B minor. So, here is A major, diatonically (note that the “m” and “dim” are used here- different from the chart in the question):
seven, nine, eleven and thirteen chords would have the number smaller on the right hand upper corner of the number. Diminished chords would have “dim” or the little circle that’s not on the keyboard. And, without the “m” or “dim” it would be a major chord.Ī minor chord would have a “m” next to it. Basically, the flatted seventh of the root chord. In the Key of A, would the numbers and chords be:Īnd what if there was a G major in the song, what number would that be and how would that be charted? Help!Ī: That would be shown as either a “b7” or a “7b”. Q: Although I believe I understand the Nashville Number System, I’m still need some help. This system has started to catch hold outside of Nashville, but there’s still some level of confusion as illustrated in the question below. Since each scale step is represented with a number, the need to re-chart the song is eliminated when the singer or producer decides to switch keys. In Nashville a number system is used in place of conventional charts to facilitate quick transposing of songs.