1 6- 5 4
1 5/7 6- 5
Every number is a measure. This particular chart is only 8 measures.
Dashes indicate minor chords. All other chords are assumed Major.
Slashes show that a bass note has been altered.
If this song IN THE KEY OF C were written using chord symbols it would look like this -
C Am G F
C G/B Am G
If we changed the above number chart to THE KEY OF D it would look like this -
D Bm A G
D A/C# Bm A
We would have had to re-write the chord symbol chart in order to change keys, but the number chart stays the same!
Have you tried our Nashville Number System Ear Training??
As you see more and more number charts, the patterns all begin to look the same. This is the AHH HAH moment! Most chord progressions are very similar, even if they are in different keys. Once you have a grasp of many of the commonly occurring chord progressions, playing popular music can be quite simple.
Here are some common chord progressions:
1 4 5 Common in almost all styles
2 5 1 *The Cornerstone of Jazz – Common in jazz and other styles
1 6- 2- 5 (1) Common in jazz and other styles
3- 6- 2- 5 (1) Common in jazz and other styles
4 1/3 2- 1 *Walk-Down – Common in almost all styles
1 5/7 6- 5 *Walk-Down - Common in almost all styles
GuitarThinker.com is passionate about being a leader in nashville number system education. Check out our number charts of popular songs. Professional musicians think of songs in terms of numbers, and so should you. We will help you learn, practice, and master this amazing musical tool.
The Nashville Number System is based on the Major Scale. No matter what your skill level, you know the major scale! Everybody learns it in elementary school.
In the key of C Major
do re mi fa sol la ti do
Numbers of the C Major Scale
C D E F G A B C
This is a chart detailing the Nashville Number System in all keys.
Check out this great demonstration video by Chas Williams, who wrote the definitive book on the Nashville Number System. And if you haven’t already, make sure you check out our interview with Chas here.
Nate Dean is a session guitarist, arranger, Worship leader, and songwriter. He has played on hundreds of recording sessions in both Nashville and his hometown Kansas City.
Pingback: Chas Williams Interview - The Authority on the Nashville Number System | GuitarThinker
Pingback: The Beauty of Number Charts | churchministrynews.com
Wow! I have been playing the bass for 12 years. Just heard about the Nashville Numbers System today as I read The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten. Looked it up and found that that is what I have been playing all these years. Never could get into the letters. Numbers just make more sense. Especially since the letters get complicated when the key changes.
I am not sure that the Nashville Number System is the first application of this method. Having some knowledge of music theory, I would think this is common sense to most who understand the foundation and formation of chords. While the first, third and fifth notes of any “said” major scale make up the major chord of “said” major scale….here in is the beginning of the use of numering notes of any “said” scale.
For example: the Key of “C” is 1-C, 2-D, 3-E, 4-F, 5-G, 6-A, 7-B, and 8-C being the octave of a complete major scale. This major scale also reveals the type of pattern all major scales have. The place where “whole steps” or “half steps” go.
The major pattern of steps is thus:
1-w-2-w-3-h-4-w-5-w-6-w-7-h-8
No matter the key, placing a certain note (C or F or G or etc.) under the “1″ can lead one to learn the number of sharps or flats in a given key.
Therefore, I submit once again, the Nashville Number System may have been around long before those in Nashville gave this concept a name. I personally used this information as a means of defining progressions long before I read this article. We all have heard of the “1-4-5″ 12 Bar Blues Progression….right!?!
I am not trying to slam your information….just trying to bring a glimps of reality!
The Nashville Number System was made so that when someone is in the studio and they have the song in the key of G but the singer wants it in D, then they wouldn’t have to change the whole chart, but only have to change the key the song was in. I use the number system all the time. It is a simple for someone who knows theory and wants to do studio or live work.
You hit the nail on the head John.
Right on! I use this system all the time – easy to work with and universal.
I think they were pretty clear on the fact that they didn’t invent it. If you read the information above… “said” details of the classical origin are there. Sheesh.
James, before the Jordannaires and the “Nashville Number System” in the early 1950s, there was sheet music. Only the guitar player, if they had one needed a chord chart.
Who else in a big band/orchestra would have used a chord chart? No one, not even the piano player. Certainly not the horn players. Piano players needed the full sheet music for ALL the parts, not just the chords, but the bass and melody, too.
NNS was a necessity due to the fading of big bands and swing, in favor of pop music, small combos, the heavy use of guitars, and session players under contract to a small record company or recording studio. The session players were the ones that needed the flexible chord charts, a la Nashville Numbering System.
Music, like every other art and science has an evolutionary path. NNS was created when it was needed. Not to say that the musicians didn’t communicate with numbers, but you can be sure the band’s music arranger or director had parts for the horn players that went beyond just the chords, but all the connecting notes in between, too.
So, here’s a different glimpse of reality.
But Elvis used it
I’ve been playing bass since 7th grade and now I’m in my 30′s. I too also heard the Nashville number system but never got around to really learning it. This was a great tutorial for me! Thanks for the examples!! Now I can jump right into gigs for other bands without a whole lot of practicing and those last min. gigs!!
The main differences between this and a lead sheet are not just the use of numbers instead of letters, in a lead sheet each measure is separated by a bar line, and often the melody is transcribed. You can make a lead sheet style chart using numbers instead of letters and omit the melody, thats still not what is refereed to In Nashville as “The Nashville Number System”. Each number in a N.N.S chart is a full measure and measures with more than one chord in them have the two (or more) numbers underlined, the first time i saw a nashville chart I thought that four measures were one bar. often 4 measures are separated by dots to denote if a phrase has an added bar to it. Also Nashville charts do not use repeats, first and second endings or codas. All chords are charted out. Intro, Vrs, Chorus, Vrs, ect but always completely charted so you read the chart all the way through with out having to jump back and forth like a lead sheet. Hope this was helpful
Matt, thanks for sharing that info on the measures, though I’m confused how the dots are used. I hope I can find that explained on here somewhere.
James, It is a variation of the Roman numerals used in basic theory, but actually much more sophisticated and able to convey more information in a smaller amount of space. I have a degree in Theory, and the Nashville number system represents an improvement for conveying a chart that a theory outline does not. Since learning about it some 15 years ago I have found it to be in many ways superior, but you are correct that it is a variation of preexisting tools. Most improvements are made the same way, by tweaking something and making it better. I don\’t think anyone was claiming the NNS is completely original, just a vast improvement for quick charting, and one that conveys much more information than previous methods did.
Can someone explain a few things in the video to me? In the chorus, what is 4 1/3 mean? Is that a bass change? I grasp the rest of this concept, but I don’t know what that 4 and 1 over 3 means. Thanks!
The 4 and the 1/3 are denoting two separate things. The 4 is the fourth chord in the key, which I think you already know. The 1/3 is the first chord in the key, but with the third note in the bass. In the key of E this is an E/G# chord.
Thanks Kyle!
Thanks for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I will
be waiting for your further write ups thank you once
again.
I’ve used a similar system for about 45 yrs. Prefer to use Roman numerals,and put what ‘flavour’ each chord has – e.g. I VIm IIm V7 etc. This clears up anomalies like is 2 a maj. or min. that little take-away sign often doesn’t get noticed !!
Also I find it makes sense to write 4 bars on a line – most songs are more like poems than ‘stories’ and work in this format. If a bar is shared, say 2 beats on IIIm & 2 beats on VIIm7b5, I’ll put a bracket under both. There’s little point in putting bar lines in,they clog up the chords, we don’t slash in between each word we write in a story, do we ?……… Tim
Thanks Tim! You know, usually number charts contain the ‘flavor’ as well. These were kept out of the tutorial for sake of simplicity.
For example:
1 6- 4 5 could be written as
1(Maj7) 6-(7) 4(Maj7) 5(7)
Still think ‘my’ way’s easier to follow ! The chord letter is better to be shown as a Roman numeral, with the flavour as numbers rather as standard. Also, the minus sign can be used as a flat, as in C7-9, and could be confused in the heat of the moment. Comments,please, Tim.
The – (minus sign) should NEVER be used for flat. EVER. This is wrong.
I would not denote a b9 with a -9 as this would (or could) be construed as minor 9 (1 b3 5 b7 9). C7b9 would be spelled (1 3 5 b7 b9) and is completely different! Thanks!
What is the number chart for Vince Gill’s Little Liza Jane?
When done in the key of A what is the C?
James: the number for C (if in the key of A) is “b3″ (flat 3)
Thanks for the info. There have been “punches” and rhythmic things that I didn’t know exactly how to chart in the past and you’ve helped. I think the one thing that has been left out in the comments that I was able to read, is the great ear training that comes along with using this system. Just as giving elementary students a system like the solfege system, (do, re, mi, etc.) instantly improves intonation, learning a numbers system where you think in intervals rather than letters, improves your ear and your ability to improv in any key. Pretty soon you will hear and be able to recognize those predictable chord progressions in any key and any song.
I absolutely agree Angie! Very good points, very well put.
I’m looking for an Android app to store and recall Number charts quickly on a tablet. I can use PDF but then how can I add new files easily without using a Computer?
I am new at Bass playing, I have been practicing the scales daily, but still don’t understand how to finger the number system, for example 1 4 5 Common in almost all styles but is this played all on one string, same as 1 5/7 6- 5 is this done on one string. Help me!
David,
You can finger the number system the same way you finger the major scale. As you would not typically play the entire major scale on one string, you wouldn’t finger the number system that way either.
For example: 1, 4, 5 in the key of A Major could be fingered on the 5th fret of your low E string, the 5th fret of your A string, and the 7th fret of your A string, respectively.
I have always written out chord charts with traditional jazz chords but want to try using the Nashville Numbers System for modulation/transposition. Does anybody know about more complex applications?
For example…
a song in the key of C with B#º7/C# as a passing chord in an E major bass line. Would this be numbered as #7º7/#1?
What about an E#ø7 chord with ♭13, ♭11 &♭9 in the key of F#? Would this be 7ø7♭13♭11♭9?
KGD,
The short answer is, yes, you are correct. Although these complex extensions are cumbersome, they are no more cumbersome than if attached to a letter.