The Nashville Number System is a method of
transcribing
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of spoken language in written form. The source can either be utterances (''speech'' or ''sign language'') or preexisting text in another writing system.
Transcription shoul ...
music by denoting the
scale degree
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and ...
on which a
chord is built. It was developed by Neal Matthews in the late 1950s as a simplified system for
the Jordanaires
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...
to use in the studio and further developed by
Charlie McCoy
Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...
.
The Nashville Number System
by Chas Williams — This book has been used by Belmont University, MTSU, ETSU, Lee University, Liberty University and many others to teach the NNS. It includes the CD "String Of Pearls and number charts of the songs by Nashville studio musicians and producers; also interactive charts of the songs. It resembles the Roman numeral
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
[Miller, Michael (2005). ]
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory
', p.243. Penguin. . "The Nashville Number System is very much like the Roman numeral notation system, except it uses regular numbers...instead of Roman numerals." and figured bass
Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsic ...
systems traditionally used to transcribe a chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
since the 1700s. The Nashville Number System was compiled and published in a book by Chas. Williams in 1988.
The Nashville Number System can be used by someone with only a rudimentary background in music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
. Improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
structures can be explained using numbers and chord changes can be communicated mid-song by holding up the corresponding number of fingers. The system is flexible, and can be embellished to include more information (such as chord color or to denote a bass note in an inverted chord
In music theory, an inversion is a type of change to intervals, chords, voices (in counterpoint), and melodies. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in mus ...
). The system makes it easy for bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
s, record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
or lead vocal
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
ist to change the key of songs when recording in the studio or playing live, since the new key just has to be stated before the song is started. The rhythm section
A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band.
The rhythm sec ...
members can then use their knowledge of harmony to perform the song in a new key.
Scale degrees and major chords
The Nashville Number System, (also referred to as NNS) is similar to (movable-do) Solfège, which uses "Do Ré Mi Fa Sol La Ti" to represent the seven scale degrees of the Major scale. It is also similar to roman numeral analysis
In music theory, Roman numeral analysis is a type of musical analysis in which chords are represented by Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, …). In some cases, Roman numerals denote scale degrees themselves. More commonly, however, they represent t ...
; however, the NNS instead uses Arabic numerals to represent each of the scale degrees.
In the key of C, the numbers would correspond as follows:
C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6, B=7.
In the key of B, the numbers would be
B=1, C=2, D=3, E=4, F=5, G=6, A=7.
The key may be specified at the top of the written chord chart, or given orally by the bandleader, record producer or lead singer. The numbers do not change when transposing the composition into another key. They are simply relative to the new root note. The only knowledge required is to know the major scale for the given key. Unless otherwise notated, all numbers represent major chords, and each chord should be played for one measure.
So in the key of C, the Nashville Number System notation:
1 4 1 5
represents a four-bar phrase, in which the band would play a C major chord (one bar), an F major chord (one bar), a C major chord (one bar), and a G major chord (one bar).
Here is an example of how two four bar phrases can be formed to create a section of a song.
Accidentals modifying a scale degree are usually written to the left of the number. 7 ("flat 7") represents a B major chord in the key of C, or an A major chord in the key of B, or an F major chord in the key of G.
Chord type
A number by itself (without any other notation) is assumed to represent a major chord.
Minor chords are noted with a dash after the number or a lower case m, In the key of D, 1 is D major, 1- or 1m would be D minor.
If a chord root is not in the scale, the symbols or can be added. In the key of C major, an E triad would be notated as 3. In the key of A major, an F major triad would be notated as 6.
Other chord qualities such as major sevenths, suspended chords, and dominant sevenths use familiar symbols: 47 5sus 57 1 would stand for
F7 Gsus G7 C in the key of C, or
E7 Fsus F7 B in the key of B. A2 means "add 2" or "add 9".
Chord inversions and chords with other altered bass notes are notated analogously to regular slash chord
In music, especially modern popular music, a slash chord or slashed chord, also compound chord, is a chord whose bass note or inversion is indicated by the addition of a slash and the letter of the bass note after the root note letter. It does no ...
notation. In the key of C, C/E (C major first inversion
The first inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the third of the chord is the bass note and the root a sixth above it.Walter Piston, ''Harmony'', fifth edition, revised and expanded by Mark DeVo ...
, with E bass) is written as 1/3; G/B is written as 5/7; Am/G (an inversion of Am7) is written as 6m/5; F/G (F major with G bass) is 4/5. Just as with simple chords, the numbers refer to scale degrees; specifically, the scale degree number used for the bass note is that of the note's position in the tonic's scale (as opposed to, for example, that of its position in the scale of the chord being played). In the key of B, 1/3 stands for B/D, 5/7 stands for F/A, 6m/5 stands for Gm/F, and 4/5 stands for E/F.
Chord qualities
- = m = minor
Minor may refer to:
* Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities.
** A person who has not reached the age of majority
* Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education
Music theory
*Minor chord
** Barb ...
= dominant 7th
In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad tog ...
Δ = major 7th
In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a ''Delta chord'', can be written as maj7, M7, ...
- (it takes four characters to write "maj7" as opposed to one, "Δ")
° = diminished
° = diminished seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a diminished seventh () is an interval produced by narrowing a minor seventh by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an d7 ...
ø = ø = half diminished seventh
° = diminished major seventh
= augmented 5th
= augmented minor seventh
= Δ = augmented major seventh
Rhythm and articulation
NNS charts use unique rhythmic symbols as well, and variations in practice exist. A diamond shape around a number indicates that the chord should be held out or allowed to ring as a whole note. Conversely, the marcato symbol ^ over the number, or a staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
dot underneath, indicates that the chord should be immediately choked or stopped. The "push" symbol ("<" and ">" are both used) syncopates the indicated chord, moving its attack back one eighth note, to the preceding "and". A sequence of several chords in a single measure is notated by underlining the desired chord numbers. (Some charts use parentheses or a box for this.) If two numbers are underlined it is assumed that the chord values are even. In 4/4 time that would mean the first chord would be played for two beats and the second chord would be played for two beats. 2- 5 1 means a minor 2 chord for two beats, then a 5 chord for two beats, then a 1 chord for four beats. If the measure is not evenly divided, beats can be indicated by dots or hash marks over the chord numbers. Three dots over a given chord would tell the musician to play that chord for three beats. Alternatively, rhythmic notation can be used.
Example
"After You've Gone" by Creamer and Layton 1918
Verse, mm.7-23 ( and, for comparison, the score ):
Chorus, mm.24-43 ( and, for comparison, the score ):
See also
*
* Nashville E9 tuning and Nashville tuning (high strung)
Nashville or high-strung tuning refers to the practice of replacing the wound E, A, D and G strings on a six-string guitar with lighter gauge strings to allow tuning an octave higher than standard. This is usually achieved by using one string from ...
References
External links
The Nashville Number Fake Book
by Trevor de Clercq — This book includes a detailed overview of the Nashville Number System as well as complete charts for 200 acclaimed country songs.
The Nashville Number System
– Site for the book ''Song Charting Made Easy: a Play-along Guide to the Nashville Number System'' by Jim Riley, with a preview including charts and play-along music tracks
– a chart with (auto-playing) audio explanation and playthrough by Jimi Whitelaw, Chip Hardy, Rod Lewis, and Tim Grogan of Nashville Demo Studio. Shows standard musical notation such as repeat sign
In music, a repeat sign is a sign that indicates a section should be repeated. If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on (or stop, if the sign appears at the end of the piece). A co ...
s, D.S. al coda, rhythmic notation, and staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
dots used in a Nashville Number System chart.
Learn the Nashville Number System
– information on rhythm notation is included in the Flash-based "Nashville Number System Quiz and Rhythm Tutorial". Also includes a separate Flash-based ear training quiz.
"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"
Diamond on the 1
– a "gig bag book" by Nashville musician Jonathan Riggs that introduces the basic concepts of the Nashville Number System
{{Chord symbols
Musical notation
Accompaniment
Rhythm section
Country music