Nashville Number System

S

stm113

Power User
Hey guys, I just started playing with the Praise & Worship band at church. They use the Nashville Number System which as far as I can tell it assigns numbers to chords based on its interval position in the key. So in the key of A,
1=A
2=B
3=C#
4=D
5=E
6=F#
7=G#.
I was told they use this because the keys of the songs need to be changed depending on who is singing that day.

Anyone here have experience with this and if so please help me understand how it's easier than chord charts. I want to do this right and be an asset. Thank you!
 
stm113 said:
Hey guys, I just started playing with the Praise & Worship band at church. They use the Nashville Number System which as far as I can tell it assigns numbers to chords based on its interval position in the key. So in the key of A,
1=A
2=B
3=C#
4=D
5=E
6=F#
7=G#.
I was told they use this because the keys of the songs need to be changed depending on who is singing that day.

Anyone here have experience with this and if so please help me understand how it's easier than chord charts. I want to do this right and be an asset. Thank you!
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Using scale degrees instead of letter names makes it easier to transpose to different keys. Often in the studio the producer or singer might want to try multiple keys. The number charts don't have to be rewritten.

There is a lot more to the NNS besides the numbers for chords. The notation will let you write out a complicated complete arrangement on a single page of paper.

Very compact.

I bought this book: Really a great way to learn it if you aren't doing lot's of sessions in Nashville. http://www.nashvillenumbersystem.com/

If you Google it, there are tons of free docs and tutorials too.
 
Thank you. I supposing jus to going to have to retrain myself. Last night when I got the charts I cheated and wrote out the chords, is that bad?
 
it's just something to get used to. if you know chords and general music theory, after playing "basic" songs for a while you really understand that music is mostly intervals, not specific chords (there's a better way to say that, but i don't have it right now haha).

so a song that goes C F G is the same as a song that goes F Bb C or A D E. that is your basic 1 4 5 or I IV V. i tend to just write out numbers like 1234 vs roman numerals.

in most gigs i do these days, we have never rehearsed. we are generally familiar with songs we may perform, and we just call out forms of songs if repetitive, and then quickly call numbers for the Bridge, for example, if it's very different. then you just remember it as you play :)

1645, 145, 1564, etc. we use our ears to determine major vs minor, though 2, 3 and 6 are typically minor. if 2 is going to be major though, we'd call 2 major, or 4 minor. or we might just play a no 3rd chord until we hear the tonality with the melody, etc.

it's actually a very invigorating way to gig! i wish we could tell the audience "ok only 1 of us in this trio actually knows the song. the other 2 guys are using their skills as a musician to learn it right now!" but yeah, i'm sure the venue wouldn't like that haha. perhaps my circuit isn't exactly using the nashville system, but it's close, and works.

music is all about relativity and intervals. if i say 1645 and then the key, you should be able to instantly know how the song goes. use your ears and musicality to fill in the gaps and know what to actually play.
 
jlynnb1 said:
it also makes it easier to call out songs in the moment/on the fly...especially if you have an MD in a talkback mic
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I've seen house bands for showcase events be able to play complicated songs like this. It really is a great shorthand but like everything, takes some learning to get it down.
 
I can see what you guys are saying. I know more than a decent amount of theory it's just something I'll have to train my brain on. I think the toughest part will be keeping track which key were playing the song in once I learn it. It's possible that I could play any of the songs in any one of 2 or 3 different keys depending on who is leading worship that day. I'll be doing chords about 1/2 the time and the other I'll be doing melodic parts. I'm a little concerned that I may get my melodic runs crossed up. But on a good note I'll always get the music in the right key the week of so I'll have a few days to practice, and it's only 3-4 songs per week.
 
I learned by converting band charts to the number system and then weaning myself off of chord charts.

I'm still not totally there though. Can read med. to med. up tempo tunes but fast tempos still aren't automatic, too much transposing in my head still :)

And what's really strange to me is, all my chart gigs are on bass, I can read conventional bass music/charts and nashville charts and play bass really well.

But on guitar and piano, I can't read the nashville charts nearly as well although I play guitar and piano equally as well as bass, just can't read and play them the same.
 
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