The Nashville number system
Read and write charts with numbers instead of chord names.
Roman numerals say what a chord does. Nashville numbers do the same job with numbers that are quicker to write, which is why session players often use them.
Chords as numbers
The Nashville number system writes chords as Arabic numbers for scale degrees, like Roman numerals (lesson 8.2) but simpler to write. The key is given at the top, so the number chart works in any key without rewriting. For bassists the system fits well: the numbers are the roots to play.
Main conventions; they vary between musicians:
- 1 4 5 = major chords on those degrees;
- minor chords with a minus or “m”: 6- or 6m;
- 7th chords as 5⁷ or 57, and so on;
- borrowed or chromatic chords with a flat or sharp before the number: ♭7, ♭3;
- slash chords: 1/3 is the 1 chord with the 3rd in the bass; 4/5 is the 4 chord over the 5th in the bass;
- one number is one bar (in 4/4) unless marked; a split bar has two or more numbers grouped, often underlined or boxed;
- a diamond around a number means hit the chord and let it ring.
| Key | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chart | 1 | 6- | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6- | 4 5 | 1 |
| C | C | Am | F | G | C | Am | F G | C |
| G | G | Em | C | D | G | Em | C D | G |
| D♭ | D♭ | B♭m | G♭ | A♭ | D♭ | B♭m | G♭ A♭ | D♭ |
| A | A | F♯m | D | E | A | F♯m | D E | A |
| E♭ | E♭ | Cm | A♭ | B♭ | E♭ | Cm | A♭ B♭ | E♭ |
In G, “1 – 6- – 4 – 5” is G – Em – C – D. In D♭ the same chart is D♭ – B♭m – G♭ – A♭.
Minor keys
In minor keys some musicians number from the minor tonic (“1-” is i), others from the relative major (“6-” is i). Agree on which before using a chart.
Write the progression C – Am – F – G – C/E – F – G – C as a Nashville chart. Then play it in A and in E♭ from the chart.