The Nashville Number System
In the Nashville number system, chords are written as numbers instead of letters: 1 is the key's home chord, 4 and 5 its closest neighbors. Write a song once in numbers and the whole band can play it in any key.
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What the numbers mean
Each note of the major scale gets a number from 1 to 7, and the chord built on that note takes the same number. In C major, 1 is C, 4 is F and 5 is G. A small m marks a minor chord, and ° a diminished one.
| Number | 1 | 2m | 3m | 4 | 5 | 6m | 7° |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In C major | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | B° |
| In G major | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F♯° |
| In D major | D | Em | F♯m | G | A | Bm | C♯° |
The chords come from the scale, so the pattern is the same in every key: the 1, 4 and 5 chords are major, the 2, 3 and 6 chords minor, and the 7 chord diminished. Chords in a key lists all twelve keys.
Why musicians use it
A singer arrives and wants the song lower. With a letter chart, someone has to rewrite every chord. With a number chart, nothing changes: the band just plays the same numbers in the new key. That’s why studio and church musicians in Nashville, and many bands since, write charts this way.
Reading a number chart
- One number is one measure. In 4/4, a 1 means four beats of the 1 chord.
- Two numbers in one measure share it, usually two beats each. Charts underline them or put them in a box to show they belong together.
- Small additions change the chord: 5⁷ is a 5 chord with a seventh (G7 in C), and 1/3 is a 1 chord with the third in the bass (C with E underneath).
Here is the opening of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as a number chart:
14 14 15 1
The same four measures in three keys. Nothing on the chart changes; only the key does.
| Key | Measure 1 | Measure 2 | Measure 3 | Measure 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C | F C | F C | G C |
| G | G | C G | C G | D G |
| D | D | G D | G D | A D |
Common progressions in numbers
| Numbers | Roman numerals | In C | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4–5 | I–IV–V | C–F–G | Rock, folk, country |
| 1–5–6m–4 | I–V–vi–IV | C–G–Am–F | Pop |
| 2m–5–1 | ii–V–I | Dm–G7–C | Jazz, and the end of many songs |
| 1–6m–4–5 | I–vi–IV–V | C–Am–F–G | 1950s doo-wop |
Hear three of them in C:
The 12-bar blues in numbers is 1, 1, 1, 1 | 4, 4, 1, 1 | 5, 4, 1, 1 (often 5 in the last measure, to lead back to the top).
Numbers or Roman numerals?
They describe the same thing. Roman numerals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°), used in music theory, show minor chords with lowercase letters. Nashville numbers use ordinary digits with an m for minor, which are quicker to write and read on a busy stage. Learn one and the other follows.
Minor keys
Players handle minor keys in two ways. Some number from the relative major, so a song in A minor uses 6m as its home chord. Others make the minor home chord 1m. Both work: agree with your band which you’re using.
Learn it step by step
The numbers come from the scale, so it helps to know how a major scale is built. Trebly’s Lesson 28 builds one, and Lesson 32 finds the chords in a key.