Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your math skills), music is math. Thankfully, mastering the Nashville Number System does not require you to get your Ph.D. in Mathematics. All it takes is a basic understanding of how chords work together within basic mathematical relationships. Even then, once you learn the basics, it's better to focus on chord progressions and develop muscle memory for where chords are at within the key of the song rather than strictly focusing on numbers.
We’re going to help solidify your knowledge of basic music theory by focusing at first on the keys of C, A, G, E, and D. With these keys under your belt, you’ll be able to apply what you’re learning to most songs and have a better foundation to move towards other keys.
The key of C is like all other keys in that it includes three major chords, three minor chords, and one diminished chord. The sooner you start to see the similarities between all keys, the sooner you’ll begin to grasp the Nashville Number System. The three major chords are C, F, and G.
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Each note in the C major scale is represented by both a letter of the alphabet and by a number. The first note of the scale (C) is represented by the number one, while the last note of the scale (B) is represented by the number 7. When you see these numbers used in either chord notations (Cmaj7) or in Jazz or Nashville Number notations, they can be intimidating. However, if you begin learning music with these numbers, you'll see that it's not complicated at all. In no time, you will be able to use this to your advantage to quickly learn and play any song in any key.
The next important concept for you to understand is what a "step" is. Every journey has steps, and musical scales are no different. If you play from one key to the very next key, that's called a half step. This is true on a guitar as well. The distance from one fret to the next fret is called a half step. A full step is two keys or frets away. Why should you learn this? Well, if you know that any major scale can be played by steps, then you can play the major scale in ANY key: Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step. This is easier to write down in this way: W - W - H - W - W - W- H. Do you want to play the F major scale? Simply start on the F key and play those steps. If you can memorize those steps, then you can say that you know how to play 12 scales on the piano or guitar!
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Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your math skills), music is math. Thankfully, mastering the Nashville Number System does not require you to get your Ph.D. in Mathematics. All it takes is a basic understanding of how chords work together within basic mathematical relationships. Even then, once you learn the basics, it's better to focus on chord progressions and develop muscle memory for where chords are at within the key of the song rather than strictly focusing on numbers.
We’re going to help solidify your knowledge of basic music theory by focusing at first on the keys of C, A, G, E, and D. With these keys under your belt, you’ll be able to apply what you’re learning to most songs and have a better foundation to move towards other keys.
The key of C is like all other keys in that it includes three major chords, three minor chords, and one diminished chord. The sooner you start to see the similarities between all keys, the sooner you’ll begin to grasp the Nashville Number System. The three major chords are C, F, and G.
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