Decoding the Nashville Number System: Transform Your Music Play with Roman Numerals

Unlock the code that musicians worldwide swear by with our latest episode on the Nashville number system. Imagine being able to jump into any jam session or master new tunes in a snap, all thanks to a simple set of Roman numerals. That's the power of this musical shorthand, transforming the way you understand and play music, regardless of your instrument. I'll take you through the basics, starting off in the key of C and showing you how every note in the major scale births a unique chord. By the end of this episode, you'll be fluent in the language of chords – major, minor, and even the elusive diminished.

Strap in for a practical journey as we harmonize the major scale, revealing the secrets of the one-four-five progression that makes hits like "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Old Time Rock and Roll" instantly recognizable (and playable!). Whether you're a budding musician eager to collaborate or a practiced hand looking for a refresher, our conversation demystifies the theory, leaving you with a robust toolkit for any musical encounter. So tune in, tune up, and prepare to revolutionize your playing with insights from the Nashville number system – it's a game-changer.

Links:

• Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus...
• GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0...
• Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

Check out Steve's Guitar Membership and Courses: https://bit.ly/3rbZ3He

Transcript

Steve: 0:36

All right. In this video we're going to be talking about what's referred to as Roman numerals or the Nashville number system, which is a way of playing for musicians where we're not calling out chords, we're calling out Roman numerals or placement of chords. Okay, so, for instance, if I was going to be in the key of, let's say, we're just going to be in the key of C, so we have no sharps and flats. So if I go to the key of C, I'm playing the notes C, d, e, f, g, a, b and then C. Now you might play that somewhere else on the guitar a certain way, it doesn't matter. Whatever works for you, but that's what I'm playing C, d, e, f, g, a, b, c. Now each one of those notes generates a chord. So if you're in a major key don't ring me, fossilati, don't Doesn't matter. If you're in the key of G, doesn't matter. If you're in the key of A, doesn't matter. If you're in the key of B, flat, doesn't matter. What key you're in your first chord in the key of, whatever is always major, okay. So if you're in the key of C, the first chord is C, major. The next note in the key of C, excuse me, would be D, so C D. If you're playing the major scale on the piano, it'd be C to D. If you're playing on the guitar, you're going from C to D, so the next note is D. The second chord in a major key is always minor. So you get C major, d, minor. Now you can learn the theory behind this, but for now, trust me, because I'm not lying to you okay, the first chord is always major in a major key. The second chord is always minor in a major key. So for the key of C, major, the first chord is major. Second chord is minor. For in the key of G, the first chord is major. Second chord is minor. For in the key of D flat, the first chord is major, the second chord is minor. That's just the way it is, okay. So now I'm going to give you a quick shortcut so I don't waste any more of your time here. It is the first, fourth and fifth chords are always major. The second, third and sixth chords are always what we call minor, and the seventh chord is what we call diminished. And we're not going to worry about the diminished chord right now because, again, we just don't use it very often. We're going to focus on those first six chords. So if we're in the key of C, that means again, if I know my notes, d, d, e, f, g, a, b, c. That means C would be major, d would be minor, e would be minor, f and G would both be major and then A would be minor. One, four, five would be major, two, three, six would be minor.

Steve: 3:05

Now, this is a really great thing to learn and embed into your brain, because that way when you're talking to people, you know you might get up to jam with somebody or play with somebody, wherever it is. You go somewhere and somebody says, hey, get up and play a song with us, and you don't know that song. Okay, there are certain songs, like if you're going to play barracuda, by heart, you have to know how it goes right. But if you're going to play Brown Eyed Girl, there isn't a lot to it, there isn't a lot of specifics, you can just get away with kind of strumming. If you're going to play Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seeger, all you really need to know is what are the chords? Okay, now they could tell you, for instance oh, it's in the key of G, we're going to be using G, c and D. That's perfectly fine. But there are times where artists will talk to each other in terms of Roman numerals, or what we call the Nashville number system, where somebody will say oh, this song is just a one four five. You know, Old Time Rock and Roll is just one four five, that's all it is.

Steve: 4:05

Because we're not sure what key we're going to play at it, like if we're just going to jam together or maybe there's going to be a different singer or something like that. Maybe we can't do it in the original key of the key of G, for instance, whatever the song is, because the singer has a different vocal range. Let's say, the song was originally sung by somebody with a lower voice and now you've got a female that's going to be singing it with a higher voice, or whatever it might be right. So we got to be flexible. So we're thinking one four five. Okay, so one four five, g, c, d, a, d, e, whatever. So you tell me the key you wanted in and let's play this song.

Steve: 4:44

Or 1645, when people say 1645, what are they talking about? Well, the 145 is major and the six is minor. So if we were in the key of G, for instance, that means we're playing G, c and D, 145, with an E minor. Now if I say 1645, that usually means I'm playing it in that order of. There's a fly in here of 1645, but it doesn't have to be in that order. Somebody might say 1564, or just the chords are 145 and six. Just follow me and you go. Okay. So it's a different way of speaking about music.

Steve: 5:21

Oftentimes is the Nashville number system, are these Roman numerals, and it's something to get used to, because everybody isn't always saying G and C and D, especially if you play in an area where people oftentimes will have different musicians playing in different bands and your singers are being swapped out. Or you're playing in different bands and you're used to playing something in a certain key and then all of a sudden you have to play it in in a different key. It's nice to know your numerals, your Roman numerals or your Nashville number system, to be able to do that quickly. The other side to this is that you can't always just rely on open chords.

Steve: 5:59

Sometimes you've got to make sure that you know this in bar chord form too. So, for instance, if I was in the key of G, I would have G major, a minor, b minor one, two, three, c major, d major four and five, and then E minor six. So one, two, three, four, five, six, which are the notes of my major scale, obviously in the key of G, do, re, mi, fa, so la. And then T is my seven, which I'm not worried about right now, and then the octave, but I've got one, four, five and two, three, six. What's really nice about learning it that way is that way if somebody says, oh, let's play a one, six, four, five in the key of F, you go okay, one, six, four, five. So you can visualize it this way and not just in an open chord format as well, which is really helpful.