Nashville Number System

The Nashville Number System is a shorthand method of Western music notation using Arabic numbers rather than conventional staff notation. It is primarily used for chords, and numbers represent scale degrees instead of chord names. It is similar to Roman numeral analysis and figured bass, which are traditionally associated with music theory and pedagogy, but differs in that the Nashville system is primarily a practical performance notation and can incorporate rhythmic information, chord extensions, dynamics, and song form into a compact chart.

The system was developed in Nashville, Tennessee in the late 1950s by Neal Matthews Jr. and Charlie McCoy as a shorthand to facilitate rapid transcription of new songs during recording sessions and facilitate transposing to different keys. It is not completely standardized; musicians follow the underlying principles but may vary slightly in the symbols and conventions.

In the system, the tonic note of the song's key is designated as 1, with other numbers representing scale degrees relative to it. Thus, the chord progression C–F–G–C in the key of C is written 1–4–5–1. Because the numbers describe relationships within the key rather than fixed pitches, the same chart, if transposed to C♯–F♯–G♯–C♯ or any other key, is also written as 1–4–5–1.

Background

In major recording centers such as New York in the 1950s, recording sessions were typically based on arrangements prepared in advance. An arranger developed the song from a demo recording and wrote individual parts for the musicians, who came to the studio and performed the parts as written, with little or no embellishment or alteration. Responsibility for the resulting product rested almost entirely on the arranger.

Producer Billy Sherrill later contrasted this approach with Nashville recording, observing that changes to a fully written arrangement could be costly and time-consuming. In a 1973 interview in Time Magazine Sherrill said, " In New York, you start to change something, you tear up a $700,000 arrangement."

A different working method existed in Nashville and other Southern recording centers, including Muscle Shoals. Rather than relying on complete arrangements prepared beforehand, session musicians often worked out an arrangement collectively in the studio. A demo recording might be played once or twice, after which the musicians developed their parts by ear under the leadership of the producer. In Nashville this practice became known as a "head session", in which musicians learned the song and developed the arrangement during the session itself. What the musicians discovered was a way to capture an arrangement almost as quickly as it developed—something that could be jotted down while listening to a demo, yet contain enough information to guide the session with a premium on speed, memory, and the ability to respond to changes.

History

In the late 1950s, Neal Matthews Jr., a member and vocal arranger of the Jordanaires, developed this particular Nashville system initially for writing vocal parts using Arabic numerals for use by the group in recording sessions. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum credits Matthews with popularizing the system. In the early 1960s, Nashville session musician Charlie McCoy adapted Matthews's numerical approach to chart chords for bass, drums, piano, and guitar. The practice spread among Nashville session musicians, who used it to transcribe songs rapidly from demonstration recordings and to perform them in different keys. Matthews and McCoy further refined the system in Nashville recording studios. According to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, its flexibility in accommodating spontaneous arrangement changes and changes of key contributed to its usefulness in studio recording.

According to Chas Williams's history of the system, Matthews drew on his familiarity with shape-note notation, which had long been used by gospel quartets and assigned distinctive shapes to the notes of the scale. Because the Jordanaires often worked several recording sessions a day, Matthews sought a way to write vocal parts quickly rather than rely on memorization. He began replacing the shape-note symbols with numbers and developed a numerical notation for the group's vocal arrangements.

"The Nashville numbering system provided us the shorthand that we needed so that we could depend on our ears rather than a written arrangement. It took far less time to jot the chords, and once you had the chart written, it applied to any key. The beauty of the system is that we don't have to read. We don't get locked into an arrangement that we may feel is not as good as one we can improvise."|The Jordanaires' Neal Matthews Jr.

Earlier systems of relative and numerical notation

The use of syllables or numbers to represent musical relationships long predates the Nashville Number System. In Western music, solmization developed during the Middle Ages as a method of teaching pitch relationships. In the 11th century, Guido of Arezzo introduced the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la as an aid to teaching singers. The practice later developed into solfège, which in English-speaking countries commonly uses the seven syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti.

Numbered systems for representing musical notes appeared in Europe by the late 17th century and were further developed in the 18th century by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who proposed representing the seven degrees of the diatonic scale with the numbers 1 through 7. In 19th-century France, the Galin-Paris-Chevé system further developed numbered notation, particularly for music education and sight-reading.

These earlier numbered systems primarily use numbers to represent individual notes or scale degrees. The Nashville Number System instead uses numbers primarily to represent chords, according to their relationship to the tonic. In this respect it resembles Roman numeral analysis, in which chords are likewise identified by scale degree rather than by absolute pitch. The Nashville system, however, uses Arabic rather than Roman numerals and incorporates additional symbols and conventions suited to the practical requirements of popular-music performance and recording.

Notation and conventions

Main article: Guitar chord

The Nashville system's compact format can represent the functional harmony of an entire song on a single page. Unlike systems intended primarily for harmonic analysis, Nashville charts can also convey information needed in performance, including rhythm, chord duration, articulation, rests, anticipated chord changes ("pushes"), and changes in song form or arrangement. The system represents chords by their scale degree relative to the tonic, using Arabic numerals rather than chord letters. Thus, in the key of C major, C, F, and G are represented by numbers 1, 4, and 5; if the chord is transposed to G major, the G, C, and D are likewise 1, 4, and 5. Because the numerical relationships remain unchanged when the key changes, a chart can ordinarily be transposed without being rewritten.

Numbers without additional markings generally indicate major chords. Other chord qualities are identified with symbols commonly used in popular-music chord notation. Minor chords, for example, may be indicated by a minus sign or m, while seventh, diminished, augmented, suspended, and other chord qualities are indicated by corresponding chord symbols. Most charts are written in lines of four measures. Accidentals placed before a number alter the root by a semitone; for example, ♭3 in C major represents an E♭ chord. Inversions and alternate bass notes may be represented in a manner analogous to slash chord notation, with both the chord and bass expressed as scale degrees, for example 6m7/3. Notes that have the same pitch but have different names (for example, C♯ and D♭) are called “enharmonics.” The choice of whether to write sharps or flats depends on the key. the Nashville Number System isn’t dependent on a fixed key, so this issue is ignored. Rests are typically indicated by traditional markings, but some musicians use and asterisk for a quarter rest. Bass notes, if different from the chord root are written after a slash:

The system is often better suited for analyzing harmony in popular music.

Laying out the chords measure by measure for someone to follow is kept simple by giving each measure one or more numbers.

These features allow a Nashville chart to function as both a harmonic outline and a compact record of an arrangement.

Symbols and their use are not completely standardized, and individual musicians may employ variations in their charts. , but Common conventions include a diamond around a number to indicate a sustained chord and markings for short or accented attacks; chords sharing a measure may be grouped or supplemented by rhythmic notation. Nashville's country music has evolved over decades, the songs have become more complex and sophisticated, and the charts may contain considerable detail. In Chas Williams' book on the Number system, he compares examples of the same song written out by seven different professional session players to demonstrate individual practices. As Nashville's country evolved over decades, the song have become more complex and sophisticated, and can contain considerable in detail, and may include traditional notes for certain phrases.

Example

The accompanying chart of “After You've Gone” illustrates the use of Nashville numbers together with chord-quality, rhythmic, and articulation markings. The chart is in B♭ and indicates a swing feel at approximately 100 beats per minute. It includes symbols for held chords, short attacks (“shots”), rests, and anticipated or “pushed” chord changes. Because Nashville Number System notation is not completely standardized, some of the symbols reflect the individual transcriber's practice.

A Demo of "After You've Gone" as written at left

"After You've Gone" by Creamer and Layton, 1918.

A Nashville Number System chart for "After You've Gone".

See also

• Chord chart § Nashville notation
• Nashville E9 tuning and Nashville tuning
• Numbered musical notation

External links

• Diamond on the 1 – a "gig bag book" by Nashville musician Jonathan Riggs that introduces the basic concepts of the Nashville Number System
• Interactive NNS chart
• Learn the Nashville Number System – information on rhythm notation is included in the Flash-based "Nashville Number System Quiz and Rhythm Tutorial". It also includes a separate Flash-based ear training quiz.
• Oral use example: "Ok.. it's a standard 12 bar in "G" but add a 2 on the bridge ...kick it off from the 5 ... hit the 4 on the way down, and then into the 1 ... watch me for the 2"
• The Nashville Number Fake Book by Trevor de Clercq – This book includes a detailed overview of the Nashville Number System as well as complete charts for 200 acclaimed country songs.
• The Nashville Number System – Site for the book Song Charting Made Easy: a Play-along Guide to the Nashville Number System by Jim Riley, with a preview including charts and play-along music tracks
• The Number Song – a chart with (auto-playing) audio explanation and playthrough by Jimi Whitelaw, Chip Hardy, Rod Lewis, and Tim Grogan of Nashville Demo Studio. Shows standard musical notation such as repeat signs, D.S. al coda, rhythmic notation, and staccato dots used in a Nashville Number System chart.