The band would simply apply the scale degree numbers on the chart, to the new key. The beauty of the NNS is that if you are in the studio recording a song, and the artist needs to change the key, you don’t have to write out a new chart.
NASHVILLE NUMBER SYSTEM CHART CONVERTER FULL
There are also staccato, or shortened notes “^,” and pushed or delayed notes “.” A diamond shape drawn around a chord number means that the chord should ring out for a full bar. Various symbols are also used, either to explain a performance mechanic or to identify a particular chord further.Īn example would be using a dash, which denotes a minor chord, such as “6-” for 6 minor. How long each chord is held for, whether a full bar or half bar, is determined by the spacing of the chords on the written chart. The band would then play those chords for the first section of that song. So the chords would be C major (1), A minor (6), F major (4), and G major (5). In the key of C Major, the chords that relate to those numbers are C, A, F, and G, respectively.Īs we know from above, chords 1, 4, and 5 are all major, but chord 6 is minor.
![nashville number system chart converter nashville number system chart converter](https://www.formsbirds.com/formhtml/a48b0ecbc6a9c3da67eb/conver5d94ed5cf6db4d840ae2/bg1.png)
Let’s say, for example, you were given a Nashville number chart, where the first line read as follows: In a major key, the 1, 4, and 5 chords are all major, while the 2, 3, and 6 are all minor, and the 7 chord is diminished. While there isn’t space in this article to explain why it is so, there is something fundamental to understand at this stage. The scale then repeats again from the first degree (C). In C Major, those scale degrees would be as follows:
![nashville number system chart converter nashville number system chart converter](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzIaOUM5E5s/UCPyIk9YWFI/AAAAAAAAAi8/PuNiDY2iits/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/nashville+number+system+chord+chart.jpeg)
The numbers (1 to 7) are representative of the notes of the scale, in ascending order. In any major or minor key (a collection of notes that sound good together), seven notes make up the scale for that key. To recognize what the numbers and symbols mean on a chart, we will first have to have some basic understanding of music theory.