ESSENTIAL 3:NASHVILLE NUMBERS FOR HARMONY
#3 LABELING HARMONY
(NASHVILLE NUMBERS)
Much of the world functions using what we might call “guitar chord” terminology, or “pop chord” letters. CCLI publishes their songs that way, as do most website sources for charts (most of which are illegal to use, by the way…).
But for reasons that make sense later, it is also practical to use those scale degree numbers instead of the letter names. It’s the same principle as we had with pitch names when we were building scales—you can say ABCDEFGA or you can say 12345678. The letter names are always accurate, while the numbers tell the function. An A is always an A. But an A is not always a 1. And a 1 is not always a C. So it is not very accurate. But sometimes you are just needing to talk about function, and not the exact pitch—that note was the third scale degree, and wants to go down to 1 eventually. I don’t even know what key it is in, but the function is clear. So the two different systems have different advantages.
Same thing with labels for chords. So, if we are in the key of C, and we find a C chord, we could label that as a 1. Just like that. So the scale would be the same name as the chord: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1. Simple to talk about numbers, especially when you change keys. Here’s the chords in the key of G: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1. Or the key of F. Now, back to C to talk about the next step here. These numbers are called Nashville numbers, because they work so well for simple diatonic music—which is most of what is played in Nashville, being a center for country and pop music.
Here’s where some of the simplicity of Nashville numbers comes in: If a 1 chord is major, you don’t have to go out of your way to say “one major.” That’s just like calling it a C chord instead of adding a redundant “C major” label to it. But when I play a 2 chord, it naturally comes up as a minor chord, and that is true in any major key that the chord built on the second scale degree is normally minor. In the pop chord world, I have to call that a D minor chord. Dmin or Dm. But using numbers, I can simply call it a 2 chord, because you know that in any key the 2 is normally minor. If it happens to be major, then I label the exception.
So there are a thousand songs that go 1564, or 1645. One of those chords is minor, but I never had to leave the key signature of C to play them. So do you see how much faster it is for session musicians to say, “this is a 1564 in E,” rather than to say, “the chords here are E, G, C#min and A.” You just have to know your scales really well.
Now, when you DO need to clarify a minor chord, you simply can write or type a dash after the number. 2-. Or a 2-7. Everyone does the system a bit differently, because generally pop music is simple enough that all you need is to jot down a reminder of the chord, not to fret over the exact wording.
Let’s try Nashville numbers on the same songs we have been doing.
#3c LABELING HARMONY
(ROMAN NUMERALS)
Same concept as Nashville numbers, but uses Roman numerals instead of Arabic numbers. Upper and lower case distinguishes between major and minor. So that’s even more simple! I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii, I. We’re not quite as used to using these numbers, but the upper and lower case saves you even more work in notation.
I V vi IV or I vi IV V. No need to go out of your way with extra letters or slashes to indicate major or minor.