Nashville Number System for Guitar 

I prefer figured bass when I improvise bebop licks on the Mass.

You are welcome, of course. Glad you enjoyed it, Dave!

Truth! Thanks for the comment!

Thanks, Hilarie!

PERFECT TIMING!!

Wow, thanks The Macocko! I really appreciate that.

Glad it was helpful, Allie. Thanks for sharing that.

Mahalo, Kevin!

Me too, I've always felt that came across better.

Thank you too, Larry.

You bet Dr. Robert!

Of course, Andrew!! Glad this landed well for you! Rock on~

Thanks!

Happy to have you in 'em along side me as well Moe!

Wow! Thank you!

Haha, yeah I've been there many times myself Joyce! I fixed the link for the harmonizing video, thanks so much for pointing that out!

Well my favorite guitarist would be Greg Howe. Non guitarist? Carlos Del Junco :) Thanks!!

@@curiousguitarist Hmmm, you got me. I don't know either. Looks like I got homework to do.

Brace yourself :)

@@curiousguitarist Greg Howe... I'm pretty sure I got tendonitis just watching that guy lol. Eddie Van Halen stuff.

Yes it is a Mixolydian anthem to be sure, and that analysis is the diatonic solution, but the tonal center does not 'feel" like the second chord to me. So in the example, especially playing with a musician who is new to you, would you say "Louie Louie in A" or "Louie Louie in D" ? Seems like the second one would require a more detailed explanation as well as some discussion on diatonic theory. Time better spent playing music me'thinks....?

@@curiousguitarist Interesting thought food. I would definitely think of it quicker as D key than A, despite starting on A. I would feel weird if someone called this A key with minor 5th chord (hinted at by my first post). But I understand and accept that folk view these things differently and would gladly waste time talking music theory with them before playing. :)

Yes and yes, and your welcome!

Then there are the foot signals....highly irregular! When I attended music conservatory a few of the profs there used that same technique. :)

A lot of this is up for interpretation and I’ve seen it vary widely out in the wild. But for the most part the system works best when tied to the tonic center as 1 (the Louie Louie example is Mixolydian). I think what you also have to put into the mix is how quickly will the chart be able to be read? You don’t want to spark a music theory lecture, what you really want is to get the band playing right away. So sometimes the simple solution might not be the most scholastically correct one.

@@curiousguitarist I look forward to your lesson on the Nashville number system for minor keys. In a band environment, I've always simply written out the chord changes (ex. Am, Dm7, F7, E7 etc) and let each musician convert that to whatever number system they prefer. I assume if one can read a Nashville number system chart, they can also write one in the style they prefer should we need to change keys and suspect that each musician has his/her 'own' method.

Yup, in that progression the B is the major 3rd of the G chord :)

Thanks so much for this Nick, I really do appreciate it. When I do a follow up on this I'll also add in this context. Thank you again!

@@curiousguitarist Chris, You are welcome! Carry on with your good work.

Yeah the diminished shape is quite unusual. If you are familiar with triads (which you should be if you ‘ain’t!), then you can take ANY major triad shape and move the 3rd and 5th down a half step (1 fret) and you’ll end up with the diminished voicing for that chord! Hope that helps, Walt!

@@curiousguitarist Hey Chris, thanks for your prompt response. I’m not familiar with “Triads” as much but, after watching that video last night I started fooling around with “E”-shaped chords and removing the first finger which is the bar (creating a triad right?), so, I’ll now trying moving my fingers back a fret on the non root notes (1) and see what happens. I could’ve sworn you were using 4 fingers on the diminished chords no? Walt

OK! So I just happened to be sitting on my couch resting after an emotional two-days of traveling due to a death in my wife’s family. I start thinking about guitar playing just to get my mind off the traumatic event. I start thinking about what you said about “Triads” and it hits me that triads and the “CAGED” system must be tied inexorably together! In each of the five shapes of “CAGED” is a triad! So look for the triad within the “C” shape, then the “A” etc. And you should be able to find the inversions (Triads) as you travel up and down the neck right? Then you should be able to find the triads for each chord in a certain location on the neck! Ie, The “A” shaped “C” chord and the “C” shaped “G” chord are right next to each other aren’t they? (This is all in my mind’s eye because all my guitars are downstairs and I’m upstairs just thinking) I’ve gotta go to bed but can’t wait until tomorrow to start putting this to work!

@@PR-BEACHBOY welcome aboard Walt, this is a great day.

@@curiousguitarist Thanks to your skill as a teacher I’m not as dense as I thought. I’m a left-handed dyslexic playing right handed. It’s always been a struggle; Particularly with technique. Modes have become quite a goal for me too. I developed a Nemonic device for remembering their name and order but don’t really understand how to play them yet. Nemonic device; “I Do Prefer Lydia Mix Ales locally”. But I’d like to know at least the basics of playing modes. Thanks again Chris!

Use the same system for all the song sections.

Thanks for the call out GeeDeeBird!

Right? "...now when we get to the bridge it goes 'sand beetle to falcon, then cow, THEN snake"

@@curiousguitarist Hahahaha, I didn’t expect that response, that made me laugh.

Glad you’re here Mdog! That guitar in the background is an “Othon” made in California. The top is actually stone!

Yeah that minor 5 is sort of critical for the whole thing to sound right isn’t it?

@@curiousguitarist Yes I totally agree.

Of course! Metal is like the "engineering" class of rock. I was in a metal band years ago and we'd spend days on lines, accents and accuracy. Thanks for the comment C H!

@@curiousguitarist I have students that are country people and they were asking me how to read this stuff, I figured it was probably derivative of the roman numerals so thanks for helping me understand that! I’m sure my students will be thrilled, I’ll direct them to this video👍

Well in actuality it’s in a different key, it’s really V I ii. However it’s not very easy to convey that to a group of musicians with various levels on theory understanding, so it’s easier to say it has a minor five. Finally, all the formulas and mechanisms of music theory are only ways to convey structures, they are not un-breakable rules. When I say the five is always major it means it’s major until you need it to be something else :)

Diminished is usually denoted with a circle like this: “o” If the minor key is relative (built off of the 6th degree of the major scale) you simply convert all the chords to the minor key where vi = I Harmonic minor is different though…

Excerpt from the very recommended book on this topic, “The Nashville Number System” by Chas Williams: “Most of the time, for a song in a minor key, charts are written as if in the relative major key. Even if A minor sounds like the actual tonic, or 1 minor chord, the chart is written as if in the key of C major. In which case the A minor chord is written as the 6 minor. The majority of popular songs that sound as if in a minor key, often resolve to the relative major anyway.”

@@wimvandijk6275 great context thanks!!

Hope so.

Maybe, but it does make charting and communicating so much easier.

@@curiousguitarist Oh I know, don't get me wrong...I use it myself even when I'm playing solo...I always refer to intervals. No one invented them they make up the framework of music but I guess Nashville came along and took credit.

@@HigherPlanes so true! When I was in music school this was simply the language we used…go figure! Hahhaa

@@curiousguitarist Alright man. Ranting aside, your lessons are top notch. Glad I discovered your channel.