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Nashville Number System

The Nashville Numbering System is used by professional and 

knowledgeable amateur musicians all over the world, especially in 

recording studios where it saves lots of time and trouble.  It was 

invented a few decades ago by the Jordanaires to make their studio 

time easier and reduce studio time and therefore, cost.

It's really quite simple.  It is based on the positions of the 

notes of musical scales.  For example, the scale of C is:

          C     D     E     F     G     A     B     C

    Here is that scale with the position numbers of the notes:

          1      2      3     4      5     6      7

          C     D     E     F     G     A     B

We can leave the last note ("C") off because it is simply the 

first note repeated and is already numbered '1.'  Using these numbers, 

if you knew the chords to a song in the Key of C, you can easily 

change them to the numbers:  The Chord of C would be 1, D would be 2, 

E would be 3, etc.  G7 can be written 57 with the numbers.  Fm would 

be 4m.  Bb7 would be 7b7, and so on.

What is the advantage to doing this?  Well, suppose you know 

the numbers as they apply to all 12 keys in music.  If you sing a 

song in the Key of C, and a friend comes along who sings that song 

in the Key of E - you don't have to even think about what the 

chords are, because you are thinking of them as numbers.  Since you 

know what chords those numbers equate to in both of those keys, you 

automatically know all of the chords instantly.  If you don't know 

the numbers, you have to go through this kind of thought process:

Here is a table listing the scales in the most often used keys 

for guitar:

          KEY          1     2     3     4       5     6      7

           C             C     D     E     F     G     A     B

           D             D     E     F#   G     A     B    C#

           Eb           Eb   F    G     Ab   Bb   C    Db

           E              E     F#  G#   A     B     C#   D#

           F              F     G     A     Bb  C     D     E

           G             G     A     B     C     D     E     F#

           A             A     B     C#   D     E     F#   G#

           Bb          Bb   C    D     Eb    F    G     A

           B            B     C#   D#   E      F#  G#   A#

Let's look at an actual example.  Here is a song most people 

are familiar with - "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain," recorded by 

Willie Nelson.  It is in 4/4 time. Chords are for the 

first beat of each measure.  Here it is with letter names for the 

Key of C:

 C      C              C       C  G7        G7           C    C

In the twilight glow I see her,  Blue eyes crying in the rain

 C        C                 C     C    G7        G7         C   C

When we kissed goodbye and parted,  I knew we'd never meet again

 F       F           F     F     C    C          G7    G7 

Love is like a dying ember,     only memories remain

  C         C            C     C   G7        G7           C    C

Through the ages I'll remember,   blue eyes crying in the rain.

Here is the same thing with numbers:

 1      1              1       1  57        57           1    1

In the twilight glow I see her,  Blue eyes crying in the rain

 1        1                 1     1    57        57         1   1

When we kissed goodbye and parted,  I knew we'd never meet again

 4       4           4     4     1    1          57    57 

Love is like a dying ember,     only memories remain

  1         1            1     1   57        57           1    1

Through the ages I'll remember,   blue eyes crying in the rain.

Now, since each measure of the song is indicated with a chord 

in these examples, we can also show the chord progression 

separately from the lyrics by showing each measure like this:

        1         1        1        1

        57       57      1       1

        1         1        1        1

        57       57     1         1

        4         4        4        4

        1         1        57     57

        1         1        1        1

        57       57     1        1

Some songs have chord changes within a measure.  These are 

shown by placing parentheses around the measure, like this:

        1      (1   17)    4        4