Hey! Newsflash! In 1776, before Nashville even existed, Roman numerals were used to identify chords. For more mind-blowing music theory lessons, fill out the ‘Get Music Lessons’ form. Thanks for reading.
With this music theory lesson, you will be able to:
- Play and improvise in a band setting and play in any key.
- Write better songs and know your instrument better – you’ll know which 7 chords you can choose from — again, in every key.
- Modulate or transpose a chord chart into a different key quickly.
Here is the quick overview of the number system aka Nashville Number System:
- Determine the key. Key of C
- Determine its 7 notes: C D E F G A B
- Each note gets a chord: C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished (which most pop, rock, worship songs exchange for the playing the fifth chord over the 7th tone in the bass — written as G/B)
- Each chord gets a number: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
For example:
- 1 = C
- 2 = Dm
- 3 = Em
- 4 = F
- 5 = G
- 6 = Am
- 7 = Bdim [or substitute G/B (= 5/7)]
Example A: Chord progression: 1 4 5 = C F G
Example B: Chord progression: 6 5 4 1 = Am G F C
Example C: Chord progression reversed: Dm Am G = 2 6 5
Example D: 1 7 6 5 = C G/B Am G
Write me a note below, if you’d like to see a different key explained using the number system.
Two helpful formulas that work in every key. Musicians memorize these!
- Formula One: Use to determine major or minor quality in any key: Major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished (sub for major chord/bass note)
- Formula Two: Use to determine the major scale in intervals: Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Why is this important? With this formula, you can find every major scale for every key. I’ll explain in another post.
For more music theory lessons, fill out the ‘Get Music Lessons‘ form. Thanks for reading. If you have a question, leave a comment.
Foot Notes from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numeral_analysis
Gottfried Weber‘s Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst (Theory of Musical Composition) (Mainz, B. Schott, 1817–21) is credited with popularizing the analytical method by which a chord is identified by the Roman numeral of the scale-degree number of its root.[citation needed] However, the practice originated in the works of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, whose theoretical works as early as 1776 employed Roman numeral analysis