The Nashville Number System writes a song's chords as numbers instead of letter names. In the key of G, a G chord is 1, C is 4 and D is 5. Change the key and the numbers stay the same, so one chart works whatever key the singer wants, and the band can read it on the spot.

It grew out of Nashville's recording studios in the late 1950s, usually credited to Neal Matthews Jr. of the Jordanaires, who numbered the singers' parts; session players such as Charlie McCoy took it up for the rhythm section in the early 1960s, as a fast way to chart a song after hearing it once. Working bands use it for the same reason today: a sub can play a song they've never heard, and a key change for the singer costs nothing.

How Nashville numbers work

Every major key has seven notes, and each note has a chord built on it. Number them from the key's home note, 1 to 7. In a major key, three chords are major, three are minor and one is diminished, always in the same places:

• 1, 4 and 5 are major chords. They carry most songs.
• 2m, 3m and 6m are minor, written with an m (or a dash: 2-, 3-, 6-).
• 7° is diminished, and rare in most popular music.

So a "1, 5, 6m, 4" progression is G, D, Em, C in the key of G, and C, G, Am, F in the key of C: the same song, moved. Anything outside the key gets an accidental: ♭7 is the major chord a whole step below the 1 (F in the key of G), and a 2 without the m is a major 2 chord.

Nashville number system chart: every major key

F♯ and G♭ are the same key, as are D♭ and C♯: the chart uses the spelling most charts are written in.

Reading a number chart

A Nashville chart is laid out in bars, usually four to a line, with each number lasting one bar unless it says otherwise. Section names (Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge) sit on the left. On top of the numbers, writers add a handful of marks. They vary a little from studio to studio, so if a chart uses something you don't recognise, ask.

The marks on a number chart

An example chart

Here's a short song written as numbers. The top of the chart carries what the band needs before the count-in: the key, the tempo and the feel.

Intro

1144

Verse

15/76m4

1544

Chorus

41/32m5sus 5

41/32m 51

The verse's first line, in two keys:

The singer wants it a step higher? Nobody rewrites anything: the band reads the same chart in A.

Minor keys

Most Nashville charts number a minor-key song from its relative major: the major key that shares its notes. A song in A minor is charted in C, so its home chord is the 6m, and the other chords keep their usual numbers (Dm is 2m, F is 4, G is 5). One chart then reads the same way whatever the key, major or minor.

Minor keys: the major key to chart them in

• Am charted in C
• B♭m charted in D♭
• Bm charted in D
• Cm charted in E♭
• C♯m charted in E
• Dm charted in F
• E♭m charted in G♭
• Em charted in G
• Fm charted in A♭
• F♯m charted in A
• Gm charted in B♭
• G♯m charted in B

E♭ minor's relative major, G♭, is the same key as F♯ in the major chart above.

Some bands would rather the 1 be the home chord, so they number from the minor key itself: the 1 is minor (1m) and the chords that differ from the major scale get a flat. If yours does, agree on it before the gig, because the same chart reads differently each way. Here is every minor key numbered that way:

In practice the minor key's 5 is often played major (E rather than Em in A minor). Numbered from the minor 1, that's a 5 with no m; charted in the relative major, it's a 3 with no m (E in a C chart).

Common chord progressions in numbers

Numbers make progressions easy to spot: once you know a song is a 1, 5, 6m, 4, you know a hundred others. These are the ones worth knowing by heart.

And the 12-bar blues, a bar per number, here in E:

Bars 1–4

1111

Bars 5–8

4411

Bars 9–12

5415

The last bar's 5 turns the form around to start again; on the final time through, it's a 1.

Writing number charts for your band

• Put the essentials at the top: title, key, tempo, time signature and feel. If you don't know the tempo, tap it.
• Write four bars to a line and label every section, so anyone can find their place after a mistake.
• Mark the hits, pushes and stops. They're where a sub goes wrong, not the chords.
• Keep it to one page. Repeats and "x2" beat a second sheet.
• Note the ending. "Last chorus x2, end on 1 diamond" saves a ragged finish.

Nashville Number System FAQ

What do the numbers mean in the Nashville Number System?

Each number is a note of the song's key, counted up from the key's home note, and stands for the chord built on it. In the key of G, 1 is G, 4 is C and 5 is D.

Do you number a minor-key song from 1m or from 6m?

Most Nashville charts number it from the relative major, so a song in A minor is charted in C and starts on 6m. Some bands number from the minor key itself, with the home chord as 1m. Either works if the whole band reads it the same way.

How do you show a key change on a number chart?

Write the new key where the change happens, for example "Key: A", or an arrow with how far it moves. Every number after it is counted in the new key.

What does a diamond mean on a Nashville chart?

Hit the chord once and let it ring for the length of the bar, instead of playing through it.

Is 2- the same as 2m?

Yes. Both mean a minor chord; the dash is a common shorthand for the m.

How is it different from Roman numeral analysis?

It is the same idea. Roman numerals (ii, IV, V) are the music theory classroom's way of writing chords by scale degree; Nashville numbers use ordinary numbers with an m for minor, which are quicker to write and to read on a gig.

Getting the charts to the band

A chart only helps if the player has it before the gig. With GigPenguin, you attach charts and recordings to the gig, for the whole band or just the parts that need them, and each player opens them from their own gig sheet link, along with the call time, the address and their answer. Pair it with the free setlist maker to print the band copy with each song's key and tempo.

Made with GigPenguin, free at gigpenguin.com/guides/nashville-number-system