nashville number system chart maker for pc

What makes the Nashville system unique from other conventional notation charts is that the chord symbols always reflect the major key. For example, since we know that “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” is in the key of E major, we see a “1” on the chart which indicates that the musician should play an E major chord.īut let’s say, hypothetically, that “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” was in the key of E minor. Here’s where it gets a little complicated.

Referring to the above example, this particular song is in E major and is in 4/4 time.

To the left of the song title, you will usually see the key and the time signature. Now that we are a bit more familiar with the song, let’s start to analyze the technical and musical aspects of the chart. Marshall.” Let’s listen to the song, and see if you can follow along with the chart innately. Generally, to the right of the song title you will see the name of the person who is responsible for creating the chart in this instance, it’s “C. The first thing that we notice is the title of the song, which in this case is, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” by Jake Owen. Let’s take a look at a typical “Nashville-style” chart below. If you’re familiar with chord numbers, you’ll immediately recognize that aspect, but what are all these other symbols and how do they change the timbre or flow of what I’m playing in relation to the band, in real time? We’ll cover all of that. But there is something quite definitive and unique about the way Nashville creates their charts - almost like a universal language amongst all of the musicians in the local community.īut how are these charts read and understood? And why, if I’m not in Nashville, should I care?įrom an outsider’s perspective, the notation can look like hieroglyphics at times, and has even been known to confuse scholarly musicians on first glance! The truth is that this form of notation is useful beyond the city limits of Nashville, in any situation where you might need a last minute player to sub in, or if you want to get hired on more session jobs. Some don’t even leave the house without their iPad filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of Nashville-style notated charts before heading to work or a weekend run of shows out of town. If you ask almost any Broadway Street musician in downtown Nashville, they will tell you that the Nashville number system has gotten them through at least a song or two, if not an entire set, on a honky tonk stage at some point in their career. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper Guest post by Soundfly Mentor Andre Madatian.

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Nashville number system chart maker for pc