The Nashville Number System printable pdf download

The Nashuille Number System

Part 1: The Breakdown

ffhis

article is a call-out to all of you working drum-

mers out there. Have you ever had a ton of songs

to learn but not a lot of time to prepare? Then this arti-

by Jim Riley

cle is for you. Do you want to do recording sessions?

This article is for you, too. What's it all about? The

Nashville number system.

The Nashville number system is a fast, accwate, and musical

method for charting songs. Almost every chart used in Nashville

recording sessions is a number chart. So if you want to play ses-

sions, you'll need to unde$tand how they work.

Number charts completely replace the chicken-ssatch cheat

sheets that many of us have used to get tfuough unfamiliar gigs.

The biggest problem with those types of charts is that only you

can understand them. And even if you could explain them to

another drurnmer, your notes give you no frame of reference with

the rest of the band. However, il you learn to read and write num-

ber charts, you'll find that instead of counting bals, you'll actually

be Istemngto the other musicians.

fre Preolge

The first thing you need to know about number charts is that

each number refers to a scale degree. Instead of "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-

So-La-Ti-Do," we substitute "I-2-3-4-5-6-7-1." But why use

. numbers when you can use the letters that represent the actual

notes? Well, the problem with writing a chart based on note

names is that a C is always a C. Therefore, if you write the entire

chart in the key of C, and then the singer wants to raise the key

to F, you have to write a new chart. IAIhen you use numbers. if

you're in C, then Fl,

D:2, and so on. However, if the key of C is

too low, and you move to the key of F, then F:1, G:2, etc. In

other words, when you write the chart with numbers, it can be

played in anykey.

BrealingltDorvn

Now let's dig into the structure of number charts. Vuhen you see

a number standing alone, you can assume that that chord is

played for one measure. Take a look at the four-bar sequence

below and you'll see what I mean.

The sequence is telling you to play one bar of the I chord, one

bar of the 4 chord, one bar of the I chord, and one bar of the 5

chord. All of the chords are assumed to be major unless otherwise

notated. lYou can download mp3s of the progressions in this arti-

cle at the Education page of )

{Audio Example 1l

l=t 4 |

5=l?

I2O MoDERNDRUMMER

. JULY2OOT

Minor chorG are notated with a "-" following the number, like this:

2 -

You can also easily notate accidentals (sharps and flatsl. lltle

symbol "#" raises the note a half step, and "b" lowers it a half step.

If you see two or more numbers underlined, then they occur in

the same measure. This is refened to as a "split bar." In the follow-

ing example. the I chord is played for two beats, the 4 chord is

played for tvvo beats, the minor 2 chord is played for two beats. and

the 5 chord is played for two beats (assuming that the song is in

4/4ime, of cousel.

(Audio Example 2)

Number charts are written in phrases. and those phrases are

grouped into sestions. The sections are represented with a "V" for

the verse and a "CH" for the chorus. Here's a typical verse/chorus

pro$ession wdtten using the number system.

, l?

2- 5

l 4

2- 5

t 4

{Audio Example 3)

v l 1 4

1 1 4

4J, 5_t 4J

;'-'r {11 F

50a)

f F YF

'J""'rftl'1 {t

The song's sections are separated with a line to make them

easier to identify. Notice how the form of the sections jumps out at

you. At a glance, you can see that there are three four-bar phras-

es in the verse and the last phrase in the chorus is five bars long.

To the ight of each section, I've written out the ffum patterns.

This is a very helpfnl way to remember your parts in live and stu-

dio situations. Always use a pencil for personal notes. At record-

ing sessions, bass drum patterns are frequently changed based on

the producefs preference.

\Mhile many traditional notation symbols are used in number

c R l

1 5 4

6 - 5 4

5_1 LL

5 **n

The Nashville Number System

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