The Gospel Guitar Forum

[Tim Beck]

I used to wonder how session players can go into a studio and rip out a few songs in nothing flat. Besides these guys having practiced hours upon hours learning their chords and styles inside and out through the years, there is a method of playing a song that would normally require righting down each key. Without this method it would be a nightmare for the musicians if the singer decided the key should be changed!!! That is the purpose of the Nashville Number System.

In the late 50's, Neil Matthews devised a musical number system for the Jordanaires to use in the studio. Charlie McCoy and fellow studio musicians began adapting Matthews' number system into chord charts. The Nashville Number System has evolved into a complete method of writing chord charts and melodies---combining Nashville shorthand with formal notation standards.

Professional musicians in Nashville work everyday in the studio, auditioning and rehearsing for artists or playing for someone who wants to showcase their talent for a record company--all with no time to memorize a cd's worth of material. If rehearsal time is at a premium, a chord chart is often the only way for a band who has never worked together to perform music with any confidence.

To help learn more about the NNS here are some sites that explain the method and offers music and books to learn from:

Ducks Deluxe

Guitar Notes

The Nashville Number System

If you want more go to google and type in "nashville number system" without the "".

Enjoy!

Tim
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A d m i n i s t r a t o r

"We Tune Because We Care!"

[Tim Beck]

Can someone give us a little insight on this topic?
_________________
A d m i n i s t r a t o r

"We Tune Because We Care!"