Learn Guitar By Numbers Nashville Number System

Can you remember the legendary 1960's movie "The Sound Of Music". It stared Julie Andrews. and left everyone humming the theme song Do a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun, and so on as they left the theater. But why do we care about this old movie and it's silly little song? We care about it because when you sing Do Re Mi Fa So LA Ti Do, you are singing the major scale, and the major scale is the basis for the Nashville Number System.

Neal Matthews, a member of the Jordanairres, Elvis Presley's vocal backup group, in the late 1950's created a method to help them learn vocal parts faster. Nashville session ace Charlie McCoy further developed it into what is known today as the Nashville Number System. . You might remember Charlie as the musical director of the old Hee Haw television series. Follow this Hub to learn all about the Nashville Number System and how it can revolutionize your guitar playing. The Nashville Number System can make you an excellent musician no matter what instrument you play.

First let's talk about half steps and whole steps. This is the first concept ypu will need to understand in order to learn the Nashville Number System. On the piano, a half step is the distance from one note to the next, whether it is a white note or a black note, it makes no difference. A whole step, is a combination of 2 half steps. It is the distance between 2 notes where there is 1 note in between them. It could be from 1 white note to the next white note with 1 black note in between, from 1 white note to a black note with 1 white note in between, or from one black note to another black note with a white note in between.

On the guitar, a half step is simply from one fret to the next. A Whole step is from one fret and up two frets. All chords and scales are built from a series of half steps and whole steps.

As I start here explaining more about chords and scales, you will see I use the piano keyboard for illustration purposes, even though this is a guitar course. This is because 1) many of you have experience on the piano 2)I It is easier to remember lessons taught on the piano. The reason for this is the contrast of the black notes against white notes plus the notes are divided into 12 note equal segments that repeat all the way up the keyboard.

The guitar fretboard is not as forgiving. The frets all look the same and tend to run together when you are just starting out. The fret markers help some but even they all look alike. When I explain something using the piano, I will then show you the same idea with the guitar. So have a piano handy if you can. If you don't have one, there will be a picture of a piano keyboard in the lesson. I'll go slowly step by step. So let's get started learning the Nashville Number System.

I teach everything assuming you are a total beginner and you know none of what I will teach you. You are welcome to skip ahead if I cover something you already know.

1st scale degree or Root (same as the name of the chord)
3rd scale degree go up two whole steps
5th scale degree - go up another whole step and then one half step
Make a C major chord - C note then go up two whole steps (E)
This is the 3rd scale degree. Go up whole step to F#. Then up one half step (G) This is a C major chord. C-E-G

Now let's build an F major chord
Start with the F note, then go up two whole steps to A
This is the 3rd scale degree. Go up whole step to B then up one half step (C) This is an F major chord. F-A-C

E major chord
Start with E note then go up two whole steps to G#
This is the 3rd scale degree. Go up whole step to A# then up one half step (B) This is an E major chord. E-G#-B
Now let's build a D major chord
To make a D major chord, start with D, up two whole steps to F#.
Now you are on the 3rd scale degree. From here, up one whole step to G# and finally, up one half step to A. This makes the D major chord. D-F#-A

Using formulas can save you lots of time and trouble. Using formulas gets you thinking quickly in musical situations where if you fall behind it could mean your job.
Try using these formulas for other chords. Now we will try some minor chords, then move on to augmented chords and diminished chords. In the Nashville Number System these chords are written as numbers instead of alphabet letters.

Formula for a minor chord:
1st scale degree or Root ( same letter name as name of chord)
3rd scale degree - up one whole step and then one half step
5th scale degree - up two whole steps

C minor chord - from the C note up one whole step to D up one half step to D# (3^rd)
Up one whole step to F and one whole step to G. This is a C minor chord. C-D#-G

Now let's build an F minor chord
1st scale degree or Root (F)
3rd scale degree - up one whole step and one half step (Ab)
5th scale degree - up two whole steps - C

Now let's build an E minor chord
Start with the E note, up one whole step to F# one half step to G (3^rd)
Go up two whole steps to B. This is the E minor chord. E-G-B

Now let's build a D minor chord
Start with the D note (Root), up one whole step to E, and one half step to F (3^rd)
Next up 2 whole steps to A (5^th) D-F-A

In the Nashville Number System minor chords are indicated by either a small m or a minus sign such as Am or A-.

Next we will learn the formula for creating augmented chords. First make a major chord as you want the augment chord to be. In other words, if you want to make a C augmented chord, start with a C major chord. Now raise the fifth scale degree one half step. A C major chord is C-E-G. So to make a C Augmented chord, raise fifth (G) one half step. Now you have a C augmented chord.

Augmented chord formula:
1st scale degree (name of the chord)
3rd scale degree - two whole steps up
5th scale degree - two whole steps up
Again, to make a C augmented chord, start with C, up one whole step (D) up another whole step (E) This is the 3rd Up one whole step to F# and one more whole step to G#. This is a C augmented.

Now let's build an F augmented chord
To make an F augmented chord, start with F, up one whole step (G) up another whole step (A) This is the 3^rd. Up one whole step to (B) and then one more whole step (C#). This is an F augmented chord.

Now let's build an E augmented chord
To make an E augmented chord, start with E, up one whole step (F#) up another whole step (G#) This is the 3^rd. Up one whole step to (A#) and then one more whole step (C). This is an E augmented chord.

In the Nashville Number System Augmented chords are noted with a plus sign such as A+.

So far we have learned the formulas for creating major, minor and augmented chords. The last step in chord formulas is to learn the formula for creating diminished chords. A simple formula for creating diminished chords is to start with a minor chord. Then simple lower the fifth scale degree by one half step.
A diminished chord is a major chord with the 3rd and 5th scale degrees both lowered ½ step. For instance, a C major chord is C-E-G. To create a C diminished chord, lower the third scale degree of the chord ½ step, in this instance the E, to an Eb, creating a C minor chord, then lowering the fifth scale degree chord ½ step, G to Gb, creating a C diminished chord. Now let's look at the formula for diminished chords like we did with major, minor and augmented chords.

Formula for an diminished chord:
1st scale degree (the note that is the name of the chord)
3rd scale degree - up one whole steps and then one half step
5th scale degree - up one whole step and then one half step
For instance, to create a C diminished chord, start with the C note, go up one whole step to D and then one half step to Eb. This is the 3rd scale degree
From the Eb, go up one whole step to F and then finally, one half step to Gb. This completes the diminished chord. C-Eb-F# or C-Eb-Gb

Now let's build an F diminished chord
To create an F diminished chord, start with the F note, go up one whole step to G, and then one half step to Ab. This is the 3rd scale degree. From there, go up one whole step to B. This completes the F diminished chord. F-G#-B or F-Ab-B.

Now let's build an E diminished chord
To create an E diminished chord, start with the E note, go up one whole step and one half step to G, This is the 3rd scale degree. From the G, go up one whole step to A and one half step to Bb. This completes the E diminished chord. E-G-A# or E-G-Bb.

Now let's build a D diminished chord
To create a D diminished chord, start with the D note, go up one whole step to E. Then go up one half step to F. This is the 3rd scale degree. Next go up one more whole step to G and finally one half step to G#. This completes the D diminished chord. D-F-G# or D-F-Ab.