Here’s a look at some Nashville Number System Charts for songs that I've Co-Written at Big Tent Nashville with different writing teams.

Traditionally, Nashville Number System Charts are used by music producers, engineers and musicians at recording sessions so that songs can be tracked quickly and creatively. They’re also used at rehearsals, live shows, auditions, songwriting sessions or wherever music is played. These little charts are a very concise way of indicating Key, Tempo, Feel, Chord Changes, Inversions, Time Signature, Dynamics, Stops, Kicks, Extra Beats, Durations, Odd Measures, Anticipations (Pushes), Sections, Repeats, Endings etc., for musicians.

There is no “One Way” to write out a Nashville Number System Chart because every arranger has their own “Personal Style” of notating Music. There are lots of very good books and videos on the internet that teach the basics of Music Theory and that explain many different ways to write these charts out.

At some point as a musician, we all have to learn how to HEAR chord changes. In addition, if you want to communicate what you’re hearing to other musicians, then it’s important to learn about music notation. The Nashville Number System is just one of many music notation systems and it’s a GREAT place to start if you want to combine learning ear training and music theory.

Practical ear training, which is ear training for working musicians, does NOT need to be complex and neither does practical music theory. Every Key has chords that are completely symmetrical to all the other Keys. Every Key also has chromatic notes that are completely symmetrical to all the other Keys. So, if you learn one key, you can easily learn them all in few minutes with a simple understanding of sharps and flats.

With a little practice, anyone can learn to hear notes, hear chord progressions, understand music theory and write out Nashville Number System Charts.

I like to keep my number charts simple so that musicians can read through them as quickly as possible. I try to limit my charts to a single sheet of paper because I want the FORM of the song to be visible with quick glance. I don’t normally use symbols like D.C., D.S., D.S. al Coda and Codas on my number charts because they can tend to clutter things up too much.

Personally, I love the daily discipline of transcribing music directly from recordings. Transcribing helps me to get my day off to a solid start and it also helps me keep my hands and ears in shape and my listening skills current to what’s going on in the marketplace. I like to listen to hit songs, new songs, album cuts, obscure songs, pop songs, country songs, rock songs etc., and pick something to transcribe and write out Nashville Number System Charts to that soon. I’ll study the chord progressions, the arrangement, the FORM and I’ll pick-up an instrument an play along with the to recording so that I can internalize the music. I ALWAYS learn something new from every song that I transcribe and from every Nashville Number System Chart that I write out by hand.

I hope you enjoy a quick look at my number charts and the notes I’ve included. I’m always adding to this page so please stop-by again to check-out my new songs. I like to consider these Charts as little works of “Fine Art” and as collector items so that’s why I save them from the shredder.