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  Nashville Number System

  Posted by dfmarcus63 on October 10, 2022 at 1:54 pm

  The Nashville number system is obviously a great short hand. But in the major chord matrices, if 1, 4, 5 are always major and 2, 3, 6 are always minor, why does Tony say “1, 2minor, 3minor, 4, 5, 6minor”? Why not just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? This may be a bit pedantic but i’m genuinely curious. Thanks.

  dfmarcus63 replied 3 years, 5 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Bill_Brown

  Member

  October 11, 2022 at 7:17 am

  Hi @dfmarcus63 , IMHO, I believe Tony is saying it that way, 1) to make a clear connection between the chord matrix and the NNS for a major key, and 2) that within the NNS, for a major key, 2-3 & 6 are minor chords. That way if you heard someone say 1minor, 4minor & 5 minor, you’ll know that it’s a minor key that’s being mentioned. Let’s say you heard someone say the progression is 1-4-5 in Cm, you’ll know they’re talking about the minor chords in that key, vs. hearing 1-4-5 in E, where they are talking about the major chords in that key.

  I hope this helps to give some prospective as to why Tony is trying to drive home the point by making the distinction that for a major key, 2-3 & 6 are minor chords.

  • This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by  Bill_Brown.
  • 

    dfmarcus63

    Member

    October 11, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    Hi @Bill_Brown, I appreciate your thoughts on this. You said it yourself, if someone says Cm 1-4-5 you know those chords will be minor. And if someone says E 1-4-5 you know they are talking about major chords. So there is never a need to specify whether an individual chord is major or minor – the key tells you that. I’m sure you’re right – Tony is just driving home the point. Thanks.

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