Numbered chord progressions (aka Nashville) for minor keys

[davecheng]

Regarding the use of diatonic scale degree numbers to call a song's changes (e.g. Nashville numbers, jazz, etc.) what is considered common practice for songs in minor keys?

Say for a progression centered around Am, e.g.,

Am Em Dm Am

I've worked with players that refer to this as,

I V IV I (assuming natural minor/Aeolian mode)

as well as other who refer to it through the relative major,

6m 3m 2m 6m, or
vi iii ii vi

Is there a preferred way of doing it?

I've always known both to exist, but never really gave this much thought until this week when I ended up confusing the hell out of someone for a minute or two.

[MNAirHead]

Most of the good guys I play with just call them out in nashville degrees

[MalcolmAmos]

Nashville numbers to me - not all do it the way I do - major chord are upper case and minor chords are lower case the diminished chord would be viidim or the little 0 I've never learned how to type.

[slybass3000]

Originally Posted by davecheng

Regarding the use of diatonic scale degree numbers to call a song's changes (e.g. Nashville numbers, jazz, etc.) what is considered common practice for songs in minor keys?

Say for a progression centered around Am, e.g.,

Am Em Dm Am

I've worked with players that refer to this as,

I V IV I (assuming natural minor/Aeolian mode)

as well as other who refer to it through the relative major,

6m 3m 2m 6m, or
vi iii ii vi

Is there a preferred way of doing it?

I've always known both to exist, but never really gave this much thought until this week when I ended up confusing the hell out of someone for a minute or two.

I'm not an expert in the nashville system but for looking at it it is logical.

If the song is in minor then your I is the Amin it is not the VI of C if your in Amin. It is just commun sense. But every intervals are based on the the major scale intervals when you notate them. Here is an example in a minor key:

Cmi |Ab7 |Fmin7 |Bb7 | could be notated : I min |bVI7 |IVmin7 |bVII7

Hope this helps,

Sly

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by davecheng

Regarding the use of diatonic scale degree numbers to call a song's changes (e.g. Nashville numbers, jazz, etc.) what is considered common practice for songs in minor keys?

Say for a progression centered around Am, e.g.,

Am Em Dm Am

I've worked with players that refer to this as,

I V IV I (assuming natural minor/Aeolian mode)

as well as other who refer to it through the relative major,

6m 3m 2m 6m, or
vi iii ii vi

Is there a preferred way of doing it?

I've always known both to exist, but never really gave this much thought until this week when I ended up confusing the hell out of someone for a minute or two.

I've never heard of some one using the relative major for that.

[Eminentbass]

As far as I can recall from theory class, the scale degrees/chord types are numbered according to the major or minor scale that the piece is written in, with upper case used to denote major chords and lower case for the minors. I'm not too clued up on the Nashville system which to my understanding uses actual numbers rather than Roman numerals.

[BillyIVbass]

I have only ever seen in vi ii iii vi....but that being said I'm sure there are others that do it the other way.

[ba$$]

I've always used whatever numeral is relative to what key you are in. I've never even heard of people doing it relative to C major. I took theory for years in Music School and we never did it another way. If it works for you though, go for it.

[ba$$]

Originally Posted by Eminentbass

As far as I can recall from theory class, the scale degrees/chord types are numbered according to the major or minor scale that the piece is written in, with upper case used to denote major chords and lower case for the minors. I'm not too clued up on the Nashville system which to my understanding uses actual numbers rather than Roman numerals.

Yup. You aren't going to analyze Beethoven's 9th symphony relative to C major. Obviously, the styles of music most of us are playing are generally limited to a few sets of chords.

[MalcolmAmos]

I don't think we have talked about why use Nashville numbers. Nashville numbers can be notated on your sheet music as generic I-vi-IV-V7-I. So you can use that same sheet of music for any vocalist in any gig.

Mary asks for the key of A. OK the generic I vi IV V7 I works.
Hank asks for the key of E. That same generic I vi IV V7 I still works.

So which ever numbering system you decide to use will get the job done. And yes I've seen Nashville numbers using Roman and Arabic numbers, I use Roman for chords (upper case indicates major and lower case indicates minor chords) and then I use Arabic numbers for intervals. That may or may not be the REAL NASHVILLE NUMBERING SYSTEM, but it's the one I use and I'm happy with it. The OP's question dealt with how do we notate minor chords. I do it by using lower case Roman numbers.

Have fun.

[brammerd]

I like to do everything in major

[TL5]

The way we do it:
Key C/Am

chords Am = 6-
Dm = 2-
Em = 3-


It also the way that is instructed in Chas Williams' book The Nashville Number System

[Crazyeelboy]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

Nashville numbers to me - not all do it the way I do - major chord are upper case and minor chords are lower case the diminished chord would be viidim or the little 0 I've never learned how to type.

OK, here goes on getting the diminished symbol. On Windows XP, go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - Character Map. Select the degree symbol and then push "copy". From there go to where you want to place it and push paste for vii°. Voila!

[Febs]

Or hold the [alt] key and type 248 on your numeric keypad: °

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by slybass3000

???? Really ?????

Do you know how to read alphabet?

What are you talking about?

[TL5]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

What are you talking about?

I didn't quite understand that either.

Also
Cmi |Ab7 |Fmin7 |Bb7 | could be notated : I min |bVI7 |IVmin7 |bVII7
While true, it doesn't make near as much sense or logic to me than it would to say,

Key sig is three flats
6m | 4⁷ | 2m⁷ | 5⁷|


Back to the OP's question.
If the key is A minor you'd write the standard notation with no sharps or flats, or in the key of C/Am
As others have suggested you could write it in 3 sharps (Key of A) and add all the additional notes for the incidentals. To me that is way too cumbersome of a way to do it.