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Nashville Number System
- Thread starter caeman
- Start date
haha, I have apparently been using this system, without knowing it had a technical name, since I started playing bass. For me its a lot easier than naming the actual chords by letter, plus transposition is a snap.
It seems like the player is still translating the number back to a letter, though. That the NNS is just a way of writing down the music for easy transposition, but you still have to translate that number of a letter in your head, then to the finger board position...instead of seeing a letter the first time around.
I can see the advantage when need to transpose, but it seem to add an extra step to the thought process during actual play if you only have numbers in front of you.
I can see the advantage when need to transpose, but it seem to add an extra step to the thought process during actual play if you only have numbers in front of you.
Yep I use it. It's an awesome system. The only part that can be difficult is that different song writers use different symbols. SO you have to know what what to expect when going into a session.
Not really. This is where the modes can come in handy. When I see a number, I immediately think of the hand position. The actual note is an afterthought. Of course, knowing the notes and the fretboard are helpful.
I do it without thinking of modes at all. Nor hand position. It's relationships. If I'm in A, whereever I play an A is one, and I know where 5, 6, etc. is. Sometimes I'll translate and think notes, but lots of times I'm just going "One, six, b3, etc."
John
John
Not necessarily true for everyone. I process things a lot better with patterns and spacial relationships than remembering what notes are in each key. I know where the 2, 3, 4, etc. are on the fretboard in relation to the 1 - no matter where the 1 is. I can get there a lot faster that way than relying on my brain to recall the letter names of each of the notes of a particular key. For me, NNS makes my mental process much faster.
Yep! It works well, and, for some folks who think in patterns and relationships, saves a couple steps. As pointed out, it's also easier to hold up numbers on stage and change arrangements on the fly.
Okay, in trying to wrap my mind around this numerical-only thinking, I have been staring at a print of my 5-string's finger board and print of the NNS chart, and I think I get now. I was just counting on the board and I think I have just learned something new.
Exactly!
Once you get the hang of relating everything to the 1, start finding other 1s on the fretboard and other positions from that 1.
Try to not think of only going up in pitch from the 1, but also find other positions lower in pitch on the fretboard. Also work with open strings as the 1 to expand your knowledge more.
Once you get the hang of relating everything to the 1, start finding other 1s on the fretboard and other positions from that 1.
Try to not think of only going up in pitch from the 1, but also find other positions lower in pitch on the fretboard. Also work with open strings as the 1 to expand your knowledge more.
When I first started playing one of the better bits of advice I got was to think in terms of scale degrees instead of actual note letters. It was a lot easier to figure out and write in the numbers on the chord sheets on my own time and play the entire song in a single position than it would have been if I had to try and memorize the scale notes of every key we were playing in. The downside was I really got locked into playing across the neck in a single position and it's been a somewhat slow climb out of that rut.
I'm wondering if there isn't more to this than what we're talking about here? I don't see how anyone could write enough to fill a book on the subject.
I've been trying to re-learn a lot of what I've forgotten. I tend to play in patterns a good bit of the time and know what they are for the majority of the modes.
Knowing the major R-3-5 (and then the 6 and 7) by memorizing and adjusting depending if the chord is minor, diminished or augmented, and where the 7th is can help too. But depending on the music, you can usually get by just knowing what the 3 and 5 are doing. YMMV
Knowing the major R-3-5 (and then the 6 and 7) by memorizing and adjusting depending if the chord is minor, diminished or augmented, and where the 7th is can help too. But depending on the music, you can usually get by just knowing what the 3 and 5 are doing. YMMV
It must have migrated the 200 miles South West many years ago, in the Memphis Blues scene it's all we have used for as long as I can remember. It's a language you gotta learn, as in from the 5, short 4, 1-6-2-5 turnaround, and hangin on the 1 etc:
... Once ya got it though it's great to use.
... Once ya got it though it's great to use.
Use a combination of I IV V I for the fake chord sheet, aka NNS so I do not have to go through mental gymnastics if the key is changed.
And then the basic bass riff I'll use.....
R-5
R-3-5-3
R-3-5-7
R-8-7-5-7-R
R-R-3-3-5-5-6-5
etc. etc. etc. Whatever works best with the song I'll pencil in the margins.
Just let me know the key and I'm ready to go.
And then the basic bass riff I'll use.....
R-5
R-3-5-3
R-3-5-7
R-8-7-5-7-R
R-R-3-3-5-5-6-5
etc. etc. etc. Whatever works best with the song I'll pencil in the margins.
Just let me know the key and I'm ready to go.
correct me if I am wrong, but is this system just calling chords by the scale degree that is the root. if so, i really dont think this is something sololy based in nashville. jazz has been using it since the 20's, correct?
I get most of my projects on this..
They often think I'm a simpleton for not reading charts.. just scratching out verse,chorus, bridge & turns.
Once they're comfortable that I don't need to know the tune's name.. just key and skelleton, they quickly adopt it.
The downside is I have to stop and remember what key we're in.
Tim
For fun.. our guitar player is a Berklee grad.. he's always trying to educate me on modes etc.. I then ask him if it's "just homing the 6th - he quickly drops it"
They often think I'm a simpleton for not reading charts.. just scratching out verse,chorus, bridge & turns.
Once they're comfortable that I don't need to know the tune's name.. just key and skelleton, they quickly adopt it.
The downside is I have to stop and remember what key we're in.
Tim
For fun.. our guitar player is a Berklee grad.. he's always trying to educate me on modes etc.. I then ask him if it's "just homing the 6th - he quickly drops it"
I'll just chime in with the others who disagree.
For me, the fact is it takes me longer to name the actual note letter than it does for me to find the chord/ interval with my ears and hands. I can jump from I to the VI almost automatically but if I need to name the note, I have to stop and think about it.
It's more a patterns mindset than "notes" mindset, but obviously the patterns yield the right notes. Just need to know or discern the 1 for the tune.
