![]() ![]() The diminished triad uses a minor third, and a lowered fifth, called a “diminished fifth.” A diminished fifth is three whole-steps, or six half-steps, above the root note. The third interval in a minor chord is called a “minor third.” The fifth interval in a minor chord is the same as in a major chord, the interval of a “perfect fifth.” ![]() Most rock and pop songs use a mixture of major and minor piano chords. “Comfortably Numb” is an example of a rock song that begins with a minor chord. Minor chords are also very common in rock and pop music. From the third, count two whole-steps (or four half steps) to find the fifth. To play a minor chord, select any root note, then count three half-steps up to the third. ![]() Have fun with number charts, and have fun playing music! Ciao.Minor chords, like major chords, contain three basic keyboard notes: a root note, a third, and a fifth. For the record, this is how I personally hear the chords in that song, so Sir Paul hasnʼt signed off on them – but for a quick illustration this should suffice. And that means something, coming from a classically trained pianist (me).įinally: to illustrate number charts, also known as Nashville number system, I am attaching a number chart I wrote for one song you might be familiar with. Once you get the hang of it, it makes life a hell of a lot easier. If all of this sounds more complicated than regular chord charts, it might be… At first. Donʼt ask me why, I donʼt quite understand it myself… Iʼm sure thereʼs an official explanation for it somewhere, buried at the bottom of a deep ocean. And even if the song never gets to the relative major, not even in the chorus, that “1” is still somehow implied and the first chord is still “6-”. So when the song begins, say, in D minor and arrives at the relative F major at some point later, perhaps in the chorus, that first D minor is automatically “6-” and the key of the song is F. “1” is inherently, or 99% of the time, a major chord. In other words, you will almost never see “1-” chords thrown around. or ritard.) and a few others.įor dessert, hereʼs one peculiarity Iʼve noticed about number charts… They are very rarely written in minor keys. and D.S., fermata sign (“birdseye”), pushes (an eighth note with a tie indicates a push, or “” can be used), marcato signs (for chokes/stops, or I sometimes just write “stop” underneath), crescendo/decrescendo symbols, ritardando symbol (rit. Naturally, some rudimentary knowledge of music notation is needed here, such as: repeat signs, first/second endings, D.C. Split bars are assumed to be evenly divided, unless otherwise indicated with dots, hash marks or rhythmic notation. Split bars are either underlined, or enclosed in parentheses, or separated with a forward slash… That last one Iʼm not so fond of, I prefer to leave slashes for compound chords, so I underline my split bars. If there is more than one chord in a bar, itʼs a “split bar”. Now, in terms of structure – one number equals one measure (bar). Dominant sevenths, major sevenths, suspended chords and such are indicated with superscript, although Iʼve seen subscript also. Accidentals (♯, ♭) are usually written to the left of number, although Iʼve seen it both ways. A standalone number represents a major chord, for a minor chord a dash “-” is added after the number.Ĭompound chords (slash chords) are used for chord inversions and chords with altered bass notes. In essence, all numbers are relative to the root note of the songʼs key, and therefore the chart does not change if the key changes. In the key of C, “1” is C major chord, “4” is F major chord, “5” is G major chord and so on. The concept is simple enough: instead of letters representing chords, number charts use numbers. But if you want a bit of “street” music education, a slight broadening of your horizons or simply the satisfaction of being able to speak to musicians in their own language – read on! Many professional session musicians (myself included) are willing to work with whatever materials clients give them, or write their own charts. ![]() First, a disclaimer… You donʼt HAVE to know how to write number charts. ![]()
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