… you will know that those notes, in the Key of C Major would be: C – G – F. You’re already probably beginning to see how easy this can be! So, if you see a chord sheet that says: So, let’s take the key of C as a simple example. It’s based on one simple principle: the notes in a key’s major scale are numbered one through seven, each of which represents a chord. It allows you to quickly transpose songs on the fly. Transposition isn’t an “extra skill” to have on your resume, it’s a basic skill that all musicians should have.Įnter the Number System. If you learn a song in the key of C, what do you do if the worship leader decides to move it last minute to the key of B? Or if a female vocalist needs to do it in the key of G? As a musician, you need to have the ability to transpose the chords and parts on the fly as need be.
While chord names are certainly a quicker way to just jump into playing the song, the Number System is a far more flexible system for the long-term use of the song. One of the most frequent questions we get asked is, “I downloaded one of your chord charts but it just had numbers on it! Why not just put chords?” At The Stone, we employ something called the Number System with our musicians.