I just found out that Nashville Notation only records in major mode?
Example：
The chord progression in C major is Am-C-F-Dm-E
I chose C major in BIAB！
Nashville Notation display：6m - 1 - 4 - 2m - 3
Here comes the question. I am currently selecting Am mode in BIAB
Nashville Notation display：1m - 3b - 6b - 4m - 5
I don't understand why it's 3b instead of 3 Finally, I realized that although I chose Am, I actually chose A major. Because the scales in A major are Am, Bm, C # m, D, E, F #, G # dim
-- So, my question is why not keep the C major and A minor consistent? Just change the numbers. Why should we change A minor to A major for Nashville Notation display? Or is this how the Nashville Notation display is designed?
I don't understand why it's 3b instead of 3 Finally, I realized that although I chose Am, I actually chose A major. Because the scales in A major are Am, Bm, C # m, D, E, F #, G # dim
Huh? 1: I think you mean the 'notes' not the 'scales'. 2: I think you mean A Natural, B Natural, C# and G#. Yes?
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
I don't understand why it's 3b instead of 3 Finally, I realized that although I chose Am, I actually chose A major. Because the scales in A major are Am, Bm, C # m, D, E, F #, G # dim
Huh? 1: I think you mean the 'notes' not the 'scales'. 2: I think you mean A Natural, B Natural, C# and G#. Yes?
Actually I think SBM's confusion is also causing us confusion.
I think the list of 'scales' is actually the list of chords as he has m and dim. Seeing the G#dim made me think it might be an F# minor scale, but that doesn't fit.
One of the things to remember is that the notes in a song may well be not in the key of the song.
Edit: I know little of Nashville notation, but guess that 3b may well just mean the flat third.
Last edited by Gordon Scott; 03/25/2301:17 PM.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .
I don't understand why it's 3b instead of 3 Finally, I realized that although I chose Am, I actually chose A major. Because the scales in A major are Am, Bm, C # m, D, E, F #, G # dim
The flat three comes about as result of creating minor scales by using the major scale as the starting point. This is one of the popular schools of thought for helping people to understand scales.
For example
The A major scale is...
A B C# D E F# G# A
And the A natural minor scale is...
A B C D E F G A
When the notes of A natural minor are compared to the notes of A major we can see that the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes are flattened.
Therefore, a way of writing the natural minor scale as a derivation of the major scale is....
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 1
==========
Also, as an extension of this way of thinkng, the A dorian scale is...
A B C D E F# G A
When using the major scale as the starting reference scale, the Dorian can then be thought of as...
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 1
==========
Knowing the above, will help you understand the following webpage about the various scale modes.
I just found out that Nashville Notation only records in major mode? The chord progression [...] is Am-C-F-Dm-E Here comes the question. I am currently selecting Am mode in BIAB Nashville Notation display：1m - 3b - 6b - 4m - 5 I don't understand why it's 3b instead of 3
So, all confusion aside, what's the answer to Expert Mix's original question about Nashville Notation, which was actually pretty clear?
The behavior of BIAB in using "3b" for C in A minor suggests that numbers by themselves represent degrees of the MAJOR scale, and that flatting notes is one of two ways to notate a song in a minor key, the other being to represent it in the relative major (Am = "6m" in C.)
Is this correct? Is this how Nashville Notation is supposed to work, or is this a quirk/bug in BIAB? I'm guessing it's normal but can't confirm by casual Googling, and now I want to know myself.
Quote from "The Nashville Number System" by Chas Williams
"One more thing, though we know that B# and C are the same note, correct alphabetical spelling of th A major scale dictates that the #2 must be a B#. Since there is no B# in the chromatic scale, for simplicity, in the key of A, call C the b3. Adhering to the same spelling rule, the #6 in A should be F## (F double sharp, also written Fx). F## is the same note a G, so we'll use G as the b7 in the key of A, instead of F## as the #6."
It seems that both ways are legitimate (examples 2 and 3). That said, using the relative major for chord notation is the recommended approach. BIAB does both. There is a option in Display Settings called "For Roman numerals of chords in minor keys, use the relative major". This setting also works with the Nashville system.
+++ The Nashville Number System +++ 30 minute more comprehensive explanation by Steve Crinds of Guitar Gathering. PDF file download link in the description.
+++ Nashville Numbers by Ron Buck +++ Four articles with part 1 about scale and key, part 2 about Chords, part 3 about Time and part 4 is a Nashville Chart example. Note that this link is an Internet Archive image taken of Don McClean's website in 2003.
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