Intro to the Nashville Number System

The Nashville number system developed in Nashville studios in the late 50's. It is great for musicians to quickly chart a song and makes it easy to transpose that song into another key without having to re-chart the tune.

The basics of the system is that each chord is numbered within their corresponding key. Using this you can chart a song and then be able to reuse it at another time regardless of what key the band wishes to play in.

Here is a breakdown of the chords that would be in these corresponding keys:

Majoy Key	1	2-	3-	4	5	6-	7°
A	A	Bm	C#m	D	E	F#m	G#dim
Bb	Bb	Cm	Dm	Eb	F	Gm	Adim
A	B	Dbm	Ebm	E	Gb	Abm	Bbdim
C	C	Dm	Em	F	G	Am	Bdim
Db	Db	Ebm	Fm	F#	G#	A#m	Cdim
D	D	Em	F#m	G	A	Bm	C#dim
Eb	Eb	Fm	Gm	Ab	Bb	Cm	Ddim
E	E	F#m	Abm	A	B	C#m	D#dim
F	F	Gm	Am	Bb	C	Dm	Edim
F#	F#	G#m	Bbm	B	C#	D#m	E#dim
G	G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F#dim
Ab	Ab	Bbm	Cm	C#	D#	Fm	Gdim

Minor Key	1-	2°	3	4-	5-	6	7
Am	Am	Bdim	C#	Dm	Em	F#	G#
Bbm	Bbm	Cdim	D	Ebm	Fm	G	A
Am	Bm	Dbdim	Eb	Em	Gbm	Ab	Bb
Cm	Cm	Ddim	E	Fm	Gm	A	B
Dbm	Dbm	Ebdim	F	F#m	G#m	A#	C
Dm	Dm	Edim	F#	Gm	Am	B	C#
Ebm	Ebm	Fdim	G	Abm	Bbm	C	D
Em	Em	F#dim	Ab	Am	Bm	C#	D#
Fm	Fm	Gdim	A	Bbm	Cm	D	E
F#m	F#m	G#dim	Bb	Bm	C#m	D#	E#
Gm	Gm	Adim	B	Cm	Dm	E	F#
Abm	Abm	Bbdim	C	C#m	D#m	F	G

It's important to know all the notes in each key and their corresponding chords based on that scale. For major keys you should always remember that the scale for each key is always laid out from the root: Whole step / Whole Step / Half Step / Whole Step / Whole Step / Whole Step / Half Step

Basics to writing a Nashville Number chart
Every number represents 1 measure unless otherwise noted.
Each Line represents 4 bars.
A "-" next to a number makes that chord a minor chord.
A number written inside a <> means to play diamonds (Chord played a sustained).
A small 7, 9, or ° next to a number means that number is a 7th, 9th, or diminished chord.
Rest, Time Signatures, Repeats, Codas, Crescendos, Decrescendos, etc. that are written in sheet music have the same purpose and use in a number chart.
Notes written before a || at the beginning of a line are pickup notesMore than one note being played in a measure is notated by putting those notes in a box or underlining those notes on a line,
I, V, Chnl, C, B, Ta, Solo, Tag are used to notate Intro, Verse, Channel, Chorus, Bridge, Turn around, Solo, & Tag repeats.



Here is an example of how to write a chart. This is a chart for Forever Reign. This is notated to be played in the key of C in 4/4 time. The first line has an I written for the intro which repeats C for 4 bars. The next line is Verse 1 repeats the 2 Bars of C and then 2 Bars of G/B. This line also has an additional two measures of C. Verse 2 is the same except for the notation of a crescendo into the chorus. I wrote this out quickly, but this is the basic gist of how to write a chart. The best part of this is when you learn to do this quickly and save the chart, you have an easily transpose-able chart you can play anywhere with.

These are not the Beatles you are looking for

New Pedal

We found out my pedalboard can power a label maker.
Maybe I can add this to the board...

Gibson Custom Shop ES330 with Bigsby

Check out this Gibson ES330!
Super cool guitar!

Pardon the weird look on my face, I promise I wasn't trying to stare into the camera...

Polytune Mini

This is a cute little tuner!
Perfect for saving space on a pedalboard.
The display appears to be about the same size as led's as the original polytune. There is a bunch of new compact/mini pedals coming out that have great tone and save you a bunch of space on your board. The polytune mini is the perfect tuner to save you some space and help you jam as many cool pedals as you can on your board. I used the original polytune for a year and loved the accuracy and how smooth the leds would move.

This is the perfect tuner for building the mini pedalboard of your dreams! 

2012 Tele Standards

Just got in the new 2012 Teles!

The new standards from Fender are pretty rockin!
The Teles have a new body contour, twisted tele pickup in the neck, and a broadcaster pickup in the bridge.

The Strats have Fat 50's pickups, aged pickup covers and knobs, and a copper infused high mass 100% metal bridge.

Both guitars boast of a thinner undercoat for improved resonance of the body.

Rock!








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Chord Inversions

One of the first basic things you learn on guitar is that moving a chord shape up the fretboard changes the note, i.e. Barring an E chord and moving it up a fret is an F and so on. This concept is taught pretty early in your guitar education and at first seems to only apply to the E and A barre chord shapes. From there, you probably learned power chords and mastered the top 4 strings of the guitar and could play rock songs like a champion.

In worship music, the concept of the barre chord is typically seen by the use of the capo. Most people will capo on the second fret and play G, C, D, Em to play a song that is in the key of A. A lot of Chris Tomlin songs are played with the G chord forms and using a capo to alter the key. It sounds great on an acoustic guitar, but if you are an electric guitar player I would challenge you to not use a capo and to learn the alternate chord shapes to play chords higher on the fretboard. Playing chords in different positions will add dynamics and fullness to a song.

For the examples below, I have taken the key of E and transposed it to 4 different inversions.
The idea is the same concept you achieve when you capo a guitar and play standard open chords. If you capo'd on the second fret and played the chords G, C, D, and Em you would be playing in the key of A and actually be playing A, D, E, and F#m. Chord inversions are the exact same idea as using the capo and playing standard chords, they just remove the use of the capo and allow you to have full usage of the fretboard at all times.  The 4 inversions below are based on the chord shapes of E, D, C, & G, but are moved up the fretboard and allow you to stay in the key of E.
 
E Chord Inversion
You are probably very used to these shapes and chords, all of these chords allow you to play lower on the fretboard.

E in a D Shape Chord Inversion
This allows you to play in around the 3rd to 5th fret and uses a D shape chord form.
Think about this like being capo'd on the 2nd fret and playing D, A, G, Bm, etc.

E in a C Shape Chord Inversion
This allows you to play around the 5th - 7th fret and uses a C shape chord form.
Think about this like being capo'd on the 4th fret and playing C, F, G, Am, etc.

E in a G Shape Chord Inversion
This allows you to play around the 10th to 12th frets and uses a G shape chord form.
Think about this like being capo'd on the 9th fret and playing G, C, D, Em, etc.

Worship Guitar Rigs

A friend who typically plays acoustic asked me the other day what would be the basics and necessities to get to build an electric guitar rig for worship. I don't believe you have to buy the super boutique gear to get great tone, but we will get to that in a future post. I think tasteful playing, good tone in your fingers, and correct picking makes up a good amount of your tone. In the list, I left out most of the boutique-y gear and went with the tried and true basics. With all that said, here's a good better best list of basic gear I sent him. (Disclaimer: this is just my opinion, there is a ton of other cool gear out there, if you want to throw your two cents in, feel free to leave a comment)

Amps:
The guitar you play, pedals you use, and style you play will greatly change the sound of the amp, however a good tube amp is a must for an electric player

Good - Blues Junior or Vox AC15C1

Better - Hot Rod Deluxe, Vox AC30, Deluxe Reverb

Best - Hand Wired Vox AC30, Vibrolux, Orange AD30TC

Guitar:
The pickups that are in the guitar will have a lot to do with how your pedals are driven, how the amp is driven, and the brightness or darkness of your tone

Good - Fender Standard Telecaster or Epiphone Les Paul Standard

Better - Fender American Standard Telecaster or Strat, Fender Tele Thinline or Deluxe, Gibson Worn Les Paul, Gretsch 5120

Best - Fender American Vintage Telecaster or Strat, Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro, Gretsch Country Gentleman

Pedalboard:
You will need a good board to house and power your pedals.

Good - Furman SPB-8

Better - Pedaltrain PT1SC or PT2SC with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 (Soft Case)

Best - Pedaltrain PT2HC, PT3HC, or PTPRO with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 (Hard Case)

Pedals:

Delay
This is something you will use all the time to fill space, add depth to your tone, and for ambience

Good - Boss DD7

Better - Visual Sound H2O, Electro Harmonix Memory Toy

Best - MXR Carbon Copy, Malekko Ekko 616

Tap Delay
The dotted eighth note appears in worship music quite a bit. That Edge-like guitar tone has become synonymous with Praise & Worship guitar tone. I recommend a Tap Delay that will allow you to set the BPM and save settings

Good - Boss DD7, Line 6 DL4, TC Electronic Nova Repeater

Better - TC Electronic Nova Delay or Boss DD20

Best- Eventide Time Factor, Providence Chrono Delay, Strymon Timeline

Overdrive
Your amp should be set clean and the overdrive pedals will add color and drive to your sound, which will help create texture and depth to your tone.

Good - Ibanez TS9 or Boss Blues Driver

Better - Fulltone Fulldrive 2 or OCD

Best - Timmy, Morning Glory, Sweet Honey Overdrive, Keeley Katana

Compressor
A compressor will even out your playing, by making increasing the volume of quiet sounds and lowering the volume of hard playing. It also can add a percussive sound to your playing, much like the clicking sound you hear in country style guitar. A good compressor is a must.

Good - MXR Dynacomp or Boss CS3

Better - MXR Custom Compressor

Best - Diamond CPR1 Compressor or Keeley Compressor

Volume Pedal
The volume pedal will be used for swells or to mute your guitar to send it to the tuner.

Good - Ernie Ball VP Jr

Better - Boss FV500

Best - Hilton or Goodrich Volume

Tuner Pedal
Best - Boss Tu3 or TC Electronic Polytune

Misc Pedals
Here are some more ideas of usable pedals that are not necessities but great to have on your board

Electro Harmonix Micro Pog - Adds an octave up or down to your original signal, great for chimey sounds or organ sounds.
Strymon Blue Sky - Reverb that has a shimmer effect, great for swells or filling space in songs.
Vox Wah - Creates that funk sound, also great for using a notch filter. 
MXR Phase 90 - Adds a sweeping swoosh like sound, adds some color to you guitar tone.

These are just some ideas to get your started, there are a tone more pedals that do different things and can make your guitar have tons of versatility and dynamics.

Please leave a comment if there is something I left out or a great pedal you want to give a shout out to!

Thanks for reading,

Ted Strange 

First Post!!!

Greetings! I wanted to take a second on this first post to introduce myself and give my idea for what I hope this blog can be.

My name is Ted Strange, I grew up playing guitar, and playing bass in church. I have worked for Guitar Center since 2001, and have had the pleasure of running the New Orleans, Memphis, and Central Dallas stores. I have played a variety of music, session work, and touring in bars, clubs, and churches.

My approach to worship guitar is different than most. This is due to most of my electric experience being in cover bands and in bars and clubs. My desire for this blog is to give some helpful tips from things I have learned and am still learning. Since my approach to worship music comes from a different style of playing than the traditional way guitarist play worship songs, I think this blog will offer an interesting perspective to playing electric worship guitar.

The following are some topics I hope to go over soon:
Chord inversions
Gear: Pedals, Amps, and Guitars
Using Delay
Practice and Rehearsing songs
Mic Placement
Amp Volume
Boutique vs. Budget
Pedalboard wiring
Looper Pedals
True Bypass
Stacking overdrives

Thanks for reading!
Ted Strange
Tedstrange@tedstrange.com