The number system

To play by ear is not to difficult at all. A lot of the music you hear on your radio, iPod or mp3 player consists of patterns or musical progressions that is based on the NUMBER SYSTEM. The number system makes things easier for musicians to remember.

You can practically play with a band and call out the specific number and they will understand and will be able to accompany you as piano player.

So here's how it works:

We already looked at the major scale in a previous blog post (click here). The number system is derived from the major scale like this:

C = 1

D = 2

E = 3

F = 4

G = 5

A = 6

B = 7

C = back to 1 and repeats...

The goal is to know the number system in all 12 keys and what chords are associated with each number. An example would be your 1 chord = C major triad as shown above.

The aim of this website is to provide as much chords as possible with each of the numbers in a particular key.

I hope you enjoyed this. Please feel free to post any questions or comments. Also subscribe to my mailing list where you will be notified of any new article that are posted. 

I am in the process of creating video posts. Look out for that in the near future.

God bless!