Choose a number as a pianist would read it on a session chart. The key center supplies the chord name; inversion changes only which chord tone sits in the bass.
Tap 1–7 to voice the diatonic chord in C major.
How to play this piano chart
Mouse or touch: set the key center, tap a Nashville number to hear its diatonic triad, choose a bass position, or press any piano key. “Strike this voicing” sounds all tones together; “Roll bass to treble” arpeggiates the displayed inversion. Piano volume is the master level, and Fullscreen expands the keybed.
Keyboard: number keys 1–7 choose and sound a chord; R strikes it; A rolls it. Z S X D C V G B H N J M plays C4 through B4 chromatically. Tab reaches every control.
Convention: in a major key, 1/4/5 are major, 2m/3m/6m are minor, and 7° is diminished. The close-position triad raises lower chord tones by one octave for each inversion. Tip: keep the number fixed while changing key centers to feel why the chart transposes cleanly.
Explore the Nashville number system on your piano keyboard with this virtual instrument. Play using your mouse (or touch screen), or use your computer keyboard if you want to play more naturaly and quickly. Not only will you be able to see the name of any diatonic chord but also hear it. You can hear each diatonic chord to get a good idea about how chord function within a key center. Experimenting with various inversions are possible too.
First, choose a key center from the drop-down menu to the left. That will be the home or tonic chord for the instrument. You’ll see the tonic shown as the big letter in the tonic window. Below this is the number rail with the seven diatonic degree. Each of these buttons is showing you both the chord quality and the Nashville number. Tapping on any of them will play that chord in the chosen key. The readout panel change to reflect which chord it’s playing and the notes themselves.
How to Use the Virtual Piano
In the inversion part, you have some buttons that allow you to change the position of the voicing. This will change where the bass note of the chord sits. Selecting root in bass keeps the root note as the lowest note. The third in bass shifts the third of the chord down in the lower voice. Fifth in bass puts the fifth as the lowest note. This allows you to compare what a single chord sounds like with the bass note changed and gives you an idea of how chords is inverted in a piece of music.
At the bottom, there is a piano keyboard that you can use to select individual notes. By clicking one of the keys you will hear it sound. It has been mapped to your computer keyboard so it can be played with ease too. The lower row of keys (from left to right) from Z to M are the equivalent of C4 to B4. Therefore, you can quickly and easily play single notes or melodies without needing to use your mouse. In this layout, the black keys has been added too. This means that if necessary, you can play chromatic notes as well.
The strike button sounds the selected chord all at once, playing the notes at the same time. You will hear the harmony of the chord and have a clearer idea of what it is. With the roll button, you arpeggiate the chord which means it plays the notes one after another from bass note to treble note. This helps you to hear the individual notes making up the chord.
On the left-hand side of the console there is a slider to adjust the overall volume. The master gain control on the instrument keeps the sound easy for you to listen to in your environment. You get real time feedback through the status bar at the bottom. This will tell you which note you have rolled, which chord you’ve played, whether you have altered the volume etc. It is useful to monitor what you’re doing. It is particularly helpful if you’re trying out various settings.
A help button toggles a quick reference panel with basic usage instructions and keyboard mappings. Handy if you want to glance up while playing but don’t need the full screen. When you’re ready to go you can hide it and gain additional screen space for the instrument.
Select your preferred Nashville number and try altering the key center of it. Note that the chord name will change yet keep the same function in the key. That’s the power of the number system, instant transposing. Change key and retain the same chart. Use the inversion buttons to explore what happens to the chord when you alter the bass note. Sometimes, playing a single chord in varying inversions opens up whole new harmonic sounds.
There’s also an option to enlarge the interface to full-screen view. If you prefer to concentrate on using the controls and keyboard only, this will give you a bigger display. To do this, simply click on the fullscreen button to make the widget fill your screen. Exit fullscreen mode again by clicking the same button. The instrument is suitable for use with both mobile devices and desktops. The interface will adjust automatically to accommodate your screen size.
Listen to how each note relates to the next. Notice the chord progressions being used. Try tapping out a simple progression using the numbers. You can also use the roll feature to listen to the flow of the notes from one chord to another. It really is a useful way to learn music theory interactively. It connects the dots between the abstract world of numbers and the sound of harmony. To find out more about how the Nashville number system applies to music composition, you should of started playing.