Chapter 19:Lead Sheets and Scores 243
Make It Simple
Even simpler than the lead sheet is a piece of music that contains only chords;
no melody lines and no lyrics. There are two different approaches to this type
of music, and we’ll look at both.
Chord Sheets
The chord sheetis just what it sounds like: a sheet of music containing only the
chords of a song (see the example on page 245). The chords are presented
measure by measure, so that members of the rhythm section (piano, bass, and
guitar) can play through the song with minimal effort.
The Nashville Number System
In the field of country music, especially among studio musicians, a different
type of chord sheet is used. This method of writing chords is called the
Nashville Number System, and it uses numbers instead of letters.
In the Nashville Number System, everything revolves around the tonic chord of
a given key. That tonic chord is assigned the number 1. The chord based on the
ii of the key—a minor chord—is assigned the number 2m (The m tells the musi-
cian it’s a minor chord.) The chord based on the iii of the key—also a minor
chord—is assigned the number 3m. And so on up the scale, up to chord number 7.
As you can see, major chords are distinguished by number only; minor chords
have an m added. Extensions are added as superscripts to the right of the num-
ber, so that a dominant seventh chord based on the fifth of the scale is noted as 5^7.
A chord chart using the Nashville Number System looks something like the
example on page 246.
Because the Nashville Number System doesn’t use traditional notes, it is ideal
for musicians who don’t know how to read music. It also makes it very easy to
change key—just play the 1 or 2 or 3, or whatever chord in whatever key you
want; it’s as easy as that.
Sing It Loud
Arranging for choirs is a bit more complicated than sketching out chords for a
rock band. Choral music normally has four or five parts, and each part has to
have its own line in the score.
Let’s look at a typical four-part choral score (see the example on page 247). The
parts are arranged with the highest voice (soprano) at the top, and the lowest
voice (bass) at the bottom. The four vocal parts (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass)
are grouped together with braces, and a piano accompaniment is included below
the vocal parts. The top three parts use the treble clef; the bass line uses the
bass clef. Lyrics are included below each staff.
If you prepare a
chord sheet using a
music notation pro-
gram, you may
choose to include guitar
tablature in addition to the
standard chord symbols.
This is particularly useful if
you’re writing for beginning-
level guitarists.TipThe Nashville Number
System is very much like
the Roman numeral nota-
tion system, except it uses
regular numbers (1, 2, 3)
instead of Roman numer-
als (I, II, III).Note