The Folksong Wordbook

The Chord Number System

Most of the songs in this collection are arranged using chord numbers as opposed to the chord letter names.

Chords can be grouped into families known as keys. Each key has seven chords. The three most important chords in each key are the tonic chord called the one chord, the sub-dominant chord called the four chord and the dominant 7th chord called the five seventh chord.

You will find that this book uses Roman Numerals ( I one - IV four - V7th five seventh) to designate the chords.

There are hundreds of well known songs in all musical styles that use just three chords. There are an equal number of songs that use only two chords in the family (the I and the V-7th). You will find many examples of two and three- chord songs in this book.

You will also find songs that are arranged with several other chords such as the II-7th, IIm (two-minor), VIm, (six-minor) etc. Look at the chord reference table below. If you memorize these chord families you should have no trouble learning and transposing the songs into keys that are more suitable for your singing voice.

Chord Reference Table
Note: The VII chord is a flat VII, one whole step down from the I chord. The flat (b)VII chord is used quite often in traditional and contemporary folk music. Normally this chord would be a diminished VII.

I	II	III	IV	V	VI	bVII
A	B	C#	D	E	F#	G
C	D	E	F	G	A	Bb
D	E	F#	G	A	B	C
E	F#	G#	A	B	C#	D
F	G	A	Bb	C	D	Eb
G	A	B	C	D	E	F

These chords can be played as minors, or 7ths. The VIm in the key of C is Am (A minor). TheV-7th in the key of C is G7th. The II-7th is a D7th, etc.

The bVII (flat seven) chords are one whole step down from the I chord. These chords are used in many folk ballads and Bluegrass songs as part of the chord progression.

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