THE NUMBER SYSTEM 
 
DISCOVER THE​ S
​ ECRET SYSTEM​ TO PLAYING YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS BY EAR. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brought To You By: 
 

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THE NUMBER SYSTEM 

 
You’re about to learn one of THEE single most important concepts of 
learning to play music by ear. 
 
Have you ever wondered how your favorite musicians play live on the big 
stage?  
 
You know that ones I’m talking about. They have huge grins, playing what 
they FEEL and they’re totally in sync — all the while not looking at a single 
chord chart. 
 
Ever wonder how a band can sound so tight and so close knit without a lick 
of sheet music?? 
 
These are what I call ​EAR​ musicians and they’re using the language of music 
— NUMBERS! 
 
If you ever get close enough you’ll hear them say things like, “1-4”, “2-5-1”, 
“3-4-7-1”. These numbers come from the Major scale and you’ll learn how to 
master them in all 12 keys in this guide. 
 
Once understood, you’ll develop the ability to play hundreds, even 
thousands of songs seamlessly in M
​ ULTIPLE​ keys! 
 
It’s my sincere hope that what you take away from this will undoubtedly 
change the way you look at music forever. 
 

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Now I do want to note, just because this guide is free the information you’re 
receiving is FAR from it.  
 
In my experience, I’ve found that when something is free most people don’t 
value it, but when it has a hefty price tag next to it — they really treasure it.  
 
I can easily charge $50 for a course on this topic, but I really want to help my 
aspiring students and soon to be stars really get this because I know it will 
be a HUGE gamechanger!  
 
So treat this guide as though you paid $50 for it, because it’s worth that and 
much more once you get the concepts shared here.  
 
If you ever ask any musician how important this subject is, you’ll get a 
unanimous response on how VITAL it is to your playing.  
 
When you learn the number system, you’ll better understand scales, chords, 
progressions (i.e ‘2-5-1’, ‘7-3-6’) and music as a WHOLE.  
 
Master this one thing and you’ll have a deeper understanding of the 
UNIVERSAL language of music. 
 
I’ll reveal the secrets of this system so you can learn this language as quickly 
as possible.  
 
It’s very simple, but VERY powerful. 
 
In the English language we use words to communicate and understand one 
another. In the world of music,​ NUMBERS RULE!  

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The​ number system​ allows musicians to seamlessly communicate with 

each other and its hands down the master key to playing music freely 
without relying on sheet music.  
 
It all starts with the ABC’s of the music language — t​ he Major scales.   
 
Let’s jump right in! 
 
So what exactly is the number system? 
 
It’s simply assigning a number to each tone of the scale — that’s it! 
 

 
“The number system is simply assigning a number to each tone of the scale.”  
 
 
 
We’ll start with the Major C Major scale to see this in action. 
 
KEY OF C MAJOR 

 
 
You should be familiar with the C Major scale. If you know anything about 
music, you should know that it all starts here. 
 

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We have a cheat sheet that covers all 12 Major scales. To find more 
information about this you can visit the link ​here. ​ What we’ll be doing here 
is taking the Major scale concept one step further.  
 
Instead of identifying each note of the scale as: C, D, E, F, G, A, B — we’ll just 
assign a number to each tone of the scale. That’s it! 
 
Let’s see what this looks like below. 
 
C = 1 
D = 2 
E = 3 
F = 4 
G = 5 
A = 6 
B = 7 
C = 8 (or 1) 
 
Put in a chart it will look like this. 
 

Scale  C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
BAM!  
 
Just like that, we’ve unlocked the number system for the C Major scale. 
 

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In simple terms, the number system is simply assigning a number to each 

tone of the scale from 1 to 7.  
 
Simple right? 
 
This principle can be applied in all 12 keys.   
 
There are multiple applications for the number system and things get more 
interesting when we get into learning modes, chords, progressions and 
modulations (transposing).  
 
For now, we’ll keep things simple and focus on finding the number system 
for every Major scale.  
 
Let’s find the number system for another key.  
 
KEY OF F MAJOR 

 
 
 
Much like the C major scale, all we need to do is number each tone of the 
scale.  
 
 

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Here’s the number system for the F Major scale: 

 

Scale  F  G  A  Bb  C  D  E  F 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
See how this works? 
 
We’re simply just numbering each tone of the scale.  
 
Let’s cover the rest of the Major scales.  
 
KEY OF Bb MAJOR 
 

 
 
 

Scale  Bb  C  D  Eb  F  G  A  Bb 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

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KEY OF Eb MAJOR 
 

 
 

Scale  Eb  F  G  Ab  Bb  C  D  Eb 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
KEY OF Ab MAJOR 
 

 
 

Scale  Ab  Bb  C  Db  Eb  F  G  Ab 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

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KEY OF Db MAJOR 
 

 
 

Scale  Db  Eb  F  Gb  Ab  Bb  G  Ab 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
KEY OF Gb MAJOR 
 

 
 

Scale  Gb  Ab  Bb  Cb  Db  Eb  F  Gb 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

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KEY OF G MAJOR 

 
 

Scale  Gb  Ab  Bb  Cb  Db  Eb  F  Gb 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
KEY OF D MAJOR 
 

 
 
 

Scale  D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#  D 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

KEY OF A MAJOR 

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Scale  A  B  C#  D  E  F#  G#  A 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
KEY OF E MAJOR 
 

 
 

Scale  E  F#  G#  A  B  C#  D#  E 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 

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KEY OF B MAJOR 

 
 
 

Scale  B  C#  D#  E  F#  G#  A#  B 

Number  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 (or 1)  

System 

 
 
That’s it! 
 
So we’ve covered all 12 major scales and their number systems.  
 
To give you another view, I created a chart to view all 12 Major scales using 
the number system below.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE NUMBER SYSTEM 

 

  1  2  3  4  5  6  7 

Quality  Major  Minor  Minor  Major  Major  Minor  Dim. 

C Major  C  D  E  F  G  A  B 

D Major  D  E  F#  G  A  B  C# 

E Major  E  F#  G#  A  B  C#  D# 

F Major  F  G  A  Bb  C  D  E 

G Major  G  A  B  C  D  E  F# 

A Major  A  B  C#  D  E  F#  G# 

B Major  B  C#  D#  E  F#  G#  A# 

Db Major  Db  Eb  F  Gb  Ab  Bb  C 

Eb Major  Eb  F  G  Ab  Bb  C  Db 

Gb Major  Gb  Ab  Bb  Cb*  Db  Eb  F 

Ab Major  Ab  Bb  C  Db  Eb  F  G 

Bb Major  Bb  C  D  Eb  F  G  A 

 
 
You can use whichever version works best for you.  
 

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Now it's important to note that to play the piano by ear masterfully, you 
MUST​ memorize each Major scale and the n
​ umber system​ that goes with it.  
 
You want to be so good at this that it should take you 2 SECONDS to figure 
out the number of the Major scale in ANY key! 
 
Why is this important? 
 
Well, if you come from a more traditional Classical background you typically 
have to learn each song from scratch using sheet music.  
 
Regretfully this takes up A LOT of time and it doesn’t work effectively in a 
band setting — unless you plan on playing in an Orchestra.  
 
But if you plan on playing for your church, on the big stage, in a live band, as 
a music producer, or in front of your family and friends on the spot — 
numbers are the way to go.  
 
As an ear musician, the number system instantly gives you a language that 
you can easily communicate with other musicians to seamlessly create 
music.  
 
Imagine this, you’re the leading keyboardist on Adele’s band and you’re 
playing at Madison Square Garden. The venue is jam packed at full capacity 
and the crowd is going WILD waiting for everyone to hit the stage. 
 
And right before the show starts, Adele walks up to you backstage and 
decides that she wants to sing the opening song in the key of E Major.  
 

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Big problem! You learned the opening song in the key of A Major, now what 

do you do??  
 
As an ear musician, you need to have the ability to instantly change keys 
and transpose the notes, chords and songs on the fly — literally in a few 
minutes. This is how professional musicians play on the big stage.  
 
The number system is the key that unlocks your musical potential and gives 
you the ability to learn songs instantly and play freely without relying on 
sheet music.  
 
So review this guide until you have this concept under your belt.  
 
We’ve made the process simple for you to get all 12 Major scales and their 
number systems in one place. We’ve gone through each scale step-by-step 
and you now have and easier way to memorize each one with little to no 
effort.  
 
Go over it a number of times until you get the concept of the number 
system down pat.  
 
Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.  
 
Until next time,  
 
Yehoshua Mumba 
“The Ear Professor” 
Founder, SimpleKeyz, Inc.  
 

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If you want to get a more in depth understanding of the number system, I 
highly recommend grabbing a copy of the Ultimate Guide to the 
Fundamentals.  
 
 

 
 
 
You’ll get a solid foundation on the fundamentals of playing the piano by ear 
— the right way! 
 
 

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LEARNING MADE EASY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Simple Keyz Music specializes in teaching the secrets of playing the music by ear. Learn the 
techniques, principles, concepts, and tips that will instantly enhance your ability to 
recognize melodies, chords and songs — just by listening. No sheet music required. 

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