The Roman Numeral System Explained: Build Any Chord Progression by Number

The Roman numeral system is the language pros use to write chord progressions in any key — and this lesson breaks down exactly how it works on the piano. Jason Zac from Nathaniel School of Music walks you through why we use Roman numerals, the intervals behind them, and the number system for the major scale (I ii iii IV V vi vii°). You'll go beyond the basics into extended harmony, the symbols for borrowed chords and secondary dominants, and the full number system for the harmonic minor scale (i ii° IIIb+ iv V VIb vii°), with a clear revision at the end. Once you can think in numbers, you'll read, transpose and build diatonic progressions on the piano with far more freedom. 🏫 Courses, Workshops or Private lessons ➡️ https://forms.gle/fsbhFKSgJbZ5xZEr8 ============================= 📹 Our Video Courses (Everything for Life Bundle) ➡️ https://learn-music.nathanielschool.com/ 🎹 Piano Courses & Private Lessons ➡️ https://piano.nathanielschool.com ============================= ▶️ Related Lessons & Playlists 🎵 Music Theory lessons ➡️ https://geni.us/PianoTheory 🎹 All our lessons on Chord Inversions (Playlist) ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT9ygtrGwGFmfyvMyGWH52EC 👂 Ear Training lessons ➡️ https://geni.us/EarTraining ============================= 🎓 Learn Music with Nathaniel School of Music & Jason Zac ➡️ https://nathanielschool.com 📚 All our YouTube lessons (1000+) by skill level, topic & genre ➡️ https://learning-portal.nathanielschool.com ============================= 💰 Donate on PayPal ➡️ https://geni.us/DonatePayPal 📸 Instagram ➡️ https://instagram.com/jasonzac 📞 Call +91 98454 65411 · 💬 WhatsApp chat +91 77604 56847 📧 Customised & Private Classes ➡️ music@nathanielschool.com 🎧 Listen to Jason Zac Music ➡️ https://riffs.jasonzacmusic.com/ #RomanNumerals #ChordProgressions #MusicTheory Chapters 00:00 Roman numerals for chord progressions 00:21 Why chord numbers help with transposition 02:00 Major-scale intervals and other interval names 03:44 Roman numerals describe chords 04:04 Diatonic triads and major-minor symbols 05:19 Sevenths and further chord extensions 06:52 Non-diatonic chord qualities 07:54 Play the major-one, major-three, major-four, minor-four progression 09:18 Flat-six and flat-seven major chords 11:18 Build the harmonic-minor chord symbols 13:31 Reference scales and notation conventions 14:09 Recap Roman numerals and chord functions