Great explanation, Rick. You've really clarified what's been posted before. I've not been in a situation where the numbers were written down because you can usually hear bluegrass changes coming pretty easily. We used the numbers though every time we needed to explain the progression to a new band member or someone sitting in on a set. We learned to associate a 2 chord, say, with a certain sound and never thought about it's actual name in key we were in at the time. Like you said, it only takes a few minutes to pick up on this very useful notation.

      - Mark