Lead sheet
A lead sheet or fake sheet is a form of
The lead sheet does not describe the
A lead sheet may also specify an instrumental part or theme, if this is considered essential to the song's identity. For example, the opening
A collected volume of lead sheets may be known as a fake book, due to the improvisational nature of its use: when presented with a lead sheet, proficient musicians may be able to "fake it" by performing the song adequately without a full score.[2] This is in contrast to a full score, in which every note to be played in a piece is written out. Since fake books and lead sheets only give a rough outline of the melody and harmony, the performer or arranger is expected to improvise significantly.
Use in performance
A lead sheet is often the only form of written music used by a small
Lead sheets are not intended for novices. Sometimes, melodies with
Chord chart
Sheets containing only the chord progressions to the song are often called chord charts or chord sheets, to distinguish them from lead sheets. These sheets could be used by the rhythm section instruments to guide their improvised accompaniment and by lead instruments for their improvised solo sections, but since they do not contain the melody, they can be used in performances only by players who have the melodies memorized. Lead sheets are commonly used at informal "jam sessions" and at jazz shows at small nightclubs and bars.
As legal definition of a song
The melody, lyrics, and harmony define what a song is. In the
History
A predecessor to lead sheets was created in May 1942 when George Goodwin, a radio station director, released the first Tune-Dex cards. Printing on 3-by-5-inch (7.6 by 12.7 cm)
The first two volumes, Fake Book Volume 1 and Fake Book Volume 2, issued in the late 1940s and 1950s, together comprised about 2000 songs dating from the turn of the 20th century through the late 1950s. In the 1950s the Modern Jazz Fake Book, Volumes 1 and 2 was issued, and Fake Book Volume 3, containing about 500 songs, came out in 1961. The music in Fake Books 1, 2, and 3 was
The three Fake Books were well indexed, alphabetically as well as by musical genre and
During the school year of 1974–75, an unidentified group of musicians based at the Berklee College of Music in Boston published the Real Book.[5] Bass guitarist Steve Swallow, who was teaching at Berklee at that time, said the students who edited the book intended "to make a book that contained a hipper repertoire, more contemporary repertoire".[4] It was popular and in its turn spawned a number of "fake Real Books". Swallow's 1994 album Real Book features his original compositions, but the cover art mimics a spiral-bound, coffee-stained fake book used by jazz musicians.
In the 2000s, some types of "real books" have been published which fully respect copyright laws. In the same period, some
See also
- Chord chart
- Head (music)
- Chord letters and Roman numeral analysis
- Jazz standard
- Ralph Patt, author of The Vanilla Book of 400 chord progressions for jazz standards
- Real Book
- Rise Up Singing
- The Fiddler's Fakebook
- Chas. H. Hansen Music Corp., pioneer publisher of legitimate fake books
References
- ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
- ^ Woodwind Brasswind: "What is a fake book?"
- ISBN 0-8230-7729-2
- ^ a b c Kernfeld, Barry (2003). "Pop Song Piracy, Fake Books, and a Pre-history of Sampling" (PDF). Kernfeld. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ My Guitar Pal: "History of the Real Book"