Fake Books 101 - A Primer
What is a fake book?
Fake books are large compilations of the tunes that musicians most commonly need to know to meet the demands of their audience. Though many variations have evolved, a fake book typically includes the melody and chord changes for the tune. The melody line is typically shown in as notes on a music staff. Chords are typically notated by name, such as Cmaj7, and not as written notes on a staff.
The popularity of fake books stems from the large repertoire of songs included, enabling musicians to play together, even when some or all of the musicians do not already know how to play a particular song. This also allows musicians to “fake it”, meaning to be able to play an unfamiliar song, thus leading to name “fake books.”
What is The Real Book?
The lineage of fake books go back to the bootleg song sheets of the 1930s and the Tune-Dex song reference cards of the 1940s. Bootleg versions were illegal because the publishers did not obtain the legally required copyrights to publish the music. The most popular of the bootleg fake books originated at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. During the 1974-75 school year, two students created a bootleg fake book they called "The Real Book", because they tried to notate the authentic chord changes and melodic lines that professional jazz musicians would really play. This was in response to the simplified and un-hip changes shown in commercial fake books up to that time.
With its 400 tunes enabling musicians to have a more hip and contemporary repertoire, The Real Book was an immense underground success. The problem was that the books were illegally produced and distributed, without any regard to copyright law, or royalties paid to the composers who created the musical masterpieces. In those pre-Internet days, the Real Book was distributed illegally from musician to musician, typically out of someone's car trunk, or if in the "right" music store the staff thought you were "OK", a Real Book might appear from under the counter. This practice continues today to some extent, but the music industry is addressing it from two directions. One is through a much more vigorous prosecution of illegal books and websites under the laws of the Copyright act. The second is by making a legally authorized version of The Real Book available, and today this legal Real Book is our top seller.
We are pleased to offer our customers the first legitimate and legal editions of these books ever produced, now published legally by Hal Leonard. You won't even notice the difference, other than that all of the notorious errors have been fixed: the covers and typeface look the same, the song list is nearly identical, and the price for our edition is even cheaper than the original! Every conscientious musician will appreciate that these books are now produced accurately and ethically, benefitting the songwriters that we owe for some of the greatest tunes of all time!
What are C, Bb, Eb and Bass editions?
Many musicians are unaware that different musical instruments use different staff notes to indicate the same musical pitch due to transposition. A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. On a transposing instrument, a concert C is written as a different note; the concert pitch that is played for a written C determines the key that an instrument transposes in. For example, a Bb clarinetist playing a written C would sound a concert Bb. Likewise an Eb saxophonist playing a written C would sound a concert Eb.
There are several reasons for these transpositions. Many instruments are members of a family of instruments that differ mainly in size, such as the saxophone, clarinet, flute, etc. The instruments in these families have differing ranges, with the members sounding lower as they get larger. It is desirable for all members of the same instrument family to have the same fingerings, so that a player can play any member of the family using the same fingerings. As a result, these instruments are transposed based on their range such that each written note is fingered the same way on each instrument.
Instruments that transpose this way are often referred to as being in a certain "key", such as the A clarinet (clarinet in A), or the F horn (horn in F). The instrument's key tells which pitch will sound when the player plays a note written as "C". A player of a B♭ clarinet who reads a written C will sound a B♭, while the player of an F horn will read the same note and sound an F.
Fake books come in different editions or keys to suit the particular instrument being played. C-concert books are typically used for piano, guitar, violin, flute, banjo and other “C” instruments. Many horn and woodwind instruments come in C, Bb, Eb and other keys. When a group of musicians play together from fake books, their music will sound correct together when each musicians is using a fake book with the key that fits their individual instrument.
How to play from a fake book
The topic of how to play from a fake book could literally fill a book. In fact, it has! We carry an excellent book, How To Play From A Fake Book that covers the topic in detail. However in this primer we will cover a few basic ideas on how to use a fake book.
For non-chord instruments, such as horns and woodwind instruments, the focus will be on playing the melody from the fake book, and then perhaps playing improvised fills or choruses based on the chord changes. The musician will want to use the fake book to practice and learn the melody line, and then get to know the chord changes. Techniques for learning the chord changes could be to start playing the root of each chord, then practicing the root, third and fifth of each chord, and then practicing the scale associated with the chord. This will help with the learning of the chord progression, and assist in being able to improvise.
Chord instruments, such as piano and guitar, will use the fake book to learn how to provide accompaniment to the instruments playing the melody. This may include learning to play the chords and variations, and developing different rhythm and strumming patterns to keep the accompaniment fresh and interesting. Beyond accompaniment, these instruments can also play both chords and melody. This is done by playing chords with the melody note as the top note of the chord, and by mixing chords and individual melody notes.
All of these skills require practice and repetition, but with effort any musician can become more proficient at playing from a fake book with other musicians or solo.