Re: [Harp-L] fake book sale

[Larry Marks <larry.marks@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have carried fake books around with me for years. First there were the 
illegal ones, then the neatly bound totally legal ones of today. I guess 
they call them "real books" because they pay royalties so the books are 
not "fake". Of course, that's not where the term "fake book" comes from.

When we gig, people come up and ask if we know so-and-so - a specific 
song. Lotsa good tips in playing what people ask for. But what if you 
don't know it? With the help of my trusty little book, if we don't know 
the tune requested, we can "fake it". That's where the term, "fake book" 
really comes from.

A fake book (or real book) is actually a collection of "Lead Sheets". A 
lead sheet contains most of what you need to play a tune: the time 
signature; the melody in musical notation above the melody, the chords; 
and below, the lyrics. Chords and lyrical syllables are generally placed 
over or under a specific melodic element to show when they are to be 
played/sung. Lead sheets are well known to session musicians.

Lead sheets differ from sheet music in that sheet music contains all the 
elements of the music - melody, harmony and meter - in musical notation. 
A lead sheet contains only the time signature and melody in musical 
notation. Thus, some of the subtler aspects of the music are not 
conveyed by the lead sheet.

-LM