What are "Fake Books"?
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What are "Fake Books"?
Can any elaborate as to exactly what the various insturmental "Fake Books" are and why they are called by that name?
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powayflute01
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My understanding of a "fake book" is a jazz book for any instrument that has the solos written out in it. It's called a fake book because the soloist isn't actually improvising, but just reading the solos (which is considered the easy way out in jazz).
Haha, this one is my favorite: :shock:
[size=75]I <3 LXA[/size]
[size=75]I <3 LXA[/size]
In a fake book, you'll find just the melodic material for a jazz or other tune, plus, over the melody, chord symbols indicating the song's harmonic progression. You still have to come up with your own improvisational material, but the basic structure is laid out for you to follow. These are printed for all styles of music now--jazz, country, gospel--I just ordered the Classic Rock Fake Book for our sheet music department. I sometimes use the charts to make flute choir arrangements, since the harmonic information is all there, but no distracting piano arrangement 
. The most famous fake book is called, ironically, The Real Book 
. For decades, it was a collection all those famous jazz tunes, photocopied (thus, illegal). It's now published, since last year, with full, legal copyright clearance and everything, by Hal Leonard ($24.95--a great deal for 100s of tunes). Theory is really important for playing jazz/using a fake book, as linear motion of the music is important, but more important is knowing what chord your group is playing, so you can choose the appropriate chord tone to play. Even within a melody, for variation, you might play a pitch different from the one that's written, and the music will still sound good if you're playing one of the "right" notes. The Aebersold books are good for learning how to read fake books and play jazz. 
. The most famous fake book is called, ironically, The Real Book . For decades, it was a collection all those famous jazz tunes, photocopied (thus, illegal). It's now published, since last year, with full, legal copyright clearance and everything, by Hal Leonard ($24.95--a great deal for 100s of tunes). Theory is really important for playing jazz/using a fake book, as linear motion of the music is important, but more important is knowing what chord your group is playing, so you can choose the appropriate chord tone to play. Even within a melody, for variation, you might play a pitch different from the one that's written, and the music will still sound good if you're playing one of the "right" notes. The Aebersold books are good for learning how to read fake books and play jazz.