Fake book
A fake book is a collection of simplified sheet music, either transcribed manually or copied from some other source. The fake book is a central part of the culture of playing music in public, particularly in jazz, where improvisation is particularly valued.
A song in a fake book contains the melody line, basic chords, and lyrics. It is not a book for beginners as it assumes a large amount of musical knowledge on the part of the reader, who must follow and interpret the scant notation.
Origins of the name
Before the invention of the photocopier, copying was labor intensive. Therefore, fake books were collections of "lead sheets", usually grouped for a particular style of music. A lead sheet is simply a melody line marked up with chord symbols. This is the minimal information for musicians apt in improvising to "fake it", i.e., to make an arrangement of the song impromptu. The name fake book is derived from the aid the book provides musicians in extending their normal repertoire by "faking".
History
The primary usage of fake books was for gigging musicians to play songs they've never played before upon customer's request. They also turned out to be a good starting point for learning new tunes, a convenient supplement to a recording of the tune.
Despite the name "book", they often looked like a thick, loose stack of unbound sheets.
The origins of the transcribings were often murky and not always of the best musical quality. But the sheer amount of the tunes more than compensated for this drawback, especially since skilled musicians could always improve the sound. At some point, there came The Real Book, which claimed to fix all problems of poor design. It was extremely popular and in its turn spawned a number of "fake Real Books".
Fake books used to infringe onto copyrights, and their circulation was primarily underground. Today regular, legal fake books abound in musical stores.
Types of fake books
- The Masters of Rock Guitar Fake Book
- The Real Book
- The Ultimate Fake Book
- Book One
- Cuban Fake Book
