A lead sheet or fake sheet is a form of
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
that specifies the essential elements of a
popular song
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...
: the
melody
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...
,
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...
and
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...
. The melody is written in
modern Western music notation, the lyric is written as text below the
staff
Staff may refer to:
Pole
* Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting
** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon
* Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position
* Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particula ...
and the harmony is specified with
chord symbols above the staff.
The lead sheet does not describe the
chord
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
voicings,
voice leading,
bass line
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and so ...
or other aspects of the
accompaniment
Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...
. These are specified later by an
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...
or
improvised
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
by the performers,
[Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice'', Vol. I, p.76. Seventh Edition. .] and are considered aspects of the arrangement or performance of a song, rather than a part of the song itself.
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
guitar riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
from
Deep Purple's "
Smoke on the Water" is a part of the song; any performance of the song should include the guitar riff, and any imitation of that guitar riff is an imitation of the song. Thus the riff belongs on the lead sheet.
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. This is in contrast to a
full score
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, Ara ...
, 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
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
ensemble. One or more musicians will play the melody while the rest of the group
improvises
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
an appropriate
accompaniment
Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...
based on the
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
given in the
chord symbols, followed by an improvised solo also based on the chord progression. Similarly, a sufficiently skilled
jazz pianist is able to accompany a singer and perform a song by themself using only a lead sheet.
Lead sheets are not intended for novices. Sometimes, melodies with
syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "plac ...
are written with the syncopation omitted, so the reader must be familiar with the songs "by ear" to play the melodies correctly. Some
32 bar forms do not have a printed melody during the "B" section, as the lead instrumentalist is expected to improvise one. Similarly, the chord progressions for some
blues tunes omit the
turnaround (often simply indicating two bars on the tonic), as it is expected that an experienced jazz player will know the appropriate turnarounds to insert (e.g., (I–VI
7–ii–V
7). The reader needs to have thorough familiarity with
extended chords
In music, extended chords are certain chords (built from thirds) or triads with notes ''extended'', or added, beyond the seventh. Ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords are extended chords. The thirteenth is the farthest extension diatoni ...
(e.g., C
13) and
altered chord
An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest examp ...
s (e.g., C
711). Introductions and codas are often omitted, as it is expected that players will know the familiar intros and codas used on specific songs. Lead sheets are often bound together in a fake book.
A variant type of lead sheet contains only the chord progressions to the song. 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 session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ext ...
s" and at jazz shows at small
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s and bars.
As legal definition of a song
The melody, lyrics, and harmony define what a song is. In the
music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...
and
entertainment law
Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include tradema ...
, a lead sheet is the document used to describe a song for legal purposes. For example, a lead sheet is the form of a song to which
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
is applied—if a
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
sues someone for copyright violation, the court will compare lead sheets to determine how much of the song has been copied. Or if a song is considered for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
or a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, the song is submitted for consideration in the form of a lead sheet.
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
index card
An index card (or record card in British English and system cards in Australian English) consists of card stock (heavy paper) cut to a standard size, used for recording and storing small amounts of discrete data. A collection of such cards ...
s that had the same size as library catalog cards, Goodwin provided lyrics, melody and chord symbols as well as copyright information.
Goodwin also promoted the cards to professional musicians until 1963, when poor health forced his retirement. For many years the "standard" fake books were called simply "Fake Books". All were composed of
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
s illegally printed, with no
royalties paid to the copyright owners. In 1964, the
FBI's Cleveland, Ohio, office observed that "practically every professional musician in the country owns at least one of these fake music books as they constitute probably the single most useful document available".
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
photocopied
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...
or reset with a musical typewriter from the melody lines of the original
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, A ...
. Usually chord symbols, titles, composer names, and lyrics were typewritten, but for a number of songs these were all photocopied along with the melody line.
The three ''Fake Books'' were well indexed, alphabetically as well as by musical genre and
Broadway show. Although the tunes in the ''Fake Books'' were compiled illegally, the creators printed copyright information under every song — perhaps to give the false impression that the ''Fake Books'' were legal, or to show respect for the creators. The ''Modern Jazz Fake Book'' was divided into two sections, each indexed separately as ''Volume One'' and ''Volume Two''. The music was transcribed by hand from recordings, and each transcription included performer name, record label, and catalog number. Unlike today's fake and "real" books that have "jazz" in their titles, the ''Modern Jazz Fake Book'' included no standards, but only original tunes written and recorded by jazz musicians. All these books have been long out of print, though music students have photocopied the books from other musicians. Fake books originally infringed
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
s, and their circulation was primarily
underground.
During the school year of 1974–75, an unidentified group of musicians based at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...
in Boston published the ''
Real Book
The ''Real Book'' is a musicians' fake book – a compilation of lead sheets for jazz standards. Fake books had been around at least since the late 1920s, but their organization was haphazard, and their content did not always keep pace with co ...
''.
My Guitar Pal: "History of the Real Book"
/ref> Bass guitarist Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar. ...
, 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". It was popular and in its turn spawned a number of "fake Real Books". Swallow's 1994 album ''Real Book
The ''Real Book'' is a musicians' fake book – a compilation of lead sheets for jazz standards. Fake books had been around at least since the late 1920s, but their organization was haphazard, and their content did not always keep pace with co ...
'' 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 electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
"fake books" became available, which offer instant transposition. This facilitates the performance of music at shows where some performers have transposing instruments, or in shows with a singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...
who wants the band to play in a different key to accommodate their vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...
.
See also
* Chord chart
A chord chart (or chart) is a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic information for a song or tune. It is the most common form of notation used by professional session musicians playing jazz or popular music. It i ...
* Head (music)
In its broadest sense, the head of a piece of music is its main theme, particularly in jazz, where the term takes on a more specific set of innovation. In other types of music, "head" may refer to the first or most prominent section of a song. ...
* Chord letters and Roman numeral analysis
In music theory, Roman numeral analysis is a type of musical analysis in which chords are represented by Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, …). In some cases, Roman numerals denote scale degrees themselves. More commonly, however, they represent t ...
* Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive l ...
* Ralph Patt
Ralph Oliver Patt (5 December 1929 – 6 October 2010) was an American jazz guitarist who introduced major-thirds tuning. Patt's tuning simplified the learning of the fretboard and chords by beginners and improvisation by advanced guitarists. H ...
, author of ''The Vanilla Book'' of 400 chord progressions for jazz standards
* Real Book
The ''Real Book'' is a musicians' fake book – a compilation of lead sheets for jazz standards. Fake books had been around at least since the late 1920s, but their organization was haphazard, and their content did not always keep pace with co ...
* '' Rise Up Singing''
* ''The Fiddler's Fakebook
''The Fiddler's Fakebook'', by David Brody, is a collection of fiddle tunes in lead sheet form (naturally without lyrics). It includes tunes in the following styles:
* England
* Scotland
* Ireland
* Shetland
* French Canadian
* Nova Scotia/ ...
''
* Chas. H. Hansen Music Corp., pioneer publisher of legitimate fake books
References
{{Musical notation
Musical notation
Jazz techniques
Music industry
Jazz terminology
Music performance