Fake book piano tips

This gives me access to a large set of tunes in a relatively small amount of space. P laying piano is one of lifes great joys creating beautiful music, entertaining family and friends and expressing your inner creativity. As a brasswind player, when you play from a fake book or lead sheet, your primary concern is going to be the melody. Jun 18, 2012 follow these simple tips to learn to play piano with a fake book. Hal leonard has dozens of fake books for all musical genres to ensure you can play the music you want or need to play. Play the melody with your right hand plus the roots of the chords with your left hand. Fake books are widely used collections of lead sheets. It not only has great piano tunes in it, but it also has chord diagrams for every chord used in a tune right at the top of each page which makes it perfect to use for your first fake book although many veteran piano players say it is still their favorite. This is a first fake book that scott developed specifically as the result of feedback from students and viewers of his tv shows. For example, its literally cut off below music and it offer two tips to locate fifths and then never gives them to. A fake book also called a real book is a collection of lead sheets used by jazz musicians. I created a piano course for piano lovers to learn some secret tips to play a left hand ballad technique with beautiful nostalgic sound. Apr 26, 2015 listen and jam, get actively involved. Jan 12, 2017 fake books are one of the best ways to practice piano because they require you to go beyond just playing chordsif you really want what youre playing to sound good, you have to vary your chord progressions, add in some melody and transitions, and.

Scott the piano guys favorite piano fake book series. Jazz piano tips, history, recommended recordings, and resources for. Play from fake book learn to read piano chord symbols, play piano chords and make nice arrangement to songs. It has easy, well known songs to practice playing easy chords to, and making faking your own accompaniments. Make a compiled list of songs from the piano fake book. In my early days of playing, this fact was extremely frustrating because i desperately needed to express myself through piano. Choose a fake book you are familiar with especially when youre a piano beginner. This book takes many of the ideas i put forward in how to speed read piano chord symbols and its sequel and expands on them, offering the aspiring pianist more in depth study on these famous and beautiful patterns. Heres the jeffrey chappell stepbystep method for approaching a fake book lead sheet. I use a lot of the same tricks every time i play the same tune, but i wouldnt call it memorized. They are compilations of hundreds of songs in lead sheet notation. One piano fake book is enough to help you learn piano playing. Just press the key on the piano that corresponds with the note on the written music, as shown on the following image. A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets intended to help a performer quickly learn new songs.

How to use a lead sheet fake book the jazz piano site. Shop and buy the ultimate jazz fake book c edition sheet music. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or. With a lead sheet, you are free to create your own versions also called arrangements of the songs you love.

When i discovered my first fake book, i recognized that if i sat at the piano, i could play the melody in my right hand and play the chords in my left and i literally began playing piano overnight, much to the shock of my parents. The piano, in a jazz setting, is considered a rhythm instrument, and therefore uses the. Playing from a fake book involves learning not only to quickly size up a melody, but to know the chords and the hidden, unprinted chords that are implied and which you hear in performance. Jeffrey chappell pianist classical and jazz pianist logo. Its not for pure beginners and its not for advanced piano players, but. Fake books are one of the best ways to practice piano because they require you to go beyond just playing chordsif you really want what youre playing to sound good, you have to vary your chord progressions, add in some melody and transitions, and. This will help you familiarize the piano notes, the sounds, music rhythm and everything with music theory better. It is a collection of songs written with only the melody, lyrics and chord changes over the appropriate beats. The following graphic indicates which keys on the piano keyboard correspond with the notes on a staff of music. If you choose that note properly, the rest of the music is greatly simplified. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of lefthand accompaniment patterns. This jazz piano tutorial is about how to use a lead sheet.

Quickly and easily learn to play popular songs in piano fake. You make up your own accompaniment as you feel best. Fake books give you just what you need to fake your own version of a song. This followup to the popular your first fake book 00240112 includes over 100 more great songs that even beginninglevel musicians can enjoy playing. A piano fake book allows you to read and play music on your piano. Do you want to learn how to play hundreds of your favorite songs. An essential tool for the gigging musician and for decades the bane of the publishing industry. If you can read simple trebleclef melody notes, you can quickly and easily learn to play popular songs using our play piano with fake book system. But until now, it typically took years of lessons and persistence to be able to sit down and play popular songs when the opportunity arises.

The real book was painstakingly created because the editors care about music and want it to be well played and fun to play by you, the musician. At the listed web sites you can find fake books and sheets to thousands of songs for guitar and for keyboard. This mustown collection includes more than 625 tunes spanning all jazz styles from more than 9 decades from classic to swing to modern jazz, carefully chosen chords with common practice chord substitutions, lyrics to accommodate vocalists, easytoread music, and composer and performer indexes. You should type one or more words or partial words separated by spaces, in the text field alongside the search button. This will allow you to play the melody in piano fake book songs. Follow these simple tips to learn to play piano with a fake book. Introduction to the jazz pianists ultimate guide to the real book. You can either choose a jazz piano fake book, a classical piano fake book and many more. Depending on how well you hear, you can try moving part of the chord chromatically, or extending the chord, say changing a c maj 7 to a c maj 9. These books are the mainstay of professional musicians, and once youve learned how to use a fake book, youll enjoy a new level of playing experience. In the play piano with fake book package, youll receive a fake book complete with over 100 most popular piano songs, along with three 60minute dvds demonstrating proper fakebook playing tips. Feb 11, 2015 demonstration of the song careless love with several options for adding rhythm to left hand chords. Guitar, pianokeyboard, vocal sheet music book by various. Oct 31, 2015 how to use a fake book by bella payne.

The fake book, in case youre not familiar with it, is basically the simplest version of sheet music available. The ultimate jazz fake book c edition by various fakebook. Fake books are often massive collections with notated melody line, chord symbols, and complete lyrics. One approach to becoming a jazz piano player is to learn how to interpret lead sheet format such as is found in the real book. The piano, in a jazz setting, is considered a rhythm instrument, and therefore uses the lefthand chords and accompaniment to help provide the rhythm. Within a couple years my friend and i got a gig playing for tips at a local diner that had a beat up piano. This fake book includes 74 popular song arrangements from scott houston, the piano master of pbs.

A fake book is a collection of lead sheets used by jazz musicians. Quickly and easily learn to play popular songs in piano fake books. Playing from a fake book means you become your own arranger. Learn more about fake books with this great resource, how to read a fake book.

Next time your friends see your piano and say, play misty for me, impress them and really do it. Im writing this note because i love tunes and, in particular, i like reading them in fakebooks. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your own resources to supply an interestingsounding. The fake book format itself is pretty easy, just melody notes and chords. All lead sheets or fake books have two primary components. Demonstration of the song careless love with several options for adding rhythm to left hand chords. Quickly and easily learn to play popular songs in piano. Then hum the first note in the song, and match it to the piano. Another fun book to play from is called a fake book. Your left fifth finger will always play the root of the chord, and you will play the interval of either an octave, seventh, or fifth in that hand. They are socalled because they allow a jazz musician to fake it. Play love songs with lead sheets piano lessons by piano.

In this clip, we talk about what a fake book is and how to play from a. Rather than playing from someone elses sheets you have to make your own arrangement. Nearly two decades ago, hal leonard created the ultimate fake book, a collection of more than 1,200 songs which lived up to its name and set the standard for all fake books that followed. In this video music lesson, an expert jazz musician will demonstrate how to read through a fake book composition in a major for beginners. And thats why you put the little tip jar on your piano. Save 20% on fake books at sheet music plus through march 8, 2016. By kevin harper history of fake books and lead sheets imagine this. This book features largerthanmost fake book notation with simplified harmonies and melodies and all songs are in the key of c. Become a member of pianowithwillie and get 247, unlimited access to this lesson and hundreds more for one low price. The piano course comes with one 158page fake book your first fake book published by hal leonard and three dvds 60 minutes video lessons each demonstrating proper fake book playing tips, tricks and techniques to get you started right away. Steps to the real book helps to foster both approaches.

It also helps if you play the music in the key of c no sharps or flats. He will demonstrate how to play the various measures and sections of the fake book composition on piano, as well as how to improvise while playing. This gives me access to a large set of tunes in a relat. Generally, the songs are written much more concisely, or are abbreviated with only the melody and chord names written in. Of course, that assumes you know how to form chords a chord dictionary can help you with that.

Play the melody with your right hand plus the chords with your left hand, using root position as well as inversions to facilitate smooth connections. This book is my sixth piano book related to playing from fake books and improvising at the piano. They are socalled because they allow a jazz musician to fake it even if heshe doesnt know a song. Each song in a fake book contains the melody line, basic chords, and lyrics the minimal information needed by a musician to make an impromptu arrangement of a song, or fake it. For lots more good stuff on piano playing come on over to my website. The fake book index locate tunes by title search in over 70 jazz fake books. To choose the first note, hum the last note in the song as a c. When you start to learn piano chords, i recommend that you get a book with melodies and simple chords to practice with, like this easy fake book affiliate link that i also use in my studio. An introduction addresses basic instruction in playing from a fake book.

I personally always have a book with me, but its not one with written out arrangements. The expression, fake book, comes from the fact that the music generally shows the melody, chords, and lyrics, but thats all. Jason will explain octaves and fifths, notes and keys, how to fake a song, and how to turn mistakes into music. For descending fifth progressions, all the connections will be stepwise, making. Keep in mind that the book isnt bad in and of itself after all its just paper. The blues fake book sheet music real book fake book. This might be helpful if youre a concert pianist, but not if youre just looking to play basic versions of pop songs. How to play from a fake book without gettin the blues. A fake book is a collection of lead sheets, or pages that contain only the treble clef staff with the vocal melody of the song and chord symbols. Once youve learned how to use a fake book, you will enjoy a new level of playing experience removed from the constraints of the realized accompaniment. Include chord tones in the right hand as well as the left hand. My favorite baptist hymns book 1, piano solo book arranged by mclean fjh music. In the example above, i only have eyes for you, you can see that you are only given the chords, written above each line, and the melody. If you play the piano to some degree and can read simple music to some degree, you are invited to join my inner circle.

Fake books for guitar may also have guitar tablature. Fake books never tell the whole story they are merely a guide to the memory of a musician, which builds up more and more information riffs, cadenzas. But unlike your typical books, which contain the score as written by the composer or arranger, a fake book is more of a reference for the songs. Only a few chapters give the novice any real advice regarding how to play from a fake book. The piano course comes with one 158page fake book your first fake book published by hal leonard and three dvds 60 minutes video lessons each demonstrating proper fakebook playing tips, tricks and techniques to get you started right away. They typically come with just the melodies of the songs, and perhaps recommendations for what cords sound good with a particular part of the melody. Generally, the songs are written much more concisely. Play the melody with your right hand plus the chords, in root position, with your left hand. A lot of its an explanation of every piano chord on earth. Play love songs with lead sheets piano lessons by piano mother.