If it hasn’t happened, it will at some point in your life especially if you’re a pianist. Somebody will ask if you know a certain song. You will nicely tell them that either you’ve never heard of it or you know it but don’t know the chords that make up the song. They will, of course, look at you in disbelief. (Remind them that just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean you know every song in existence just as an author can’t recite every book)

Depending on where your musical experiences take you, you may be asked to play certain songs or your play list may be so long and involved that you can’t remember the entire set. This is where a fake book comes in. A fake book is a book of songs where the melody, the lyrics, and the chord changes are included. If there is anything unique about the song, like an area where everything stops for a certain amount of time, that will also be noted.

With a fake book, providing you have the ability to read chord symbols, you can add an accompaniment to the song. You could also sing along or if you’re by yourself, play a piano version of the song that is easily recognizable by anybody.

There are fake books compiled for all subjects. Broadway songs, songs of certain eras like “Songs of the 80’s” and just about any musical genre imaginable. There are even fake books that simplify classical music allowing it to be played by any pianist who can read traditional music.

Using a fake book is surprisingly easy. First, in what type of ensemble will you be using your fake book? If it’s a band, that has a guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals, you as the pianist will probably play only the right hand melody and comp with the left hand, unless you are taking a solo. Why? Because you don’t want your left hand bass notes to conflict with what the bass guitar player is playing.

If you’re accompanying a vocal soloist, you will provide accompaniment with both hands but you will not play the melody unless the soloist requests an instrumental break in the middle.

If you are playing by yourself, you will have to play the melody plus all accompaniment parts. That will take some practice until you get the hang of reading chords.

Fake books are invaluable for those musicians who play large volumes of music. You can find fake books at most music stores and even some larger book stores. You can also download them from numerous online sites.

I bought my first fake book when I was a teenager and they were still illegal, but available “under the counter” at most music stores. But back then I paid $50. — which was a LOT of money for anyone, let alone a teen-ager. But it was a great investment and taught me a lot about playing songs just from a lead sheet using chord symbols instead of reading the sheet music. Now they are much cheaper, and have many more songs.

Pick one up and have fun!

Watch this short video on the difference between playing music from a written score as opposed to playing from a lead sheet in a fake book:

If you have trouble viewing the video here, it also appears at
How To PLAY More Notes Without READING More Notes

For those who have been playing piano for several years, learning to play from a fake book can be a useful skill. In order to play from one, you need to have an understanding of chord theory. You should also be familiar with the names of chords. Once you know chords, a fake book provides the wherewithal for you to play just about any song without the entire musical score written out.

A fake book contains songs that are not written in their original, full score. Instead it is a series of pages also known as lead sheets. Each lead sheet contains the lyrics and melody line to a single song along with the chord symbols such as G7, Fm7, etc. Often, a fake book contains only the treble clef notes (melody line), although some include a rudimentary bass clef score. The accompanying chords are notated in the places they should be played, usually over the word in the lyrics that they go with.

I bought my first fake book when I was 16 or 17, and it cost $25. — a fortune back then for a teenager. They were illegal then too — but sold under the take by many music stores. Now of course they are entirely legal, and contain a thousand or more songs per book and cost about the same as I paid way back when.

Fake books are intended as guides so experienced musicians are able to play any song without the benefit of the full musical score. If you’ve ever seen jazz musicians at work, you may have witnessed this concept in action. Jazz relies heavily upon improvisation. A jazz band may use a fake book to ensure that each member is playing in the same key. The musicians can then improvise the rest of the song. In other words, they can fill in the spaces between chords with other notes.

It is likely that fake books originated as a convenient way for musicians to have access to lots of songs. Their use also sparked copyright debates, however unintentionally. Early versions, and many versions that are in print today, often deny royalties to the copyright holders of the original song(s). Fake books may contain hundreds of unauthorized versions of songs. There are so many on the market that it is a difficult area to police.

Another place that fake books are commonly found is in churches. Churches often have a large library of songs that they use during regular worship services. It can be a storage problem to keep sheet music for hundreds and hundreds of songs for each band member. Instead, some churches use fake books because they take up less space. Band members are then able to play the same song in the same key, while improvising between chords. Churches usually purchase a license that gives them the legal right to use all of the songs in public performance. This way, there is no need to worry about paying royalties to individual copyright holders, and there are no prohibitions against photocopying music.

As already mentioned, reading a fake book requires a good knowledge of chords. A musician who knows the name of all of the basic chords should be able to play any song off of a lead sheet. Even musicians who aren’t gifted at improvising can at least provide accompaniment to a song by using a lead sheet.

If you are interested in playing from a fake book, consider taking the course on “How To PLAY More Notes Without READING More Notes”