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!

Most people play the piano by reading music and playing what is on the written sheet music, and that’s fine. Others play by reading only the melody of the song, but also by using the chord symbols that appear above the written music.

Which should you do? I say BOTH. There are benefits to knowing how to do both, so don’t sacrifice one for the other. Why limit yourself to just one way? So keep learning to read music — the better you can read, the better off you will be in many situations. But also learn all you can about music theory and chords, as that will enable you to create a much bigger sound on the piano than you would get from just reading the written sheet music.

For more information on the subject, click on How To Play More Notes Without Reading More Notes.

Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don’t show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.

The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.

Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.

The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a third chord), such as an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.

The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the “notes” section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. Sus – short for “suspension”, would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.

Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.

The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best – the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both.

 Chord symbols & reading the melody in sheet music

When I was about 14 years old I bought my first fake book. They were illegal back then, but most professional musicians had them. I paid $50. for mine — under the counter from a music store owner. $50. then was something like $500. now, so for a teenager, it was a huge purchase. The one I purchased had 300 songs in it in lead sheet format. Now fake books often have 1000 or more songs in them.

But it paid for itself many times over as I used it for years learning song after song, and allowed me to play in a little combo that played for dances and parties and such. I would usually earn $15. or $20. per gig, so I got my $50. back quickly.

Later I bought many, many fake books — some for jazz tunes, others for standards, still others for Latin, others for gospel, and so on.

The songs in a fake book are in lead sheet format — meaning just the melody with the chord symbols written above the melody. Watch this short video on fake books, lead sheets, and chord symbols.

You can buy a fake book at most any music store and most large bookstores. For a course on playing more notes without reading more notes using a fake book, click here.

Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don’t show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.

The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.

Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.

The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a third chord), such as an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.

The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the “notes” section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. Sus – short for “suspension”, would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.

Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.

The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best – the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both. For a course on playing piano using chord symbols, take a look at “How To PLAY More Notes Without READING More Notes”