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!

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.