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Been wanting to buy "THE" Real Book.
I see many permutations but don't know which is the genuine
article.
What's The real Real Book called and where can I get it.
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03-15-2015 01:57 AM
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Any book using the word "Real" in the title is just a pun on the term "fake" book . As you'll see from the Amazon reviews of the above book, the "original" Real Book was an illegal anthology of bootlegged lead sheets. This far down the line time wise, the Fake books available commercially are much better, more accurate, and better quality.
When comparing fake books by different publishers, it is not uncommon to find different chord choices given for the same song(s), particularly with standards. However any of the fake books published by Chuck Sher or Hal Leonard, are excellent. Titles now exist which are geared towards different styles of music, eg Latin, Standards, European etc..
Incidentally, I believe Chuck Sher publishing did use the word "Real" in the title before the Hal Leonard books came on the market.
Here are some links which might be of further interest,
The Fake Book Index
Fake Book Song Index - Book List
Jazz & Latin Music Real Books and Method Books | Sher Music Co.
Hal Leonard Online
Oh, and PS, you want the "C" concert edition for guitar usage.Last edited by pubylakeg; 03-15-2015 at 06:01 AM.
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I'm waiting for someone to make the original REAL book, the one that people used to get from the Real Book man in the alley beside Berklee, with all the idiosyncratic changes and errors that everyone knew about, to be reprinted. Just for that vintage vibe.
That's the one more people entered the jazz world with for many decades, it might be said to be the midwife book that shaped at least two generations of jazzers. Pre publishers' copyrighted editions. Long gone
David
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Don't they say that Jaco Pastorius's version of "Donna Lee" includes an error in the melody line because he learned it from the original real book.
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I think you're talking about the 5th edition, before Hal Leonard began publishing the 6th which has some differences. Most people in my neck of the woods use the 5th edition still. I got mine many years ago.
Last edited by monkmiles; 03-15-2015 at 02:00 PM. Reason: edited
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Before there was the Real Book there were Tune-Dex cards...
Popular Music Tune-Dex Cards | University Library Blog
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I think it's good karma to own a copy of a legal copyrighted version such as the Sher or Hal Leonard 6th ed. regardless of what you're actually using, just to have paid royalties on this great music.
I have most of the Hal Leonard. I've since discovered that a lot of real players prefer the Sher books...Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 03-15-2015 at 02:26 PM.
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There is no such thing. Real fake books are illegal and date way back I remember when getting started playing got to see my friends fathers fake book from the 40's. What is called the The Real Book first came out in the 70's and was a illegal fake book you bought from guy out of their car trunks. Urban myth is it was done by big name players and teachers at Berklee, because so many of their tunes were in the first version of the The Real Book.
Fake books and have always been controversial because they are someone idea of what the melody and chords are. Jazz players and bands change the chords of tunes so the "correct" per who??? The Real Book has morphed over the years with tunes coming and going and changes/corrections of tunes until the termed Real Book got taken over by Hal Leonard who then produced a legal Real Book. But being legal it changed again because they favored tunes they had license to and other tunes they were able to get license for. So the Real Book today only cosmetically looks like the real Real Books. There are many other legal fake-books with Real in the name the Sher series is highly regarded (or at least was). So boils down to what tunes do you want some have more contemporary tunes than the others. There are fake books of mainly standards. Hal Leonard like they do with everything has expanded the Real Book series into lots of versions Vocal, Rock, and other styles.
I would say find the tunes you want, of if planning to jam using a fake book find what people in your area use. Also find out if they use fake books. In hardcore jam sessions fake books are taboo, your expected to know the tunes and have the ears to pickup on the changes people are using.
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At least on the East Coast the new legal Hal Leonard "Real Books" are the standard choice. Maybe not the best, but the one other people are probably using. They are a fine reference but don't let them be a crutch. Learning tunes by ear is much more beneficial.
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Maybe where you live. Here at every jam session I have ever been to the Real Books (usually the 5th edition) are out and being used. Charts are used at most jazz gigs by most of the musicians here, for that matter, except for gigs by the top drawer touring pros (Scofield/Swallow/Stewart spring to mind as the example I saw last) and a few locals who have been full time pros for decades. There are few of them around here any more, the economics of jazz not permitting making a living at that for most.
Originally Posted by docbop
And frankly if someone's going to be enough of a prick to rag on me for not having 400 tunes memorized in all 12 keys, screw 'em. I'm not going to apologize for being a hobbyist and having other things occupying my brain space (like my paying career, my family, etc.). Lighten the hell up. There's nothing to be gained by humiliating others.Last edited by Cunamara; 03-15-2015 at 01:57 PM.
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The open jam sessions I used to go to generally have people with the 5th edition for book volume 1 and the Hal Leonard edition for book volume 2. Which are the two I own in hard copy. I'm seeing more of the iRealBook app these days too, which doesn't include melodies. I do understand the copyright thing...but I also think circulating books of tunes is going to get more people playing them, exposure to the tunes, etc. As for pros, most of them I know and see don't use books on the gig and have things memorized. Though you certainly see guys like Pat Martino, Ron Carter using books on stage (their books, not the real book).
I hear you. Amen. Originally Posted by Cunamara
Last edited by monkmiles; 03-15-2015 at 02:03 PM.
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I find this humorous how upset you guys are getting because I pointed the there are as I noted hardcore jams that fakebooks are a no-no. It's like seeing your kid now big enough to wonder around and heads into the kitchen when you're cooking, don't you warn them the stove is hot??? No you tell them be careful. So I said was watch what you're walking into, because sometimes you want to leave your fakebook in your bag.
Also I've been in clubs or jams and the what they are playing is over my head/ears, but one of them knows me or see the instrument bag and sez come on and play. I just tell upfront that beyond my ears and the most the time they will say okay you call the tune, or they will say will plays some Blues later and you come up then. So even hardcore will lighten up if you say something upfront, because everyone has been in that same position at some point.
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Thanks for all of the responses
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There are a number of errors in the original Real Book version of "Donna Lee". The version in the Parker Omnibook is, with a couple of minor exceptions, correct yet few later recordings seem to use that transcription or the original recording as a reference. Originally Posted by pubylakeg
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Yeah generally I dont see a lot of vibing for using a book(or the app) if something gets called that you dont know. But if you come on stage and the first thing you do is rifle through the real book to find a tune that YOU are calling, well... that's kind of weak. No one expects everyone to know 400 tunes. But 10-20? That's a pretty low bar to ask for. Originally Posted by docbop
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Agree with docbop on post#13 100%.
A Jazz player should be totally familiar with the material they intend to perform in public, or be experienced (and confident) enough to hear it correctly on the spot. Reading onstage looks really amateurish (big band charts excepted).
If you don't know the tune, lay out.
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Jebus yes!
When did it become impossible for somebody to lay out?
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Yea... I was at berklee when Steve S somewhat put together the pre 1st edition of the real book, I still have my rough copy... before was bound. I brought them out to west coast in 74... not really around yet. Lots of mistakes, but that's somewhat the point of a fake book, it's just a transcription of a recording and just a guideline. Your not reading through a show or repeating the changes over and over like a backing tract.
Get over the reading on stage thing... I am a pro and I still read on stage... granted, I know most tunes, but there are a lot of heads, and when your playing in unison with horns... it's nice to be playing the same notes.
Most groups have books with their arrangements of heads, etc...
I've hosted jams for years, most pros sight read well and always dig it when players bring in their tunes, which requires sight reading on stage. Some jams are more like shows and a venue for the house band to promote themselves and their friends... which is cool, I'll sit in sometime, and yea, we usually play what we know. I mean after a while... you'll have played every tune...
I think I've bought every fake book... support friends etc... Personally have used my ipad for years, or at least I bring to gigs and someone is using it.
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Hummmm that's around when I got my first copy were you selling them on Ventura Blvd then????? <grin> Originally Posted by Reg
Actually I still have my first two Real Books the first one was a real bad Xerox copy. Then months later some guy was selling Real Book "Pacific Edition" good printing and hard plastic cover. There were so many fake books coming out because Xerox machines had come down in price and way easier than real printing.
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There's a difference between pros reading down a chart on stage and hacks reading "All of Me."
I'm at the level where I should NOT be reading on stage, I'm not good enough to keep my playing at the same level as where it would be if I actually knew the tune.
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All fake books have mistakes. Mainly because, in jazz, there's no real "set of changes" to a tune, but everyone plays them differently. If you want to learn a standard, get the songbook for the musical it's in and harmonize it in a jazz style. If you want to learn anything else, then your best bet is to learn it by ear. You can look at the charts from a fake book, but be aware that it's not THE tune. This is just a version, and all books will be different, whether it be by error or by the version they transcribed. Always good to double check with multiple recordings.
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All fake books have mistakes. Mainly because, in jazz, there's no real "set of changes" to a tune, but everyone plays them differently. If you want to learn a standard, get the songbook for the musical it's in and harmonize it in a jazz style. If you want to learn anything else, then your best bet is to learn it by ear. You can look at the charts from a fake book, but be aware that it's not THE tune. This is just a version, and all books will be different, whether it be by error or by the version they transcribed. Always good to double check with multiple recordings.
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Best advice anybody will ever get about this topic. Originally Posted by jtizzle
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My dad was one of those back alley guys selling the really old fake books in the early 50's. He was in the Navy in San Diego selling them to make a little extra cash. I think he probably had to buy them, then resell them for whatever he could get for them.
He kept a copy that I have now. It is a leather, 3 ring type binder. No idea how it was printed since all the pages have different formats. As if they were photo copies taken from the original published work. I suppose some sort of photo lithography technique.
Some of it is printed quite small and I think there is something like 1,500 tunes in that binder. Of course, nothing newer than about 1952.
I've never actually tried to use it. The pages are pretty fragile now. But it's a cool thing to have.
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