Reading Musical Fake Books in A Major

Summary: A fake book is a collection of song and musical composition lead sheets that each contain the melody, basic chords and lyrics for a particular piece of music. Fake books are intended to help a musician learn a composition as quickly as possible by providing the minimum information necessary for the musician to improvise or “fake” a song. The fake book is essential to jazz musicians and other public performing musicians where improvisation is almost required of the artist. Not for the amateur musician, fake books require the reader to interpret and follow very little notation, and a thorough knowledge of chords and sheet music is necessary.

In this free video music lesson, an expert jazz musician will demonstrate how to read through a fake book composition in A major for beginners. 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. Our jazz expert will play through the composition with just the bass notes and melody, and also demonstrate the chords and melody together. If you already have a thorough knowledge of the piano and sheet music but are looking to enhance your musical improvisation or jazz music skills, this video will give you the information and knowledge you will need to succeed.