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Playing from a Fake Book

think back to the days you were learning tunes to play from a fake book. how did you go about the learning process. for example, did you concentrate in getting the melody down first and they attack the left hand or did you go at both simultaneously.

i would like to build up a repetoire to play from a fake book so that i could possibly entertain others. the approach i have been taking is going at the piece as a whole rather than breaking it down to left and right hand separately.

by JerryG on 05/28/2008, 12:05

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big band charts(free or for a price):

https://www.lushlifemusic.com/

google search it!

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by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:29

whoops! i posted this in the wrong thread!

scot, can you delete both of my messages from this thread?

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by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:30

i do a fair bit of this, and i think that you can use any number of approaches. i make sure that i at least know the melody before i go at the chords, so that i can sing along in my head (or out loud if you wish, when playing chords). i will then often learn the song playing the chords in my right hand, while playing simple bass in the left (root notes to start with). this is your basic approach to playing for a singer or other instrument.

next i will learn the melody in the right, and then bring in the chords in the left. i find that once i know the chords in my right hand, i automatically can play them in my left, but there might be an extra step for you, playing the left hand chords, before you bring in the melody.

from here, it is limitless - learn to improvise a chorus, play a fuller arrangment creating chords and melody using both hands, play in different keys, sing it etc.

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by g on 05/28/2008, 18:56

at albetan's area.
you will find two kinds of files there: ,pdf and .mus
if you have finale or notepad, select .mus file.

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by albetan on 05/28/2008, 19:40

i highly recommend downloading several mp3 versions of the tune to aid in getting a feel for not only the tune, but to also give insight into the kind of treatment you might want to give it.

and while you're at it, you'll probably notice that a good deal of the fakebook chords are completely wrong and don't go at all with the recorded versions.

this is a good way to find out what the correct chords actually are (or at least figure out a set of chords that pleases you more than the erroneous crap that makes its way into almost every tune i've ever gotten from a fakebook).

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by 7 on 05/28/2008, 21:08

added to what 7 said.

i also have downloaded a lot of versions of tunes in midi format so i can also see using vanbasco player what voincigs others are using to approach the song.

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by Chacky on 05/29/2008, 10:22

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by 7 on 05/30/2008, 12:26

van basco doesn't seem to have the midi player 7 refers to anymore, all i see on their website now is a karaoke player and a screen saver. would it be kosher to post a copy of the old version on ljp to download (since it was free-ware to begin with)?

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by cflat on 06/05/2008, 10:05

i agree with 7 and would add that this is the time to get out and play with others. i have a good ear, but repeatedly one of my compadres will hear some nuance in an arrangement that i have totally missed. especially when trying to transcribe a multi track recording.

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by jmkarns on 06/05/2008, 12:15

the midi player.

it reads and plays both .mid (midi) and .kar (karaoke midi - midi files w/ lyrics).

https://www.vanbasco.com

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by 7 on 06/05/2008, 21:16

yeahhh vanbasco rules !!!
upss sorry...

=d

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by Chacky on 06/06/2008, 08:01

thanks 7, the description and picture on the site didn't seem to match your description, but the download does have the features you describe. looks to be well worth the price.

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by cflat on 06/06/2008, 08:55

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Playing from a Fake Book

There are 12 comments, leave a comment.

by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:29

by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:30

by g on 05/28/2008, 18:56

by albetan on 05/28/2008, 19:40

by 7 on 05/28/2008, 21:08

by Chacky on 05/29/2008, 10:22

by 7 on 05/30/2008, 12:26

by cflat on 06/05/2008, 10:05

by jmkarns on 06/05/2008, 12:15

by 7 on 06/05/2008, 21:16

by Chacky on 06/06/2008, 08:01

by cflat on 06/06/2008, 08:55

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Playing from a Fake Book

There are 12 comments, leave a comment.

by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:29

by loveforJAZZ on 05/28/2008, 12:30

by g on 05/28/2008, 18:56

by albetan on 05/28/2008, 19:40

by 7 on 05/28/2008, 21:08

by Chacky on 05/29/2008, 10:22

by 7 on 05/30/2008, 12:26

by cflat on 06/05/2008, 10:05

by jmkarns on 06/05/2008, 12:15

by 7 on 06/05/2008, 21:16

by Chacky on 06/06/2008, 08:01

by cflat on 06/06/2008, 08:55

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

Articles

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

Sign In