Hey guys, thought I would do a quick review on ‘The Real Book’ released by Hal Leonard.
The Real Book (Affiliate Link)
Jazz fake books, many years ago were a little bit like internet tab or chords sites like e-chords.com or ultimate guitar.com. You know the sites I’m talking about. Kind of useful, but notoriously wrong. I mean it can be a useful place to start, but in the end half the chords to the tune are wrong. Thankfully that’s getting a bit better with people voting for decent transcriptions and down voting those that are terrible.
Well the old jazz fake books were a little bit like that.
They were called ‘fake books’ because they gave you just enough information to ‘fake’ your way through the tune. Typically, a simplified version of the melody and the basic 7th chords.
So a number of years ago a bunch of Berkley Jazz students got together to try and rectify that, and they created the first version of ‘the Real Book‘. And although this book was illegal (it paid no royalties to the composers) it became a standard list of tunes that jazz musicians would need to know to play a gig. You used to have to buy it at music shops with a bit of a wink, some cash and go out to the back alley to get your copy.
The Real Book is such a great book to get your hands on to learn a whole bunch of the standards, practice improvising on tunes and to have as a reference point in case you need to know a tune that you’ve never played before.
I personally used the Real Book and also the New Real Book (affiliate link) to build my list of tunes I knew and be gig ready. I now know most of the tunes of by heart, but these books were such a great way to learn the standards.
Thankfully, now you can buy a legal copy of the Real Book (good because you’re not breaking the law and the original composers and their families get a small slice of the action – and so they should).
A quick example
It’s the 6th edition and it’s released by Hal Leonard. They have even fixed a few of the chords the chords that were wrong (only a few to start with) and improved the font a little (though I did like the hand written vibe).
If I was to begin my jazz piano journey again and could only buy one book, it would be just this one. I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise. Worth the cash. 462 pages long with literally 100’s of tunes.
Hope that helps. Chat soon
Glenn.
Here’s a link to grab it on amazon (affiliate) on kindle or paper edition.
By the way, there is a few versions of it, so make sure you get the right one. For piano you want the C version, but there is a Bb Version for Trumpet, Clarinet and Tenor Sax etc, an Eb version for alto sax and a bass clef version too.
Wanting to learn how to play jazz piano? Get started today with one of our tutorials.
Lesson 1 – How to play the 7th chords
Lesson 7 – A and B Voicings
Lesson 12 – Using the Guide Tones to Improvise