Hi all,

I've never bought a "cheat book" but I know there are a million out there. I'd like to pick up a good book that contains the majority of the most popular 60's to 90's songs. Anyone have any suggestions?

Steve

HI
You might want to check out the Professional Singers's Pop/Rock Fake book
The publisher is Hal Leonard - they have lots of other ones as well you can check it out at www.halleonard.com. It's a good site because you can view the table of contents of the books.

[This message has been edited by Kmac (edited 12-10-2001).]

Is there anyone who can explain to a simple
soul why it's called a fake / cheat book?
Is it to fake or cheat to look to notation,
chord and lyrics, or is it something more in
this books??
GJ

Dear simple soul,
a fake book or cheat book is so called because it shows all the notes and chords used in the original recording by the artist him/herself and so you can pretend that you are able to play the way he/she does.
This, at least, is the answer from another "not so sophisticated" soul.
Cheers.

It's not cheating at all, and it's definatly not FAKE. The term comes from "faking" an arrangement to a song using the chort chart to determine the backgrounds. A "Fakebook" still requires a working knowledge of chord structures and theory to be effective,but it can be a lifesaver to a working musician who needs to take requests in a wide area of music styles.
Personally - the best thing you can do as a working player is to get familiar with all the chords. That way you can "fill in" behind a melody or singer without having a sheet of music slowing down your creative juices. You never really "own" the music till you have the notes in your head. Then you can add the expression and individual touches to it.
WE all have to "fake it" sometimes. It's not a bad thing - as long as the client is happy.
Better to take the request and play a skeleton arrangement, then to turn down the chance to please. This is the "business" part of show biz. The "art" part comes in tiny pieces! (Be grateful when it does)

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 12-10-2001).]

I think there are two possible explinations as to why they are called fake books.

1. All you get is a lead line and chord symbols. You have to make up the arrangement on the fly. In other words you are faking (making up) everything except the melody.

2. Some (most) of these books were illegal. They violated most copyright laws because the publisher of these books did not have permission from the copyright holder to use the songs. No royalities were paid to the composer.

Maybe Don or Uncle Dave can shed some more light on the subject.

Tom

Thank you all

Here is more than one explainations, so I can see.
We have some books that each song have notation
for the melody-line, figuration as looks like i.e.
A, Am, and so on.
If the song have lyrics, that is added too. Also
a suggested rhythm and tempo can be found, but that's
more sheldom.
Those books we can buy in music stores, and it often
cover the last years hits, or a collection of Pop or
Rock, Love Songs or Oldies and so on.
Is this similar as what you call a fake book? If so,
I do have some, and then I fake all the time.
Life is'nt easy, eh...?
GJ

Today, there are a lot of "legal" fake books on the market. It is not unusual for a fake book to have 1,000 or more songs. I have posted the indexes of quite a few of the available fake books in an Excel file you can download from the Yamaya-psr-styles group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yamaha-psr-styles/files/JoeW/

If this link doesn't work, go to the group, select the Files area from the navigator on the left and look in the folder JoeW.

I obtained my first "fake book" about 1960. Tom had it just right. My music teacher managed to get me one for $25. Xerox pages in a notebook, no copyright. I loved it and spent hours each night with my accordion and my fake book. Of course, today there are lots of legitimate fake books. Go to Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or Hal Leonard sites and just search on "Fake Book" -- you'll find lots of choices.

Uncle Dave also hit it right on the head, the performer has to have an intimate knowledge of chords and chord structures to play effectively from a fake book. Since, I think, one has to also have an intimate knowledge of chords to play arranger keyboards, the two make an excellent match.

Hi Joe,
congratulations for the excellent work you did comparing all those fakebooks; this is really a terrific tool to decide which are the fakebooks that best suit one's needs!
Thanks a lot
Andrea

Thanks for all of the great information. I've checked out Hal Leonard's site and he offers quite a few fake books.

I'm trying to decide between "The Ultimate Fake Book for "C" Instruments" and the "Real Little Ultimate Fake Book". My only concern about getting the smaller book is that the type-face may be so small that I can't read it easily. Does anyone know if they reduced the type-face in the smaller edition?

Regards,
Steve