Now I'm not condoning the illegal publication of an already illegal document on the internet, but I figured I'd see if anyone knew of a site that had a pdf or word file of the old real book, the one the kids at berklee put together in the seventies. Such sites usually get shut down within a matter of weeks so its hard to stay on top of which ones are current. Does anyone happen to know of one that has not yet been nerfd by the feds?
The meaning of life? I've never heard a simpler question! Music.
what kind of a book? a guitar instruction book? theory?
if so then i would simply tap my heels together and say "Hey Noteboat" 3 times 8)
#4491....
LOL it's a fake book, Lefty :)
Fake books have been around since the 1930s or so, and publishers have been getting in trouble for them since the 1940s. The first ones I came across were in the 70s, and they were home-made... the jazz guys I knew would find a tune they liked, transcribe it, and make copies for everybody. You'd end up with a binder of tunes that you could all do together - and I still make up binders like that for acts I work with regularly (mine aren't technically illegal, because I'm doing a transcription for just my own use, rather than making copies for all the members - and they're doing the same thing).
Anyway, in the mid 70s, a couple guys at Berklee decided to put together a really good one. Since fake books up to then were very similar to internet tab today - only as good as the transcriber's ears - they wanted to do one better, and have each tune checked by several people to make sure the transcription was right. Since the others were 'fake books' (called that because the musicians could 'fake' the tune from the simple head charts) they called theirs the 'real book'.
It became an instant illegal best-seller.
A year or two ago, Hal Leonard started publishing the Real Book. I've got the sixth edition; a lot of the jazz guys I play with now have the fifth - they're pretty close in the tunes they contain. Earlier editions are still availble in places, but they're illegal - which is why Kyle's having a hard time finding it.
They ARE out there on the web - I found a site just now that had RB charts. But as I can't condone spreading stuff around without the artists getting proper royalties, you're just gonna have to google it up on your own.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Could you tell me what your search parameters were on google and what page it was on? LOL :lol:
I promise to take full responsibility if I'm found with illegal documents. Not like that's a contract or anything, but you'll have to take my word for it.
The meaning of life? I've never heard a simpler question! Music.
Kyle, Note gave you all you need to figure out how to search for it.
And as he noted, he wants to not take away royalties from the artists who are rightfully due them. Don't ask him to violate his principles for your convinience . ..
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
"jazzrealbook" :wink:
I'm intrigued by this book but don't know anything about. What is in it? Just a bunch of tabs or secret guitar techniques known only to the Ancient Eastern masters? Do tell, do tell...
Mart
It's not tab at all - just standard notation. It's not geared towards guitar, its for any instrument playing jazz standards.
The book is a collection of a few hundred songs as head charts - the melody line in standard notation, with chord symbols above it for the changes.
The idea is that when jazz guys get together and put their real books on the stands, they're all playing the same tune, in the same key, with the same harmonic structure.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
So there I was, labouring for years under the misapprehension that the definition of Jazz was....
X people playing X different songs in X different keys and X different time signatures....simultaneously....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
It's not tab at all - just standard notation. It's not geared towards guitar, its for any instrument playing jazz standards.
But they do sell them in different versions...Bb book for tenor sax, trumpet, Eb book for alto, and a concert C book for guitar, piano, bass...in college I played alto, tenor, and guitar, so I had to get all three.
It's been a long time since I bought a copy - I recall getting a set: Real Book, Eskimo Jazz (cool), Bebop Standards, and a few others. Back before the Internet, guys would come around to universities and sell bootlegged Real Books out of the trunks of their cars...not that's where I got mine :)
