Free sheet music that is legal falls under the Free Art License, which 'grants the right to freely copy, distribute, and transform creative works without infringing the author's rights.' ( Free Art License 1.3, accessed July 6, 2010). Various websites offer free lead sheets online legally. Online book retailers, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, also carry fake books.
Musicians can also order fake books directly from music publishers, such as the Hal Leonard Corporation. Larger retailers are equipped to handle online purchases. Most music retailers carry a selection of fake books. There are fake books for classical music, wedding music, pop and rock, ethnic music, jazz, Latin music, and more. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999).įake books or “real books” contain hundreds of lead sheets. How to Play from a Fake Book, Keyboard Edition.
You have to ‘fake’ your own accompaniment or arrangement.” (Neely, Blake. According to Blake Neely, “The accompaniment part of the song is left to you, the performer. A lead sheet is an arrangement of a musical score that contains the melody, lyrics and chord symbols.
