Fake Books article
The Ultimate Guide to Fake Books
A fake book hands you a melody and some chord symbols, then trusts you to do the rest. Here's exactly what's on the page and how musicians use it.
If you've ever watched a jazz pianist glance at a single line of notes and a few letters, then play a full, confident arrangement, you've seen a fake book in action. Despite the slightly cheeky name, there's nothing dishonest about it — a fake book is simply a collection of stripped-back charts that give a musician just enough information to "fake" a convincing performance. Fake books turn up everywhere from jazz jam sessions to wedding bands, and this guide walks through what's actually on the page, where the format came from, and how different instruments make use of it.
What Are Fake Books, Exactly?
Each individual chart inside a fake book is called a lead sheet: a single melody line written on the staff, with chord symbols placed above it. Unlike a full score, there's no written-out piano part, no bass line, no drum part and no fixed harmony voicing. The performer is trusted to supply all of that from experience, style and ear. That's the whole idea of a fake book — it's a framework, not a finished arrangement.
What's Inside (and What Isn't)
A typical entry keeps things deliberately lean. You'll usually find:
- A single melody line
- Chord symbols written above the staff
- A title and composer credit
- Sometimes lyrics, a tempo marking or a style note (e.g. "medium swing")
What you generally won't find is a complete piano accompaniment, an exact bass line, a written drum part, or every repeated verse spelled out bar by bar. A fake book assumes the player already knows, or can work out, how the song should feel.
A Short History: From an Unauthorised Compilation to a Licensed Classic
The most famous title in the format is The Real Book, created in the mid-1970s and closely associated with students at Berklee College of Music. It gathered a huge stack of jazz standards into one compact, usable collection — but the original edition was unauthorised, meaning the composers whose songs appeared in it weren't properly paid. Publisher Hal Leonard later released official, licensed editions under the same name, which is what most players buy today — a reminder that not all fake books share the same murky origin story, and plenty are properly licensed from the start.
It's worth separating two things that often get muddled: "fake book" is the generic term for the whole format, while The Real Book is one specific, very influential title within it. Chuck Sher's The New Real Book series is a well-regarded alternative, often praised for more careful editing. Neither the word "real" nor the word "fake" tells you anything about whether a given edition is properly licensed — that depends entirely on the publisher.
Reading the Chord Symbols
Chord symbols are shorthand, and they show up constantly in fake books. A few of the most common:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C | C major triad |
| Cm or Cmin | C minor triad |
| C7 | C dominant seventh |
| Cmaj7 | C major seventh |
| Cm7 | C minor seventh |
| Cø7 (Cm7♭5) | Half-diminished seventh |
| G/B | G chord with a B in the bass — a "slash chord" |
A symbol like Cmaj7 doesn't dictate one exact fingering or voicing — it tells the player which notes are expected and leaves the arrangement to them. That flexibility is precisely why a fake book works across so many instruments.
How Different Instruments Read Fake Books
A pianist reading one usually builds a full left-hand-and-right-hand accompaniment from the chord symbols alone, often using rootless or shell voicings. A guitarist chooses their own chord shapes and comping rhythm, staying out of the pianist's way. A bassist walks through the chord tones to build a moving line, using the melody mainly to track the song's form. A horn player reads the melody and improvises over the changes, transposing the part first if their instrument isn't pitched in concert C. Singers, meanwhile, need to double-check that the printed lyrics, key and repeats actually match the version they intend to perform.
Choosing a Fake Book
Not every collection suits every player. Before buying one, it's worth checking:
- Whether the edition is properly licensed
- The repertoire — jazz standards, pop, Broadway, worship and country all have their own dedicated collections
- Whether it's concert pitch or transposed for your instrument
- How accurate the melodies and chord changes are reported to be
- Whether lyrics are included, if you sing
A smaller, carefully edited fake book is usually more useful than a huge one riddled with errors.
The Bottom Line
A fake book won't do the musical thinking for you, and that's rather the point — it hands you the skeleton of a song and trusts you to bring it to life. Once you're comfortable with the format, our companion piece on the common mistakes to avoid with fake books is well worth a read before your next jam session or gig.
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