Fake Books.

[Hardbopjazz]

Who uses them?

I have had my share of fake books. You know, the ones sold under the table.

[Free For All]

I'd expect just about every jazz musician has dealt with fake books at some point. When I was in college, the Real Book was considered the jazz "bible". I remember getting my first Real Book literally from the trunk of a car, and it was so exciting and covert that I felt I really had something important in my hands. Now, the Real Book is a good source of the essential jam session-type tunes (along with all those obscure ECM tunes that nobody ever called) but at some point most people discovered that the Real Book is FULL of mistakes (as documented on other threads). I tell students to make sure to listen to recordings of the tunes in the RB and make corrections to the changes. I also make them transcribe some tunes without any help from a fake book, just to develop that particular "ear" skill.

These days there are so many legal fake books (like the Shure Music series) that the whole underground vibe seems to be gone. They're certainly useful, but the romance of discovery is gone.

One thing about all the "jazz aids" that are available- it's kind of made it TOO easy for students. Everything is handed to them and they miss the opportunity to develop some much-needed skills of aural transcription, as well as the discipline of really working to achieve things ON THEIR OWN. Used to be if you wanted to figure out what Cannonball was doing, you were on your own to burn the midnight oil. Now you can purchase the transcriptions and not raise a finger. Kind of a shame, IMHO. When you have to sweat a bit it tends to make you a little more appreciative.