How to Play from a Fake Book | Piano Keyboard Instructional Book | Chord Building, Rhythmic Styles, and Fun Songs for Beginners | Perfect for Music Teachers and Self-Learners

by Blake Neely (Composer)

(Piano). Ever wondered how to create better accompaniments for the melodies in your favorite fake books? This "teach yourself" book introduces you to chord building, various rhythmic styles, and much more, so that you play the songs you like just the way you want them. Keyboard players with a basic understanding of notation and sight-reading will be on their way to more fun with fake books. The relaxed tone of the text and selection of fun songs keep How to Play from a Fake Book entertaining throughout perfect for amateur musicians, or as a supplement for keyboard teachers and their students.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly simple, assumes almost no prior knowledge other than reading notes.
The author's style is also very irritating - tends to fill up text with useless pithy attempts at humor.
I'd recommend skipping this one and going to "How to Play from a Fake Book" by Michael Esterowitz instead.

[Mike Parkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good start in playing from fake books (piano music with sheet music only for the melody and chord changes, with no bass clef notation). My goal (as a beginner pianist – I’ve done the first two Alfred adult beginner books) was to be able to pick up a fake book with popular tunes and be able to hammer out a reasonable sounding version (LH chords and RH melody) almost instantly. This book accomplishes that. The bulk of it is learning different types of chords that you’ll come across (suspended, diminished, slash chords, etc.), many of which I hadn’t yet been introduced to. The examples move through a lot of different keys, helping you begin expanding your chord vocabulary, as most songs aren’t in C or G. The other important aspect the book teaches is learning a few different rhythm patterns for the chords you’ll be playing in the left hand, which can be matched to the tempo and style of the song.

You’ll only get so far with this book alone (for example, there’s not much on what to do if you want to sing the melody and try LH bass and RH chording) and it could become a bit of a trap – now I find myself picking up sheet music written for both hands, and almost not seeing the bass clef notation. But it’s definitely a good shortcut to playing pop pieces, that can supplement more traditional texts.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers the basics of playing from a lead sheet, and then some. It would be better if it had some updates to include more familiar songs, though there's probably something to be said for practicing with unfamiliar or less familiar songs that force one to be creative with the personal arrangement rather than trying to mimic a familiar interpretation.

Do be warned, though - this is in some ways a bit like a math or science book in that much is left as exercises for the reader. Material is presented in an orderly way, but the clear expectation is for the reader to try out the ideas with examples from the book and any others that can be found. I admit I found it easy to read along, nod my head, and move on without always engaging in those practices, hoping I will find time "later" to fill in those gaps. Here I'll have to hope to be an exception to LeBlanc's law: Later=Never. :-)

[Byron Despres-Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a bunch