The Best Fake Book Ever Survey This one is by far the best value of all the fake books I checked at the store. The more you go through this book each time, the more you find yet another delightful piece. It is much more fun and easier to play naturally and improvise rather than sight reading the more difficult piano pieces with two staffs and big chords. Also, it written for C instruments which is important to remember for piano or guitar players. I mistakenly bought an Eb fake book and that was less natural to play and almost impossible to sing to, and I had to exchange it. Most times the songs are in the original keys, which is good. Most jazz musicians I know use fake books. Important to note is that all the lyrics seem to be included, because some fake books do not include them all. It shows guitar and piano chords but not symbols for either one, so if you are not used to playing extended jazzy chords you might find some songs tough going at first and may have to invest in a separate chord book. The chord changes are beautiful and authentic, and true to the original. I was particularly impressed with the level of detail including note for note transcriptions of classic solos such as In My Life, so you can naturally reproduce the original sound. Some songs include harmony notes which is great for ensemble work. As for those who say people under forty may not recognise many tunes, these are classics in the rock and standards category. If you really want 80s and 90s music I am sure there are other books for you, but open yourself up to these pieces, and you will enjoy. This book includes releases by Beatles, George Harrison (his 4 best songs) Queen, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Various Motown, Soul, Jazz, Burt Bacharach, Samba, Dave Brubeck, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Buddy Holly, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Bread, Beach Boys etc. There is something here to please every taste. Some of the songs include Bohemian Rhapsody, Hey Jude, Let it be, Michelle, This Masquerade, Theme from Mahogany, You've got a friend, Fire and Rain, It's too late, I say a little prayer, I fall to pieces, Heartbreak Hotel, My sweet Lord, Sweet Caroline, Angel by Sarah McLachlan, La Bamba, Fool on the Hill, Rockin Robin, Just the way you are, She's always a woman, Sorry seems to be the hardest word, Something, Here comes the sun, While my guitar gently weeps, What the world needs now, Yesterday. I hope you find this review helpful. This book gets 5 stars. . . If you don't know what a fake book is, it is only going to have the melody line (for the piano part, it will only have the right hand, not the left). I just want to disagree with those reviewers who say that if you are over 40 this book is not for you. I am over 50, and I find the song selection of this book to be outstanding. I am sure my 21 year old son wouldn't identify with it, but I recognized almost all the song titles and found the variety to be outstanding! This fakebook is published in C, Bb, and Eb versions. The C version is now on the 3rd edition. But the publisher has not yet sold out of the 2nd editions for the Eb and Bb books, and so have not gotten around to releasing 3rd editions for the other keys. The editions are badly out of sync, in terms of the songs they contain, and sometimes even the key of the song. You can't use these split editions in an ensemble setting, so if you're getting this to play with friends who already have the older edition, avoid this one like the plague. The low star rating, however, is for the song selection and generally hard-to-read (chords are too small, poor use of whitespace, and songs broken awkwardly across pages) typesetting that you find in most Hal Leonard fake books. There are some gems in here, but for the most part I would agree with the reviewer who said that for those over 40 years of age, time tested pieces are scarce. I would also add that although this book claims to be for guitar, the presence of chords ( names but in this case no mini chord charts )over the melody line ( by definition necessary for a fake book ) might be of minimal assistance in this
case. Many, if not most, of the songs are in the more "guitar unfriendly" keys. Many ,if not most of the songs, are "incidental heavy" in their chord listings which no doubt preserves the original chord flavoring of the songs well but may require advanced finger gymnastics for the guitar player. Often some accomodation in keys and chords is made when "for guitar" is mentioned, or implied, in a title. So guitar players, despite the cover note that implies some degree of guitar friendliness or accomodation, think twice , or better yet go to a "brick and mortar" store where you can actually look at the keys and chords, before buying.
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