Well, if the gig in your area requires that you have to take the Realbook onstage with you, so be it.

I am not trying to say that I "NEVER" take a Realbook onstage, I do it all the time. I have to. I take m laptop with the .pdf realbooks stored in it to those gigs, set it on the piano's musicboard and use it any time my stoopid brain needs the reference.

But I'm also here to tell you that there are some of God's children out there who can sit the gig and seem to have invredible memories concerning those Realbook tunes, man.

I have found that different areas of the country, even different venues in a localized area, have their own set of favorites to play. When encountering those songs that are new to me, I also have to use the chart. If I think that there will be repeat performances of that tune in my future, I do try to work out with the song at home and see if I can pound it into this old head so I can enjoy the freedom that comes from doing it that way.

Sometimes I've been called to play a tune that I thought I knew from having played it in the past from memory, only to get to somewhere in the middle and am at a loss. One thing that often gets me out of that situation is the ear. And experience with changes. Also the drill of transposing to the 12 keys when practicing. Of course, if worse comes to worse, SIT OUT for the parts not remembered or not clear and then come back in when you can. Since there are typically numerous repeated choruses in jazz while people "make speech" (solo), it often is the case that the several bars from a middle section that can't be recalled can be "found" or otherwise remembered after a few times through.

Same drill s transcribing, listen to the Bass (or the lowest note being played) which will give you the root of the chord in most instances, that can narrow down what is going on considerably. Learning to always know the Tonic of the chord and at least also the Dominant (5th) tone and being able to sing them or whistle, or just hear them in your head while the song is playing helps as well.

Some of you may not realize that there once was a time, not all that long ago, when Realbook was "illegal" due to copyright laws. Venues were sometimes called to pay fines or even possibly lose their royalty fee agreement for covering live playing of copyrighted works simply because somebody with an interest in such would see Realbooks onstage during performance. I think that situation surely played a role in the old school tradition as well.

But in situations cited such as the one given above by Bob, where the musicians are calling songs that are not familiar to you for whatever reason, by all means use the book if that is what you have to do. "When in Rome, do like a Roman."

Was not making hard fast "rule" or anything of the sort with my comment.

Was trying to say that, over the years I've found out that those songs where I really *know* the changes, the melody, etc. -- well, the performance of them, including the improvisation, takes on an entirely different light. And I've found a FREEDOM in that discipline. (But I'm the FIRST one to suffer memory loss... )

Hope this helps to clear things up.


--Mac

PGmusic FAQs, Tutorials and Updates! click here

You must be Audiominds.
www.audiominds.com