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However, carrying around an unorganized mess of 3×5 cards to every gig clearly was not convenient. So, bootleg books containing copies of Tune-Dex cards, organized in alphabetical order, began to circulate<\/a>. The compilations were called \u201cFake Books\u201d because they allowed musicians to \u201cfake\u201d their way through songs they didn\u2019t know<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 1975, a group of unnamed students at the Berklee College of Music decided to create something like Fake Books, but more accurate and containing music that was relevant to jazz musicians. They probably wanted access to a collection of new charts by people like Chick Corea and Steve Swallow<\/a>. So they went to work transcribing lead sheets for their favorite tunes and writing them out by hand in what became known as the Real Book. The book was an immediate success.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to note that none of the artists whose tunes were included in the Real Book were paid for their work. Was this legal? Definitely not. The Berklee musicians apparently looked into legitimizing the Real Book, but realized doing so would be nearly impossible and extremely expensive. So, versions of the Real Book were sold illegally until 2003, when the Hal Leonard Corporation legitimized most of the charts from the original real book and sold a version that was actually legal<\/a>. There are now several volumes, transposed versions, and bass clef versions of the Real Book. You can also buy the \u201cReal Christmas Book,\u201d or even the \u201cReal Country Book\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s hard to imagine anyone would complain about the Real Book. Any jazz musician should be thankful that somebody else already did the work of transcribing the chords and melody of the standard jazz repertoire, right? Plus, if you don\u2019t know many tunes, you can show up to a jam session and just read from your handy Real Book. As great as this may sound, the fact is, if you show up to a jam with a Real Book at any point past high school, you will be immediately shunned and your quality of musicianship will probably be questioned. This reaction may just be the product of battling egos and \u201cjazz boys\u201d trying to prove that they know more than other \u201cjazz boys.\u201d However, widespread disrespect for the use of Real Books is a legitimate position to hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \tAimee Nolte, a jazz educator whose youtube channel has over 100k followers, sums up a few of these reasons in the video below. She mentions that if you want to learn a song, it\u2019s much more likely to stick if you learn it by ear instead of relying on the lead sheet. If you\u2019re always faking it, you\u2019re never really learning anything. Plus, books are heavy!
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