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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | How many here have made up fake books for themselves?
I spent a while this weekend re-organizing mine. I have divided them up into 3 seperate books. One is just for Uke songs, one is for established (ready for public consumption) songs with 3 or 4 that I'm working on, and the third is for songs that I might or might not ever get to. This third book has rough, uncorrected sheets that I printed right off whatever tab site I found it on. I'll flip through it once in a while and see if one merits the effort to get it right. My main practice book has songs that have had some effort put into them and have become "keepers". Most are printed out in what I call "stage sheets" (I know..that sounds so presumptuous)...that have print big enough to read from six feet away. I'll also put 3 or 4 new songs in the back that I am trying to focus on. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Got more than 10 different ones. Some for bands I used to be in. One for stuff I'm working on now with my current partner in crime. One for current solo stuff. And a couple books and file folders of stuff I've known or wanted to over the years.
That and a bankers box of originals, plus magazine files of recording and theatre projects finished and unfinished. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | The "third" person in TwoManGroup is our FakeBook . . . |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I wouldn't call it a fake book, but anything interesting, related to music, that I find, on the internet, from a magazine, tablature, a borrowed book, I make a copy of the pages I want, and put them into a three hole binder. For the magazine, borrowed books and internet stuff it works pretty good, because it's portable and I can get rid of all the old magazines. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I've seen Cliff's fake book. It's huge. There has got to be couple hundred songs in there.
Now my partner BrianT calls the book "evil" and you should have a tune burned into your brain before you play it in public. And I admit that there are times when it can hurt you. If it was a perfect world I would have a perfect memory.
At first I may follow the sheet like a first chair violinist. Eventually I use it less and less. Maybe it's a crutch but for me it's just part of the process. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | A buddy of mine just needs to have his book on stage, off to the side. Not even open.
Whatever gets you through the night...
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I agree with Brian that in fact it IS an evil "crutch" . . .
I just don't have the TIME to commit THAT many songs to memory (with the remaining functioning brain cells that I have left). |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Surprise! I have one, even though I don't perform. It contains songs I wrote out in the early 70s often while listening to the radio. Unfortunately, I wrote the lyrics for most, but never wrote down a lot of the chords. I probably figured that I'd never forget them. Of course I did. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 146
Location: Germantown, MD | Hit fifty, don't play a song for a couple of months, and the next thing you know, you're referring to your partner's evil crutch--uh, fake book. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Not sure about fake books, but I seem to recall Brad with fake tits recently. I just found the mensroom pics, they'll be in my gallery soon. Be warned, it's not pretty |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I have six or seven lying around. My current one for stuff I am doing now, plus ones with new stuff I "may" do, other from prior worship teams and such that I move into the current book if I feel like digging back for songs.
I use them, and if I am without them, I mumble unintelligibly and strum my guitar like a Uke. Of course, most folks think that is how I sound anyway. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I have three....one of oldies rock guitar, one of trad guitar, one of trad mountain dulcimer. But I tend to agree with Brian....it's better if you LEARN the song. However, I bounce around on what I play so much that I do forget and need reminding.
Roger |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | All of my music is in 2 storage boxes and I've said for years that I need to get all the music organized. But I never do. I discovered last month that I'm good for about 2 1/2 hours of playing just off the top of my head. In the meantime, I'm currently working on a tune that Temp and I may do at the next factory gathering, a gospel tune for church, Henry Mancini's Moon River, The City of New Orleans (gotta learn the words), and refining Ricky Nelson's Mary Lou and Traveling Man.
There's always something that keeps me from getting organized.
Oh yeah, and I've really gotta get after 2005 taxes..... |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | refining Ricky Nelson's Mary Lou and Traveling Man.
Paul...I can imagine you playing those songs. They will be a good fit for you. If you need the rest of the Fishsticks to back you up, let us know. :D |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | In the beginning it is important to get the songs down on paper to remember them. Later it is much more important to keep them organized as pointed out in the first post here. I do it by;
A. what I know pretty well
B. working on
C. old stuff
D. open tunings
and then there the folders from the various classes and I try to keep them intact.
It gets to be a pretty big pile after a while reinforcing the importance of being organized. |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3411
Location: GA USA | Originally posted by cliff:
I just don't have the TIME to commit THAT many songs to memory I find this encouraging. I remember looking at 2MG's song list and thinking "If I've gotta learn that many songs, I'll never be a good performer".
Now I can just rest assured that it's my playing that holds me back. I can live with that. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | A few years ago Neil Young did a solo acoustic tour. Just him on the stage, surrounded by his guitars, piano, and organ.
At his feet, he had this ratty old 3-ring binder that contained every song he ever wrote. He was digging deep and pulling out gems during the show. Somebody would shout out a song, he'd pick up the book, flip to that song, glance at the sheet for a second, pick out the right guitar, and just play it. Felt like he coulda just gone on like that for days. Best concert I've ever been to, hands down. |
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Fake Books
