How to Play from a Fake Book

Let's start off with some assumptions: You have bothered to spend the few weeks it takes to learn how to read music, even if only slowly. You are mainly interested in playing pop music (rock, country, soul, r & b etc.) as opposed to jazz or classical (not that this book can't help you with the latter as well). You have noticed that most song books have what are called lead sheets that only have a treble clef melody line with chord letters over the bars of music, and lyrics. You have gotten far enough with your keyboard playing that you can play some basic chords with your left hand and a melody with your right hand. Which is all that most songbooks show you how to do. You have realized that on the recordings you listen to professional musicians seldom play a straight out melody with their right hands, and almost never while the vocalist is singing. Any more than guitar players play a melody, but instead play more interesting chord patterns for accompaniment. This is the book that teaches you to play the way professionals do. In 88 pages no less. To put it as simply as possible, learn how to read music then get this book as the only book you need to learn how to play keyboards. Just as snowplowing is a useless skiing technique once you learn how to turn stop on skis, simply learning to play left hand chords and a right hand melody is nearly as useless a technique for actually accompanying a singer. I say 'nearly' because there are in fact times when playing the melody line is fitting, but as your only right hand technique is frustrating and being stuck in a rut. This book gets you out of that rut and gives you the tools to strike off on your own with no musical limitations to hold you back. Man am I happy I found it. In retrospect I would gladly have paid $100 or more for this book when I first started.

I played piano for over 40 years but couldn't tell one chord from another, I'd only learned to play from written music. This book explains basic chords, variations, inversions and more in a simple, straight-forward manner that makes using a fake book and improvising a fun challenge. It's also helpful in embellishing my current music. I'd highly recommend it! It's brought new life to playing piano.

I am a new piano player and I found this book very helpful. It described chords in such a way that I can now figure many of them out without looking in a book. I knew there was a logical pattern to chords which this book unlocks. The music examples are corny but the rest of the book is great. You will learn a lot with this book.

I am an adult who used fake books extensively as a teenager when I played an accordion in a small combo. Now, (much, much later), I am trying to learn how to play an electronic keyboard competently - with both hands, and Blake Neely's book has become a very valuable addition to my library. I knew how to use a fake book and play melodies with my right hand, but how to play a tune and have it sound nice on a piano (or in my case, a Yamaha PSR540 keyboard)??? In this book, I found the answer. It starts out with a very simple left hand accompaniment - just play the root of the chord. It then continues to build up competence, step-by-step: add a fifth to the root; next learn the composition of a major chord and play the whole chord; learn about chord inversions and how to play them; learn minor chords and their inversions; learn how to easily switch from one chord to another without having to jump all over the keyboard; learn left-hand options that extend beyond simply playing the full block chord, that is, use a two-part chord, alternate the root and fifth in playing the two-part chord, play the chord as an arpeggio. Throughout all these lessons, songs are provided to try things out and the chosen songs do, indeed, sound great using the technique explained in the lessons. While learning to play from a single line of music, the songs will show both the treble and bass clef so you can see what your left-hand should be doing. It then will provide some songs with just the treble clef to see if you can do it yourself. Of course, you, the student, have to take the time to learn these chords. The book shows you what they are, but you have to do your homework -- it will take a great deal of practice for most players to see a chord and instantly be able to finger that chord on the keyboard.I haven't completed this book yet -- I am still in the process of mastering all the major and minor chords so I can play them instantly. But all of the above was covered in the first 27 pages of this 88-page book (including 20 songs to illustrate the lessons). Coming up are seventh chords, augmented and diminshed chords, variations on the seventh chord, ninths and elevenths -- and 40 more songs to illustrate the chords and techniques discussed in each of the lessons. I am looking forward to devouring each lesson and loving every minute of it. After all, with a fake book, one has hundreds of pieces with which to practice the techniques being taught in this book. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to play well from the many fake books available in today's market.

This is of the best, most clearly explained books ever written on practical music theory as applies to piano. It teaches, without the use of extensive diatonic charts, the principles of chord composition for all chords in all keys. It does not dumb down theory, rather it explains it in its true form, which is in fact simple. It is a great way for a non-paino playing musician to learn piano.