4 Ways You're Messing Up Your Lead Sheets
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Adam Maness will take you through all the reasons that your Lead Sheets SUCK!
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Hi, great video. One thing I’ll bet you do but didn’t mention. Create C, Bb, Eb, and Bass Clef parts, even if you know the players can transpose. They will appreciate it.
hey Adam, what a great vid! i'd like to throw in: i actually prefer writing out all 3 A sections, as you can just read the whole thing from top to bottom without having to worry in the 7th chorus: "did i already do the A repeat this time??" this is especially true with those "||: A :|| B || D.C. al fine" charts! most of them could easily fit on a single page fully written out - and panic is avoided.
another little suggestion: if the chart has 2 pages (i'd try to avoid more than 2 pages at any cost), i'd write the title into the header of pg. 2, as well as the transposition, of course the page number like " pg. 2 of 2" or "2/2". i also put "1/2" on the 1st page to tell the player to unfold the well-taped chart BEFORE counting in (not to mention to check their pile of sheets for pg. 2 if not taped to #1 - without a title, of course).
i even put a "1/1" on a 1-page chart just to be clear. best, andy
Pro composer tip, if it's more than one page, ALWAYS put the title in every page (usually not automatic in notation software), maybe the instrument too, it's a useful detail, in Jazz it's usually not that annoying, but in orchestral scores and longs concerts or shows, you need to easily be able to identify what that tune is, which part, which page, etc, etc, cause there might be 200 pages of parts, and if they fall for any reason, you are gonna have a huge headache
Nobody does this, but they really should (even if it's a small line near the bottom of the page)
my wife was a great chart writer . She wanted her charts to be so clear that nobody had to ask shit. She also in addition to the title on multiple page charts added p. 1 of 2(3etc.) I have been on the bandstand with the first page up only to discover too late the other page(s). Tape-ing the pages is a good practice .
20:00 Bass players everywhere thank you for this!
Also, when taping pages, think of the tape as a hinge on the outside of the fold. If you fold the pages the other way (33:53), the stickum is exposed, and can get stuck to other pages and things. (If more than two pages, alternate front and back taping.)
I've seen other recommendations saying always tape the back side sou you can write in all of the margins on the front. Personal preference I guess.
why is the “stickum”exposed if the tape is stuck ? I’ve never encountered front taping.pro copyists tape on the backside
You have pages 1 and 2 in front of you. You align them at the long edge and run a piece of tape down the line. Instead of folding them back-to-back so the tape is the outside of the hinge, you fold them face-to-face. That leaves an opening between the pages that can be a problem.
@@at8ax You have two pages in front of you.You flip them over, make sure the two long edges are touching, attack short pieces of tape at top and bottom ,ensuring no gap,then finish with the long piece of tape.This can fold either way,no gap.
I thought I was being compulsive bringing this kind of lead sheet to band practice. I'm glad to hear that I'm actually doing it "right".
This Is Reminding Me For Future Preparation For My 🎶🎵 Thanks Adam--Because It's Been 20yrs Now Since I Have Been Out Of School As A Performance Major l'm;Ready To Crash Making Up For LOST TIME Getting Back In Shape Of My Passion Again Especially For Young People Etc!!
Great. Also share a PDF for those ipad-users.
I know black and white are traditional. But for songs that jump up and down a lot, often amids a section, I tend to use color markings. Highlight the different signo’s and coda signs with matching colors.
I’m going to link this video to all of my one star reviews to lead sheets I download from musescore 🤣
Great video and great advice and tips!
My biggest pet peeve is formatting. That one bar that took up an entire line and one bar that created an unnecessary second page gave me PTSD. Lol.
I’m not sure if it is so much laziness, but perhaps unfamiliarity with computers and software.
I think you guys are in NYC so it was enlightening to learn that musicians in NYC are handing out Doo Doo charts like the one you started out with. At that point, why even make a chart? Just xerox the real book.
Great content Adam !
You ommited at least 2 further ways of making bad lead sheets:
1. improper spelling of enharmonic notes, like writing a D# in an F blues, where an Eb is actually meant (same for chords spelling as well).
2. improper beaming of 8th (or 16th) notes, or improper use of dotted rhythm and/or of ties, inducing confusion about where the beat lies.
Whenever I receive a poorly done lead sheet, I usually prefer re-writing it by hand myself; I always have some staff paper with me.
I liked your last point about joining pages for 2-pages lead sheets. For this, in Europe, we just need to print the 2 pages on A3 paper and fold it (so much more convenient to use A4, A3, etc. than US letter format!...). ;-)
LOL Are we going to John Cage it..Hilarious
Great stuff! Wish I had seen this before I spent the last five years learning it the hard way!
This is great - one thing you didn't mention - and maybe the software takes care of this for you - is the spacing between staves. In my opinion, better to go two pages with nice breathable spacing than one page with everything crammed together.
I like the tip to place the A section's second ending as the 5th bar in that system so the B section starts a new system. Nice and clean. Any particular reason to write out the third A part instead of using a D.S. al Fine/Coda?
hi, yes, to me there is. i even prefer writing out all 3 A sections if possible within the max of 2 pages per tune. my reason is: you can just read the thing from top to bottom and you always know where you are.
don't you recall those panic moments when you're staring at your "||: A :|| B || D.S. al fine" chart, it's the 7th chorus and you wonder wether the hell you're in A1, 2, or 3 right now?? i do. best, andy
Loved it, the chord symbols thing, cleared up!
as a band leader who makes scads of sheets I really appreciate this
Im at 3:51 and I will bet money the tune is John Coltrane's LAZYBIRD. Because i recognize the changes from the Real Book.
Sheeeeeit. Blues band. 3 piece horn section. No charts. A couple of lines on a hand drawn staff on a scrap of paper. Trumpet says, this isn’t right, but we play something similar. Given a cd with different instrumentation plus a tape of the night that I sat in where I was trying to find the 4th voice. Took months to figure out what to play.
Plus we had dance steps on every song… so, yeah.
what a great topic!
Essential to have in your kit if you play outdoors: magnets.
Give your horn players transposed parts!
great topic!
Could you run through making a more complicated lead sheet over something like Billy Cobham's Cancun Market?
This was awesome. Only feedback is that we lose your cursor/pointer in Sibelius... not sure where you are, and it sounds like your pointing to something, but we don't clearly see it.
Super fun!! 😅
MuseScore baby!
The badly-formatted lead sheet looks like it was made by the
DEPARTMENT
OF
CITY
PLANNI-
NG
and someone needs to
PLAN AHEA
D
How did you add the grand staff for just a few bars? Did you add it to the whole chart and use "hide empty staves"?
yes
Useful stuff, thanks!
Why do we have an empty bass stave?
This is gold
Zeek . what about originals? re lead sheets
love this
Oh man- amateurs learning to use a computer. Or maybe better said- really good jazz players
who do not sight read very well (if at all) learning to use a computer. Some of the
stuff that has been thrown at me since the computer era started is just unbelievably impossible to
decipher! Oh, sorry, this really pushed a button!
Lazybird
yes... four note voicings a la Freddie Green.
4 ways that "you are doing it wrong"...does this really give you confidence in his abilities?
It's hard to imagine, but I'm sure the problems presented here are real. One thing I'd differ with slightly - I'd never put in a 9 to notate a chord just because there's a 9 in the melody. Everyone already knows, so it's redundant. I've seen that many times in books of tunes, and it's obvious that whoever wrote out the sheet just went through looking for melody notes to put into the chord notation. If there's a 9 - or any other extension - in the melody, any piano or guitar player will know to support it. Or not, as they choose. Not a big deal, just not necessary.
If you need a lead sheet you're not a musician.
What a thoughtless and uninformed comment. My guess is you've never played in a big band or standards trio before. Let me know when you have all 300 possible tunes and changes memorized that could be called for a gig with a group you've never played with before who ask you to sit in for gig the week before. Seriously dude . . .
@@moa643 - If you need a lead sheet you're fired. Simple as that. That's how tuff it is in the music biz. You get one take and it better be right because the public doesn't give second chances.
@@zeekmx1970 with all due respect, i think you’re wrong.
If the song is a contrafact over a reharmonized song then one needs a lead-sheet for it to be played correctly the 1st time.I can see why Zeek uses that
mask- like face for his picture.Maybe he can’t read musical notation and rather than learning to read basic notation he makes the ignorant comment.
@@shalamusic - Nope, because a musician can improv all variations on the fly.