In real books/fake books what does it mean when it says C version, Bb version, E!


Question: what do those versions entail?


Answers: what do those versions entail?

Not every song is written in the key of C. The book is written for instruments pitched in the key of C, i.e. the piano or guitar.

The key

That's what key it is in.

In a way that is in the key the music is written.
But fake books for clarinet, trumpet or tenor saxophone are written in Bb because the instrument are tuned in Bb.
For example, the Eb alto saxophone actually sounds six notes lower than the written pitch. So when you play C in the music, the note produced is actually Eb.
Get it?
A written C for a tenor saxophone would actually sound Bb.

Instruments can be generally classified into two categories: transposing and non-transposing instruments. When a person playing a non-transposing instrument (like piano and guitar) fingers the note C, the note the instrument makes is a C.

However, a player on a transposing instrument (like trumpet or sax) who fingers the note C will get some other note like Bb (trumpet, tenor sax) or Eb (alto and bari sax).

Thus, if you want to have many instruments in a band playing the same tune in the same key, you have to write the music for them in different keys to match whether they are playing a transposing or non-transposing instrument.

Hence, you have fake books in Bb, Eb and C- so that all the instruments can play the same tune (using a different version of the book) and have it come out in the same key.

(And no, it does not matter what key the song is in- you will find songs written in many different keys in all of the books. What matters is that the book has all the songs- in whatever key they're in- made to the correct transposition.)



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