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Questions tagged [lead-sheets]

For questions related to lead-sheet notation, the practice standard in popular music and jazz of providing only melody and chords.

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7 votes
5 answers
636 views

In lead sheet does tie also apply to chord?

I have a score written in form of a lead sheet. I have a note spanning over two bars, and the note is tied. This I understand. But what am I supposed to do with the chord written over -- play it (hit ...
greenoldman's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
83 views

I need write a lead sheet with repeats, different lyrics for each repeat, the chorus and chords

I have this snipped code that resembles the work that I need to make: \version "2.22.0" musicA = \relative c' { \repeat volta 2 { a1 b2 c2 d4 e f g } \alternative { {...
Luis Salazar's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
141 views

Where do I find original sheet music for songs?

I heard Orleans on Youtube and cover bands and wanted to learn some of their songs. I went to the library and music store to try to find their sheet music but struck out. Seems like no one is ...
Classified's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
357 views

What do the chord symbols on each bar mean?

I see chord symbols on each bar, and I assume they represent the notes in the bar. But many times not all the notes are present, and sometimes a bar with only 1 note has a chord symbol. If they are a ...
Sean's user avatar
  • 1,591
0 votes
8 answers
372 views

Transposing sheet music question

I know what transposing is, but I'm not sure about something. If I have some sheet music for tenor sax in A major, is that a transposed A major, or concert A major? If the sheet music for tenor is ...
music5475's user avatar
  • 247
1 vote
1 answer
199 views

Lilypond lead sheet chord symbol notation

I am working with a collection of Lilypond files generated from the Weimer Jazz Database, and I've been trying to understand the rules for chord symbol notation. I've found a useful resource ...
C. Bunks's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
173 views

What is the meaning of the +4? [closed]

I bought a music sheet last year and came across this symbol. What does +4 mean? Here are the details of the song.
harpey1111's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
211 views

Formatting First and Second Repetitions

Anytime I'm formatting a score with first and second repetitions I struggle on how should I write them in the score. I tend to do 4 bars for each staff (not counting pick up bars) unless the melody's ...
Gurufra25's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
664 views

Understanding How to Play Chord Symbols

I am 3 months into my guitar journey and I've been learning the basics with a book that's available at home. The book jumps into chords pretty quickly and is relatively clear but leaves a lot to the ...
engineerKev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
95 views

How can I use different types of repeats in my lead sheet?

Happy Friday! I'm trying to draft a lead sheet that captures the structure of a song I'm working on in a single page. I just can't find a solution. I hope to get better at notating repeats and ...
286642's user avatar
  • 1,396
0 votes
1 answer
211 views

How to notate repeat section for lead sheet [duplicate]

I'm having trouble writing a compact lead sheet for a song with this form: A A B A B C B B How to write it with repeat sign without make it too confusing? Thank you.
will's user avatar
  • 401
5 votes
7 answers
1k views

What is my 7 if a chord does not specify the 7th?

I'm learning jazz and playing from lead sheets and am confused about how to handle triads that do not explicitly say what to do with the 7th. If the lead sheet I'm playing from just describes a chord ...
kitfox's user avatar
  • 253
3 votes
1 answer
364 views

How to write proper repeat signs for ABABBCB form?

I'm trying to write down the melody of a song. It's in ABABBCB form, with a Coda. It also has a pickup measure. This is what I came up with. Is this correct? In the 2nd volta (ending), should it ...
Purple's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
2 answers
622 views

How would I go about playing lead sheets?

I am very confused on lead sheets at the moment. First of all, in this lead sheet, how would I play this. Would I play the chords as the harmony, and the notes as the melody, or would I do something ...
Doddle's user avatar
  • 93
4 votes
1 answer
483 views

Why is vibrato rarely marked in vocal sheet music?

I've never seen markings to sing with vibrato in sheet music but I hear it all the time in country music.
user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
169 views

LilyPond - How do I create a ChordName context that can stack or show multiple ChordNames simultaneously?

Suppose I have one melody line that is repeated (e.g., singing multiple verses), but the chords should be different the second and third times through. I want these to be defined in their own ...
Neal's user avatar
  • 3,462
3 votes
2 answers
4k views

What do these diamond and slash note heads mean?

Can someone tell me what do the symbols here mean? and how to play them in triplets as written in the lead sheet?
Arsan Ezzat's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

How do you set the number of measures per line or page in LilyPond / Frescobaldi when you have a score with multiple instruments?

As I am doing an arranging project, I was wondering how to set the number of measures per line and therefore page as it is a score with a rhythm section and five horns. I have seen these pages (line ...
Guest Poster's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
238 views

Why don't most lead sheets notate rests? [closed]

All of the Mel Bay books, My Gene Autry songbook, and I'm sure many others do not indicate rests for the entire song. At the end of a four bar lyrical line they just place a whole note when it is ...
Pabble Goobs's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Who decides chord details in published songs?

I like to make lead sheets of songs like this to learn to improvise from, condensing the published sheet music down to a single page with no turns. In working from my two copies of It's Only A Paper ...
Kevin G.'s user avatar
  • 447
9 votes
6 answers
1k views

Em/C: Sound Notation, or Dirty Shorthand?

A recent post about slash chords got me started thinking about whether it is technically "correct" to use a slash chord to mark a root position chord. For example, in C/E, the root is C. In ...
user45266's user avatar
  • 12.8k
4 votes
1 answer
596 views

Keys in Real Book vs. Real Vocal Book

I like seeing the lyrics to jazz standards, but I would also like to practice standards in their original/standard keys. How many tunes in the Real Vocal Book "High Voice" (which has the ...
A7AF's user avatar
  • 141
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the best way get rhythm section notation (rhythmic notation, kicks over time, and slash notation) to display in LilyPond / Frescobaldi?

I have an arranging project due very soon, so I decided to ask this while I might still get help and a response. What is the best way to get rhythm section notation techniques like rhythmic notation, &...
Guest Poster's user avatar
5 votes
7 answers
1k views

Cb/B problem while creating lead sheet

I'm making a lead sheet of the song "One" by Esperanza Spalding. I chose the key of Bb because the song feels the most "at home" when the progression lands there at the guitar solo ...
yerman's user avatar
  • 794
13 votes
5 answers
4k views

How to find scales to improvise with for "How Insensitive" by Jobim

I am pretty new to improvisation. So far I have improvised over a 2 5 1 change using the diatonic 7th chords and the underlying scale tones that fit in with that chord. I am playing on a guitar. As a ...
cuppajoeman's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
292 views

How do I get chords that last half a measure to display correctly in 6/8 in LilyPond / Frescobaldi?

I am currently using a lead sheet template to make a reference lead sheet for someone (I am looking to see if the chords that I found are correct, but that is a whole other problem). In LilyPond / ...
Guest Poster's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
80 views

There is a course that teaches a specific version of the Jazz tune Summertime that I cannot find [closed]

I'm searching for a version of summertime and the course that teaches it. Around 2005-2009 there was an online website that offered a course that contained a book with 4 dvds and different, ...
jazzpiano's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

how can you write chords and bassline in the bass clef?

I am learning how to write in 12/8 time and worked out something on the piano but not sure if it is right. The chords are quite low so the bass line feels a bit lost underneath the way I have written ...
user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is the meaning of these lines connecting notes?

I am trying to use a software called guitar pro to copy the sheet music and play the tracks. I am currently stuck in this track as I am not able to understand what does the dot and the little symbol ...
adhithya ravichandran's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
239 views

Making a lead sheet to practise transcription - have a few queries

I'm fairly new to music and have been transcribing melodies in the name of ear training and becoming more fluent with standard notation. I'm presently creating a lead sheet for this song: ...
Overencumbered's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
38 views

In-Browser software for easily creating chord sheets [closed]

Is there any in-browser web app where one can easily create chord sheets (I'm thinking of more like a graphical approach; not just ChordPro) and transpose them? I've done a bit of research now and can'...
Tobias Feil's user avatar
-1 votes
4 answers
249 views

How do you choose what bass notes to play using a lead sheet

My problem is that if I look at the chords of a lead sheet (treble staff) almost none of my bass notes sound right -- not even the roots, 3rds, 5ths or 7ths. Take a slow song like the old standard ...
Knight Errant's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
382 views

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To chord function question

I have been playing through You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To. I have a pretty good grasp of the song and the chord functions up to the final section. I am interested to know the function and ...
Babaluma's user avatar
  • 485
8 votes
5 answers
2k views

What do these chord annotations mean?

What do the chords in parentheses mean, and how could you play Bm7 and B♭M7 at the same time?
Stephen's user avatar
  • 83
3 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is there a way to notate octaves for chords?

Say I wanted someone to play a C major triad in the 4th octave at one point in a song I've written, while I wanted them to play the same chord (a C major triad) in the 5th octave instead of the 4th at ...
Gavinjon's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Adding vertical space after header in LilyPond score [duplicate]

I have prepared a \header and I would like to increase the vertical space before my first stave, which also includes chords. Is that also possible with LilyPond?
Andreas's user avatar
  • 181
4 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why and how to play chord progression?

As a pianist who have only experienced classical music yet, I recently got my hands on The jazz theory book, because I am curious about this kind of music that is totally new to me. The theory is ...
abernard's user avatar
  • 362
6 votes
1 answer
573 views

Creating lead sheets using MuseScore

I'm trying to separate a choral arrangement into simplified individual sheets for the different parts and instruments. Need to be able to create a sheet with: Music Lyrics Chords I have issues ...
galdin's user avatar
  • 183
3 votes
1 answer
238 views

What does "Time on" mean in the context of a Lead Sheet?

I was looking though my real book and saw an interesting phrase that I've never seen before in the song Stuff by Miles Davis. On the first and last bar there is the phrase "Time on D♭7(#9)" with ...
Dom's user avatar
  • 47.8k
1 vote
2 answers
633 views

Jazz playing chords in lead sheets

I am a somewhat beginner jazz piano looking to start reading lots of lead sheets to assimilate tunes. I know the general idea is to sight read the melody and play the chord voicing in left hand (...
e7kim's user avatar
  • 19
3 votes
1 answer
205 views

Question about terminology for a music sheet

I have developed an application for musicians that produces this output and I am not sure if we are using the correct terminology. We currently use Chords and lyrics sheet but I think this is not the ...
Menelaos Vergis's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
7k views

What Android app is most used for reading music in performance?

My band has around 250 tunes frequently played as two tune medleys. Setlists can be pre-arranged or set up on the fly to compensate for local weather conditions. Kind of like a jazz band, but we're ...
empty's user avatar
  • 12.3k
14 votes
4 answers
1k views

How to choose a key signature for a song that modulates often?

In jazz, let's say, how would one choose a key signature for writing a lead sheet for a song where keys change every few measures or faster? Is writing the key changes explicitly going to be helpful ...
Duncan Malashock's user avatar
3 votes
6 answers
1k views

Notating Original Songs for Musicians

I have written many songs in a rock band setting and I have notated them in a multitude of ways including lead sheets, standard scores written in Finale, and guitar tabulate. Over the years I have ...
Dom's user avatar
  • 47.8k