'Berklee Real Book' is a definitive collection of songs that have shaped the college's curriculum, complete with insights from Berklee instructors.
BOSTON, Jan. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On February 3, Berklee Press will release the much-anticipated Berklee Real Book, a curated collection of more than 300 songs that are staples for gigging musicians and a snapshot of the music that resonates across the Boston campus of Berklee College of Music. This project was realized through Berklee's long-standing music publishing partnership with Hal Leonard LLC, which legally licensed every song in the collection.
"Berklee is the world's leader in contemporary music education," says Berklee Online CEO and co-founder, Debbie Cavalier, who has been overseeing Berklee Press since 1998. "It's only fitting that Berklee's performance division curated this diverse collection of popular music for aspiring musicians for generations to come."
A Real Book is a curated collection of lead sheets—musical shorthand for jazz and popular tunes—that musicians use to perform, study, and improvise. This new volume honors Berklee's commitment to contemporary music education, showcasing a diverse array of musical styles rooted in the African diaspora while embracing global traditions. The repertoire was carefully selected based on extensive surveys of Berklee faculty and department chairs, reflecting the songs most commonly taught and performed on campus. The Berklee Real Book also includes educational insights from these instructors about what makes each song worthy of study, whether it's unique chord changes or specific techniques for students to master.
"We've got a lot of tunes that aren't here because they're the most popular, but because they're ideal for musicians learning to improvise," says Jonathan Feist, editor-in-chief of Berklee Press. "Some are relatively new to us [at Berklee], but most have been ringing in the Berklee campus hallways for decades."
The original Real Book began at Berklee in the 1970s as an underground project by students who compiled and sold unlicensed lead sheets of bebop and jazz standards. Dubbed "The Real Book" as a nod to earlier "fake books," it became a must-have for musicians, even as it operated outside copyright laws. In 2004, Hal Leonard legitimized the series, securing copyrights and expanding the repertoire while preserving the iconic style of the original volumes.
The new Berklee Real Book features music by everyone from Dolly Parton and Alicia Keys to John Coltrane and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Spanning centuries and genres, the new volume offers students a robust and dynamic learning tool for their music education.
To order the new Berklee Real Book, visit www.halleonard.com/product/50449558.
Since 1957, Berklee Press has been the official publisher of music instruction books and videos based on Berklee College of Music's renowned teaching methods and curriculum. Written by respected Berklee faculty and alumni, as well as other music industry professionals, Berklee Press titles let you learn about the performance, business, technology, and songwriting of music on your own turf and timetable.
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Media Team, Berklee Press, 1 866-237-5533, [email protected], berkleepress.com
SOURCE Berklee Press
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