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A lead sheet is a form of music notation that specifies the essential elements of a popular song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
: the melody
Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
, lyrics
Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song, either by speaking or singing. The word 'lyric' comes from the Greek word ,lyricos, meaning "singing to the lyre"....
 and harmony
Harmony

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
. The melody is written in modern Western music notation, the lyric is written as text below the staff and the harmony is specified with chord symbols
Chord notation

Chord notation refers to the written notation for chord using chord symbols. They are used to specify the harmony of popular music compositions....
 above the staff.

Together, the melody, lyrics and harmony define what a song is. In the music industry and entertainment law
Entertainment law

Entertainment law or mass media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry....
, a lead sheet is the document used to describe a song for legal purposes.






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A lead sheet is a form of music notation that specifies the essential elements of a popular song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
: the melody
Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
, lyrics
Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song, either by speaking or singing. The word 'lyric' comes from the Greek word ,lyricos, meaning "singing to the lyre"....
 and harmony
Harmony

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
. The melody is written in modern Western music notation, the lyric is written as text below the staff and the harmony is specified with chord symbols
Chord notation

Chord notation refers to the written notation for chord using chord symbols. They are used to specify the harmony of popular music compositions....
 above the staff.

Together, the melody, lyrics and harmony define what a song is. In the music industry and entertainment law
Entertainment law

Entertainment law or mass media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry....
, a lead sheet is the document used to describe a song for legal purposes. For example, a lead sheet is the form of a song to which copyright
Copyright

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain....
 is applied—if a songwriter
Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
 sues someone for copyright violation, the court will compare lead sheets to determine how much of the song has been copied. Or if a song is considered for an Academy Award or a Grammy, the song is submitted for consideration in the form of a lead sheet.

The lead sheet does not describe the chord voicings
Voicing (music)

In music Musical composition and arranging, a voicing is the instrumentation and vertical spacing and ordering of the pitch in a chord . Which note is on the bottom determines the inversion ....
, voice leading
Voice leading

In musical composition, voice leading is the term used to refer to a decision-making consideration when arranging voices , namely, how each voice should move in advancing from each chord to the next....
, bass line or other aspects of the accompaniment
Accompaniment

In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with a solo ist or Musical ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played....
. These are specified later by an arranger
Arrangement

In music, an arrangement is either a rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch, such as a lead sheet....
 or improvised
Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings....
 by a performer, and are aspects of the arrangement or performance of a song, rather than a part of the song itself.

A lead sheet is often the only form of written music used by a small jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 ensemble. One or more musicians will play the melody while the rest of the group improvises an appropriate accompaniment based on the chord progression
Chord progression

A chord progression is series of chord s played in order. Chord progressions are central to most modern music and the principal study of harmony....
 given in the chord symbols, followed by an improvised solo also based on the chord progression
Chord progression

A chord progression is series of chord s played in order. Chord progressions are central to most modern music and the principal study of harmony....
. Similarly, a sufficiently skilled jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 should be able to accompany a singer and perform a song by himself using only a lead sheet.

Lead sheets are also called fake sheets and collections of lead sheets are called "fakebooks
Fake book

A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets intended to help a performer quickly learn new songs. Each song in a fake book contains the Melody, basic Chord , and lyrics - the minimal information needed by a musician to make an impromptu arrangement of a song, or "fake it."...
," as in the old cliché "I don't know the song but if you hum a few bars I can fake it." The most famous fakebook is called, ironically, "The Real Book
Real Book

The Real Book can refer to any of a number of popular jazz fake books, but is generally used to refer to Volume 1 of a semi-underground series transcribed and collated by students at Berklee College of Music during the 1970s....
"

See also

  • Chord chart
    Chord chart

    A chord chart is a form of musical notation that describes harmony and rhythmic information only. It is the most common form of notation used by professional session musicians playing jazz or other forms of popular music....
  • Chord symbol
  • Impro-Visor
    Impro-Visor

    Impro-Visor is an educational tool for creating and playing a lead sheet, with a particular orientation toward representing jazz solos....
    , GUI and text-based editor for leadsheets
  • MuseScore
    MuseScore

    MuseScore is a music scorewriter for Linux and Microsoft Windows. MuseScore is a WYSIWYG editor, complete with support for score playback and import/export of MusicXML and standard MIDI files....
    , free and open source music notation program with lead sheet template
  • Wikifonia
    Wikifonia

    Wikifonia is an on-line publisher of sheet music, combining a MusicXML-based technology in a wiki system, with copyright clearance....
    , online repository of lead sheets in musicXML
    MusicXML

    MusicXML is an open, XML-based music notation file format.It was developed by Recordare LLC, deriving several key concepts from existing academic formats ....
     format


External links

  • - Gospel lead sheets typically include the lyrics with the chords written above them.
  • - Searchable database of Real Book Songs and Lead Sheets.
  • - Jazz lead sheets and solo transcriptions
  • - A wiki for Pop/Rock/Jazz/... Lead Sheets in high quality pdf.
  • Textual notation for creating, communicating, and playing leadsheets.