The Great Gig Book (Blue Book)

[docdosco]

this thread brings up an important issue that many of us face.
Inconsistent changes.
This is usually a problem at pick up gigs.

I don't know if the blue book is still as vital as it used to be.
In SanFrancisco during the 80's and 90's you had to have it.

Despite Bob's comments I do see a real use for a Blue Book (that's what my friends call it) Playlist.
It would come in handy if you were playing with "Old Dudes" that still used hard books;:
btw
I came here looking for One Note Samba changes.
The ones from the original playlist seem wrong and I wanted to look for other versions .

Have we decided to start threads for individual songs ? This is really already in practice (see Somewhere Over The Rainbow)
I wonder if a Disputed Changes sub-forum would help? If so there should be some rule to distinguish Basic Changes from
Wacky Reharmonazations

I brought up this subject on the thread originally, as I had found some tunes (in my short time with the ireal program) that I didn't agree with on the changes. Having used the Great Gig Book (Blue Book) for a quite a while now, I am really happy with the changes on almost all the tunes... mainly because they are good changes. I had found some tunes here that even though I had downloaded a bunch of collections, and had 3 versions of some tunes, on these tunes the changes did not knock me out. (IMO of course)

An example is Beginning To See The Light. The GGB changes are just better to my ear than the charts I found here. Someone may have uploaded a better version here, but I didn't get it in my download of collections.

I can re-write that chart for myself for gigs. Not a big deal. But, it would be nice if a GGB collection were started in the forum and people could add charts to the collection if they have made a fresh chart using the GGB as the source. Some tunes, like the Mexican Hat Dance and ethnic songs like it are not of interest to me, so there are GGB selections that wouldn't be missed if they were left out.

However, there are many versions in the GGB that are superior (in various degrees) to other books. The point was made that fake books, in general, don't use the hippest changes. While true, there is nothing that precludes the charts here from being the best possible. Of course, what is the 'best' chart is subjective. I can't bitch at having hundreds and hundreds of jazz and standard charts already written out and available at the click of a mouse, even if I have to flavor some to my taste. But.... if there were a GGB thread where people could upload charts based on the GGB, I would certainly find that useful.

I guess the rub will be, are there enough people here interested in a GGB collection, and would people contribute enough to make it worth while. It would take some time and effort from someone to monitor the collection and make it into a cohesive book ready for download, without having bits and pieces scattered here and there. I have noticed that there are many lovely charts buried in the dark corridors and musty corners of this forum. (it is halloween after all). To make a collection of 'prefered changes' is not going to fly with everyone. As I indicated, my 'cool changes' may not be that to someone else. However, a collection of charts with changes found in the GGB would be a welcome addition to the many wonderful versions that are available here. : )

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Doc Dosco

[pdxdjazz]

We're all volunteers here...
There are two ways to add GBB charts to the forums.

1. Someone can make the charts, (check them for accuracy, forum lay-out conventions and player compatibility) make sure each title is coded GBB (to avoid confusion) and post the complete playlist.

As an example see this:
http://www.irealb.com/forums/showthr...4052#post24052

2. As you you transcribe GBB charts to iRp format, post them individually in the discussion thread for that title.
Start a new thread for that title if there isn't one already.
As described in this post:
http://www.irealb.com/forums/showthr...3857#post33857

Thanks in advance for your submissions.
)BOB

[raymb1]

I brought up this subject on the thread originally, as I had found some tunes (in my short time with the ireal program) that I didn't agree with on the changes. Having used the Great Gig Book (Blue Book) for a quite a while now, I am really happy with the changes on almost all the tunes... mainly because they are good changes. I had found some tunes here that even though I had downloaded a bunch of collections, and had 3 versions of some tunes, on these tunes the changes did not knock me out. (IMO of course)

An example is Beginning To See The Light. The GGB changes are just better to my ear than the charts I found here. Someone may have uploaded a better version here, but I didn't get it in my download of collections.

I can re-write that chart for myself for gigs. Not a big deal. But, it would be nice if a GGB collection were started in the forum and people could add charts to the collection if they have made a fresh chart using the GGB as the source. Some tunes, like the Mexican Hat Dance and ethnic songs like it are not of interest to me, so there are GGB selections that wouldn't be missed if they were left out.

However, there are many versions in the GGB that are superior (in various degrees) to other books. The point was made that fake books, in general, don't use the hippest changes. While true, there is nothing that precludes the charts here from being the best possible. Of course, what is the 'best' chart is subjective. I can't bitch at having hundreds and hundreds of jazz and standard charts already written out and available at the click of a mouse, even if I have to flavor some to my taste. But.... if there were a GGB thread where people could upload charts based on the GGB, I would certainly find that useful.

I guess the rub will be, are there enough people here interested in a GGB collection, and would people contribute enough to make it worth while. It would take some time and effort from someone to monitor the collection and make it into a cohesive book ready for download, without having bits and pieces scattered here and there. I have noticed that there are many lovely charts buried in the dark corridors and musty corners of this forum. (it is halloween after all). To make a collection of 'prefered changes' is not going to fly with everyone. As I indicated, my 'cool changes' may not be that to someone else. However, a collection of charts with changes found in the GGB would be a welcome addition to the many wonderful versions that are available here. : )

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Doc Dosco

The GGB looks just like The Ultimate Fake Book and The Best Fake Book. They're all vanilla chords. Experienced pianists wouldn't play those vanilla chords. The best chords are in the three New Real Books and The Standards Real Book. Check out some of the reharms by Engelbach (excuse the spelling), myself (Raymb1) and a few others on this forum. If you're a jazz player, the chords in the GGB are standard vanilla chords. Look for Stella By Starlight in the forum. You'll never find those chords in any fake book. Many of the songs included in the iReal downloads have better chords than the GGB.

[docdosco]

The GGB looks just like The Ultimate Fake Book and The Best Fake Book. They're all vanilla chords. Experienced pianists wouldn't play those vanilla chords. The best chords are in the three New Real Books and The Standards Real Book. Check out some of the reharms by Engelbach (excuse the spelling), myself (Raymb1) and a few others on this forum. If you're a jazz player, the chords in the GGB are standard vanilla chords. Look for Stella By Starlight in the forum. You'll never find those chords in any fake book. Many of the songs included in the iReal downloads have better chords than the GGB.

Touchy, aren't we? Damn, yes I am a jazz player, and what people (including you) regard as 'vanilla' chords is subjective. I'm glad that you know what experienced piano players would and wouldn't play. I don't really care. A fake book is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the GGB and from what I gather, there are others here that do too. Does it have the perfect changes for all the tunes? No, I'm sure there are some tunes that don't have world's best changes. However, I haved used this book to gig with for the past 10 years and it's has proved convenient to have a book with as many tunes as this has and those contained in the GGB generally have very useable changes.

Whether anyone cares to have this as a collection here was the question someone brought up. Personally, I really don't give a hoot. I am fully capable of writing out charts the way I like them on my own. It was just a suggestion.

Doc Dosco

[pdxdjazz]

Hey Doc
You're welcome and encouraged to share charts in the forums.
Just describe and label them so as to avoid confusion.
Folks are free to download 'em or not, play 'em or not and like 'em or not.
Different strokes...
http://www.irealb.com/forums/showthr...3873#post33873
)BOB

[johand]

I don't know if it will help, but I am also member of another piano forum, and they have 4 recitals in a year. They use a wiki page to keep everything organized and structured.it is easy to find a particular piece and by who it was submitted etc. - also searchable by composer.

http://recitals.pianoworld.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

They use the software mentioned on the bottom of that page. Maybe it is something you can setup up to keep the charts here organized? Is this a help to Docdosco's problem?

[engelbach]

Does anyone know why the Blue Book skips pages? I've owned it for many years, but never had occasion to ask anyone this before.

The last page is numbered 696, but there are actually only about 400 pages.

There are skips from 166 to 185, 248 to 301, and a number of others.

Cheers,
Jer

[pdxdjazz]

Does anyone know why the Blue Book skips pages? I've owned it for many years, but never had occasion to ask anyone this before.

The last page is numbered 696, but there are actually only about 400 pages.

There are skips from 166 to 185, 248 to 301, and a number of others.

Cheers,
Jer

On the 2nd title-page (1996 edition) there is some "fine-print":
page area---note that pages are not continuous (so more tunes can be added later)

....best laid plans 'n all...
)BOB

[docdosco]

Does anyone know why the Blue Book skips pages? I've owned it for many years, but never had occasion to ask anyone this before.

The last page is numbered 696, but there are actually only about 400 pages.

There are skips from 166 to 185, 248 to 301, and a number of others.

Cheers,
Jer

Damn good question. This has been my primary gig book for years and years. Mainly because it has *most* of the popular Great American Songbook standards and crooner tunes, and generally there are 2 tunes per page, with lyrics and decent changes. For 5 years I did wine tasting gigs all over the SW US, Southern Cal, Arizona, Las Vegas. Killer money, lots of driving and budget hotels.... however, this book was always with me. My own book, which has charts on the left, lyrics on the right was my main book, but the GGB came out a lot. I was booked as a solo jazz guitarist, but playing all day on a Friday, Sat, Sunday left me with lots of time to dust off my voice & learn new tunes, many of those songs pulled out of the GGB when the crowd was thin. Paid rehearsal! Ha!

Maybe my use of that one book, instead of lugging 6 or 8 other books (some that didn't even have lyrics) made me really appreciate the GGB. I too, wondered at the missing page numbers. The collection in the book is fairly comprehensive, so if there were more tunes, I wonder what was left out?

Doc Dosco

[Bobsax]

Touchy, aren't we? Damn, yes I am a jazz player, and what people (including you) regard as 'vanilla' chords is subjective. I'm glad that you know what experienced piano players would and wouldn't play. I don't really care. A fake book is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the GGB and from what I gather, there are others here that do too. Does it have the perfect changes for all the tunes? No, I'm sure there are some tunes that don't have world's best changes. However, I haved used this book to gig with for the past 10 years and it's has proved convenient to have a book with as many tunes as this has and those contained in the GGB generally have very useable changes.
Whether anyone cares to have this as a collection here was the question someone brought up. Personally, I really don't give a hoot. I am fully capable of writing out charts the way I like them on my own. It was just a suggestion.

Doc Dosco

Doc .. you took the words right out of my mouth Thanks