iReal Book

[pglasse]

Just a heads up in case you haven't seen this, or looked at it lately. I'm really loving the iReal Book. http://irealbook.net/

This is a great resource for musicians in general but especially for those wanting to learn jazz, gypsy-jazz, standards repertoire. iReal Book is an application originally developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, now also available for Android phones. The developer keeps adding tunes; right now it comes with chord progressions to 800 jazz standard tunes. Because it's an app rather than printed material it does some extra tricks. Singer wants to do the song in another key? No problem; a couple of taps later and the entire song is transposed. One can edit the included songs to suit personal taste in chord progressions or even enter one's own songs.

There are some great features. I won't explain them all here. Of special note though: There is now an online forum where folks are uploading/sharing more tunes that you can add to your handheld -- including a whole gypsy jazz collection. There are also both a Mac desktop app and a non-platform-specific web editor that work with the song files. So, this means you now have free access to all of the online content in the forum by way of the desktop and web editors. Still, if you have a handheld that will run the app I highly recommend it.

I've used the app numerous times on gigs to transpose a complex tune on the fly or play that Christmas song that I only pull out twice a year. Today I had a student asked me to teach her Lullaby Of Birdland in the key of B. The iReal Book app made it quick and easy for me to print out a transposed chord chart we could work from.

Anyway, check it out for yourself. I'm getting a lot of good use from it.

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas
http://paulglasse.com/

[Pete Martin]

Last gig I did, the sax player was using this on his Iphone. I borrowed it on a couple of tunes I didn't have in my book.

Makes me think of getting an Iphone :mandosmiley:

[Jean-Pierre WOOS]

It's a great stuff ! I used it for the first time last december: a public request i didn't know the chords change... :cool:

[grassrootphilosopher]

Looks like a nice gadget.

Let me poke fun though: How do play the mandolin (at a session) when you have to hold the iphone in order to look at the leadsheet? Maybe you´ve got a third arm or something...

[Ted Eschliman]

I've had it on my iPod Touch (don't need to have an iPhone) since last summer. It's not really practical for reading during a gig, although it can be done if you've got good eyesight. I think it's terrific if you sort of know the tune, but can remember parts. It's a good refresher, and you can't beat the price.

http://jazzmando.com/new/archives/images/iRealBook.jpg
iReal Book (http://jazzmando.com/new/archives/001047.shtml)

[Amy Burcham]

Thank you, Paul! I sure hope they license this for desktop use.

By the way - they also make another tool, for original chart notation, here (http://irealbook.net/iReal_Book/Home/Entries/2010/1/17_iReal_Book_Web_Editor_now_available.html)- first version just launched.

[pglasse]

I'm glad to see some interest. I think this is a really valuable tool.

As Ted rightly points out, iReal Book has complete functionality on the iPod Touch, as well as the iPhone.

To answer grassrootphilosopher: In most cases there's been a music stand on hand. That is, we're dealing with charts anyway, someone suggests a tune they know that I don't. I can then pull it up in iReal Book in any key. Put the iPod Touch or iPhone on the music stand and I'm good to go. I wouldn't want to play a four hour gig that way but a couple of tunes -- no problem. Other times I might mostly know a tune but need a reminder of the first chord of the bridge -- you get the idea. That said, I've put the thing on a chair in front of me and faked my way through a tune, when no stand was present. It wasn't pretty but got the job done.

As Amy points out, the external editor is a great addition. They've had a free Mac version for some time and have now added a web-based one that should work fine for PCs. With the free editors available you now can get, for free, access to all the tunes in the online forums and use them on your desktop. Today that looks like at least 90 standards and about 130 Gypsy jazz tunes, for starters. If you own the actual app and an iPod Touch or iPhone (or Android phone) you can bring those additional tunes into your handheld.

All the best,

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas
http://paulglasse.com/

[min7b5]

The ireal is why I got an iphone. Love it, and use it at gigs all the time. And now, you can make and print your own charts http://irealbook.net/editor/

[Will Patton]

Boy, sounds like a wonderful memory jog - could have used it last night for the 2nd part of the bridge of Angel Eyes in the key of Ab.
But, wait a minute, Paul - Lullaby of Birdland in the key of B? Isn't that illegal in many states?
-Will

[Ted Eschliman]

But, wait a minute, Paul - Lullaby of Birdland in the key of B? Isn't that illegal in many states?
-Will

I think you're safe in Vermont. The blue laws in some of the sunbelt states prevent you from playing it in that key on Sundays, and in some cases, a minor must be accompanied by an adult.

Unless the minor is a 7b5.

[pglasse]

A bassist friend of mine told me that at a recent gig he decided to torment the pianist in the group. He felt the pianist was using his iPhone with iReal Book too much on the gig. So, the bass player started repeatedly phoning the pianist (via one-touch speed dial) mid-tune. This not only knocked the chart off the front screen of his iPhone but (even worse) popped up on the screen a photo of the bass player.

This probably says more about bass players (or my friends) than iReal Book. I gather with the iPhone you can put the device on "airplane mode" and avoid this or with the iPod Touch eliminate the risk.

Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas
http://paulglasse.com/

[groveland]

...the bass player started repeatedly phoning the pianist ...knocked the chart off the front screen of his iPhone ...
Now that's funny! Get the piano player an Android device. I suspect that doesn't happen with Android... Anybody know for sure?

[Jean-Pierre WOOS]

I use an i-Pod... no problem with that, you can phone me...i'll don't see your face ;-)

[grassrootphilosopher]

I'm glad to see some interest. I think this is a really valuable tool.

...
To answer grassrootphilosopher: In most cases there's been a music stand on hand. ...
Paul Glasse
Austin, Texas
http://paulglasse.com/

Just wanted to poke fun a little. The ithingy shows the advancement of non musical technical gadgets that musicians can profit from. Well, just as long as we´d have an iphone or ipod. I found out over the years that jazzers usually use the real book in sessions (other than "illiterates" like me in a bluegrass session where you´d have to deal with the argument that "Bill Monroe didn´t play it in C"). So it´s really handy to have a referrence if you transpose your piece into different keys.

[John Morton]

I sat in with a quartet last week who all had iphones with this app. I was put off by the tiny screen, but I found that the brilliant illumination just about made up for the small size.

I came across a music paging software vendor at NAMM a few years back. I had seen Harry Connick Jr.'s band on TV (one of the first to have a laptop on every stand), so I was ready with the question that had always nagged me: can the superuser transpose the band from offstage, just to keep them on their toes? No, it turned out the programmer could make annotations in red, but not alter the music.

John

[Ted Eschliman]

I can't wait until the iPad version becomes available. This app is what the iPad is made for!

[mando.player]

+1 for the iPad.

[Doug Hoople]

Thanks for the tip, Paul!

I just downloaded and browsed a couple of the tunes. It's great!

Don Stiernberg's going to love it, too. He's been after us all for years to make up chord sheets exactly in this format to make the structure and the harmonic rhythm really vivid. And now, it's becoming the standard way to to view tunes in shorthand.

Now to start typing up the tunes from the back of my scribble book...

Nice!