Have you ever had someone sit in with your group because a bass player or guitarist is out, so you hand them pages and pages of music with multiple endings, capo chords or...worse yet...a keyboard score? (especially to someone who is NOT playing keyboard!) What do you think the chances are that things will go well? Even to an experienced session player, a clean, easy-to-read chart is crucial to promoting success.
Sometimes publishers tend to be over-accurate when they publish music. That might mean the instrumentalists have to comb through 3 different endings of a verse simply because the vocal did something slightly different each time, even though the chords are the same! Or maybe the keyboard score is doing something pretty involved in the right hand, so there ends up being this cluster of chord symbols with alternate basses all crammed together above the staff, even though the bass just needs to stay on B-flat! Or there could be extra pages showing extra verses when all they really need is the same chord progression from verse 1. All of these things can cause even the best players to stumble simply because things are over-complicated.
Sometimes the best solution is to take the most complicated tunes (more than 2 pages, multiple endings that are essentially the same, over-complex chords, etc.) and simplify them for bass and guitar. Finale, Sibelius, or even hand-written versions are extremely useful. Eliminate the potential stumbling blocks. Save the new, easier-to-read charts for future use. Your instrumentalists, your singers...and your assembly...will thank you.
What does that do to the copyright?
ReplyDeleteBrent,
ReplyDeleteWhat I was suggesting was not creating a new lead sheet or vocal score, but rather a simple rhythm chart for guitar players...no melody or lyrics...just chords and measures. (could be as simple as writing 'A' with a little 3 over it to indicate playing an 'A' chord for 3 beats.) You would still need to purchase vocal scores, keyboard scores, and lead sheets, plus any instrumental parts.