Lead sheets and chord charts
Read lead sheets and chord charts, including repeats and navigation signs.
Most of the time a bassist is not handed a bass part. The band gets a sheet with the chords on it, and everyone works from there.
Lead sheets and charts
A lead sheet shows the melody on a staff, chord symbols above it and often the lyrics. Collections of lead sheets are called fake books; the jazz ones are often called real books. A chord chart shows only chord symbols, usually with slashes for the beats (slash notation): “C / / / | Am / / /” means C for 4 beats, then Am for 4 beats. N.C. means “no chord”: nobody plays harmony.
With a lead sheet or chart, the bass part is not written. The bassist builds it from the chords, using everything in Module 9. This is the normal situation in pop, rock and jazz bands.
Repeats and navigation
| Sign | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝄆 … 𝄇 | repeat the passage between the signs |
| 1. / 2. (first and second ending) | the first time play ending 1; on the repeat skip it and play ending 2 |
| 𝄎 (bar repeat), sometimes “%” | repeat the previous bar |
| D.C. (da capo) | go back to the beginning |
| D.S. (dal segno) | go back to the sign 𝄋 |
| al Fine | … and stop at “Fine” |
| al Coda | … and at “To Coda” jump to the coda sign 𝄌 |
A repeat sign marks a passage to play twice. The first ending is played the first time; on the repeat it is skipped and the second ending is played. A da capo (D.C.) goes back to the beginning, a dal segno (D.S.) goes back to the segno sign, and fine is where the piece ends after such a jump. “D.S. al Coda” means: go back to 𝄋, play until “To Coda 𝄌”, then jump to the section marked 𝄌.
An example
Before playing a chart, map it: find the repeats, endings, D.S./D.C. and coda, and count how many times each section is played.
Follow the chart above with your finger in reading order, saying the bar numbers. Then play its roots, one per bar.