Customer Reviews

Pat Metheny Songbook: Lead Sheets

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Could you get almost all of Pat's compositions in one easy to follow book with album cover art, notes and details on the compositions. This is the real deal: chord changes over guitar lines (no tab). A real benefit of this book is looking at the chord structure and form that Pat uses to build each song. Of all the "guitar things" I've bought over the years, this ranks as one of the most useful. Thanks Pat.

We long time admirers of Pat Metheny and group have been waiting a long time for this great compendium of his music. This contains everything he has written since 1975 to 2000, including solo material, those co written with Lyle Mays and others. It's great to be able sit down and play through these tunes presented in chart format (melody and chords). Bass and keyboard parts are written out if they are nessesary. Every once in a while I run across an error or a place where an important musical figure, mostly orchesral, was left out to save space. Overall this is a book with hundreds of of pages of material to improvise on and have fun doing it. Hopfully Lyle will have a book soon to contain the tunes acredited to him. A must for all jazz players!

This is really a no brainer: if you play jazz or are learning to play jazz and you are a fan of Pat's music, this is a great reference. It's well produced in every respect and defintely well worth the price. An added bonus are Pat's comments on the tunes and his thoughtful quotes regarding improvisation. Seeing that much of Pat's music in one place gives you new respect for the range, quantity and quality of his compositions. A few minor quibbles- I wish the book had been arranged alphabetically- the way it is, you have to look eveything up in the index first- no big thing but mildly annoying. Also some complex charts have been rendered as simple lead sheets making casual performances unlikely unless one is familiar with (and willing to transcribe from) the original recordings. That aside, I can't think of a reason that anyone wouldn't like this book. I should really give this 4 and a half stars for the little flaws, but since Amazon won't let me, I'll round up just because Pat writes such great tunes.
Highly recommended!

This book works just as well for any instrument as it does for the guitar (sorry--no tabulature, and Pat said he won't put any in either) and gives the listener a greater understanding of his music's structure...as such, it can be helpful for the aspiring performer, composer, or arranger. In addition, on the Pat Metheny Group Web Site (address included in book) there is a forum where listeners can write in with any typos that they may have found--all helpful information when a second printing of the book is in the works. Some tunes in the PMG vocabulary, like those that pianist Lyle Mays wrote ("Are We There Yet", "Episode D'Azur"), or those Metheny/Mays tunes that were very nearly completely written by Mays according to Pat ("Yolanda, You Learn") are not included.

...snippets of information, discography and his music all in one volume. Perfect. Wont make you sound like him though!

Someone actually gave me a copy of this when it came out. Being a huge Pat Metheny fan, I had already transcribed some of my personal favorite tunes of his and it was nice to see this book fill in all the others.

Like most "fake books" it has it's share of wrong chords, notes and rhythms, (not as bad as the old "5th edition Real Books).

For those of you who gave negative reviews because this book did not have completely written out parts or TAB need to pay attention to the title listed here, "Pat Metheny Somgbook: LEAD SHEETS!!!".

This CAN be used by beginners if they know how to read music, (not TAB).

Pat's music is rather harmonically thick, so you might want to practice your chord reading before venturing into this book.

It is a must have for any musician who would love to sit down and jam along with Pat's albums, (yes I have most of his stuff on vinyl), or play them in a group.

The music looks like it was done in "Finale" and is very easy to read while keeping the "fake book" look to the charts.

Very well done.

Ps. There is a brief history to the origins of every song in the book by Pat. Helps you understand what he was thinking about on some of the titles.

Pat Metheny is one of the greatest composers of the past 50 years, a modern day Ellington. This huge volume of his works covers everything from heads for a small combo (Bright Size Life) to his elaborate group compositions with Lyle Mays and the Pat Metheny Group. Don't be mistaken, this is not a book of transcriptions from a third party publisher, but rather a volume of Metheny's own written charts.

While it does include bass lines, chord structure, and melody/counter melody parts, enough content to easily write ones own arrangement of the piece without major transcription, it lacks detail of some deep, inside parts to some of the group's work. Even so, they are rarely necessary or needed unless you are writing an arrangement for a precise replica of his work.

This book is gigantic as it is, but it does NOT cover any of the songs from his collaborations that were written entirely by other band members. If a song was written entirely by Lyle Mays or Charlie Haden, you will not see it in this book, however songs where Metheny had at least some hand in composition are documented.

Whether you're looking for some sheet music to follow or play along with, or are writing elaborate arrangements, this book is perfect. I even find myself using it to take a sneak peak of the weird meters in his songs. Great book.

When I received this book as a present I got the nearest guitar around and explored through Metheny territory for about 7 hours. Every theme is transcribed perfectly and I can not be anymore happier. But my only things I would have to bark about would be that some of the tunings for some songs aren't in the book, so songs like Sirbahorn or San Lorenzo are things that I have to skip. And I wish the book was built a little better, because if I pick it up the the wrong way;there's going to be a good number of sheets falling to the floor. Overall, a Godsend

I could not believe that an artist of Pat Metheny's callibur
would be so generous as to offer a complete publication of
his brilliant work to his fans. I ran to the store and
grabbed it.(the last copy) I also could'nt believe the
low price. Those who don't appreciate it, you truly don't
know what you have in your possesion.

This comprehensive book has nearly every Pat Metheny tune recorded in his entire career. You will really appreciate his genius as a composer as you play through these tunes. It should be noted that there are a few errors in the book. I just wish a pre-release version could have been sent out to some of Pat's musician fans to check for mistakes. Perhaps there will be a second edition sometime soon.