ABSTRACT
In order to become a successful jazz musician, one has to learn how to read, interpret, and modify lead sheets. Improvising from a lead sheet is a unique performance skill that jazz musicians cultivate on a daily basis and perfect over a long period of time. A typical jazz lead sheet includes a single-line melody, chord symbols, and lyrics. Jazz lead sheets from reputable publishers contain relatively few mistakes. Jazz musicians have appropriated these tunes into their repertoire for obvious reasons: they are great songs written by composers who, above all, valued and understood the importance of a good melody. Their popularity among jazz musicians is probably the best testimony that great music never loses its appeal. Just as in decades past, when jazz musicians offered personal interpretations of these tunes, it is important to learn how to interpret lead sheets in a manner that convincingly expresses the nature, affect, and feel of the song.
