What Is This That You Have Done To Me?: Lead Sheet / Fake Book

This traditional melody carries an emotional directness that emerges through intimate dialogue between voice and accompaniment. The lead sheet format strips away orchestration, leaving the essential emotional core exposed and immediate.

Pianists and singers working with jazz or pop interpretations of traditional material will find this format refreshing. It suits students ready to move beyond fully notated scores and develop real harmonic literacy through realization.

• Shape the melody with rubato; the lead sheet format invites flexibility in phrasing rather than metronomic precision.
• Sketch chord voicings before rehearsal to establish a harmonic foundation that supports the vocalist without over-filling the space.
• Balance melody and accompaniment by having the singer mark their breathing points and corresponding piano gestures.

Feature this during a recital set focused on reinterpretation of traditional music, or use it as a vehicle for developing improvisation and comping skills in a jazz or contemporary music unit. The four pages offer enough material for substantial practice without becoming overwhelming.

• Reading and interpreting lead sheet notation
• Harmonic realization and chord voicing choices
• Coordinating melodic phrasing between voice and keyboard
• Rhythmic flexibility and rubato within a tonal framework