The Pat Metheny Real Book (Artist Edition), C Edition

The Songbook is the reference edition; this is the working one. The Pat Metheny Real Book is an official fake book in the familiar Real Book format, made to sit on a music stand at a rehearsal or a session rather than in a library. Published in 2017, it’s the edition to grab if you actually want to play these tunes with other people.

That matters because Pat’s compositions are a bigger part of the modern jazz repertoire than casual listeners realize. Players reach for them because the melodies are strong and the harmony rewards improvisation without fighting the soloist. The open thank-you letter on this site puts it this way: Pat’s composed material is “so fresh and performed with such vitality that it often sounds improvised.” A fake book is where you test that claim yourself, at tempo.

Buy the edition for your instrument. This listing is the C edition, for guitar, piano, bass and other concert-pitch instruments. Hal Leonard also publishes a B♭ edition for horn players, so check which one your band needs.

It’s for working and student players, jam-session regulars and teachers building a repertoire list. Listeners who don’t play will get more from the Songbook, with its essays and commentary, or from the studies by Gluck and Cooke.