Berklee Press to Release New 300-Song Real Book on February 3 The Berklee Real Book is a definitive collection of songs that have shaped the college's curriculum, complete with insights from Berklee instructors.
By
Colette Greenstein
January 24, 2025
Image courtesy of Berklee Press.
On February 3, Berklee Press will release the much-anticipated Berklee Real Book, a curated collection of more than 300 songs that are staples for gigging musicians and a snapshot of the music that resonates across the Boston campus of Berklee College of Music. This project was realized through Berklee's long-standing music publishing partnership with Hal Leonard LLC, which legally licensed every song in the collection.
Berklee is the world's leader in contemporary music education, says Debbie Cavalier, Berklee Online CEO and cofounder, who has been overseeing Berklee Press since 1998. It's only fitting that Berklee's performance division curated this diverse collection of popular music for aspiring musicians for generations to come.
A Real Book is a curated collection of lead sheets-musical shorthand for jazz and popular tunes-that musicians use to perform, study, and improvise. This new volume honors Berklee's commitment to contemporary music education, showcasing a diverse array of musical styles, including those rooted in the African diaspora, that also embraces global traditions. The repertoire was carefully selected based on extensive surveys of Berklee faculty and department chairs, reflecting the songs most commonly taught and performed on campus. The Berklee Real Book also includes educational insights from these instructors about what makes each song worthy of study, whether it's unique chord changes or specific techniques for students to master.
We've got a lot of tunes that are here not because theyre the most popular, but because they're ideal for musicians learning to improvise, says Jonathan Feist, editor-in-chief of Berklee Press. Some are relatively new to us [at Berklee], but most have been ringing in the Berklee campus hallways for decades.
The original Real Book began at Berklee in the 1970s as an underground project by students who compiled and sold unlicensed lead sheets of bebop and jazz standards. Dubbed The Real Book as a nod to earlier fake books, it became a must-have for musicians, even as it operated outside copyright laws. In 2004, Hal Leonard legitimized the series, securing copyrights and expanding the repertoire while preserving the iconic style of the original volumes.
The new Berklee Real Book features music by everyone from Dolly Parton and Alicia Keys to John Coltrane and Ant nio Carlos Jobim. Spanning centuries and genres, the new volume offers students a robust and dynamic learning tool for their music education.
To order the new Berklee Real Book, visit halleonard.com/product/50449558.
About Berklee PressSince 1957, Berklee Press has been the official publisher of music instruction books and videos based on Berklee College of Music's renowned teaching methods and curriculum. Written by respected Berklee faculty and alumni, as well as other music industry professionals, Berklee Press titles let you learn about the performance, business, technology, and songwriting of music on your own turf and timetable.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Rihanna sings during the Concert for Valor in Washington, DC, November 11, 2014.
Image by EJ Hersom / CC-BY-2.0
This Rihanna Song Has Secret' '80s Easter Eggs The SOS songwriter revealed a nostalgic twist to the lyrics, and it's going viral on TikTok.
Latest
Students and faculty at the Emerging Artist Intensive at the Miami Art Studio
Image by John Parra/Getty Images, courtesy of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation
Berklee Global and Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Launch Emerging Artist Intensive Sponsored by TikTok, the immersive learning experience gave aspiring music creators insights into song production, the music business, and stage performance techniques.
Brent Havens '77 leads a symphony orchestra in a performance of the music of Led Zeppelin.
Image courtesy of Windborne Music
Berklee Ensemble Orchestra to Perform the Music of Led Zeppelin Brent Havens '77 will lead a full rock band and an orchestra of Berklee students and alumni in a performance of the iconic band's greatest hits.
Alissia BM 14 earned a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical-only the ninth woman to be nominated in this category.
Image courtesy of Alissia
Why Alissia's Grammy Nomination Signals a Needed Shift As only the ninth woman nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical-a category that no woman has won-she's shining a spotlight on an industry overdue for real change.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
Berklee Press to Release New 300-Song Real Book on February 3 The Berklee Real Book is a definitive collection of songs that have shaped the college's curriculum, complete with insights from Berklee instructors.
