Cult of Mac Favorite: iRealBook – iPhone Music App
3:16 am, August 17th, 2009, Lonnie Lazar
What it is: iRealBook is an iPhone and iPod Touch compatible version of the iconic Real Book, a venerable “fake book” that has been the music bible for jazz musicians and vocalists for many years. A repository of chord sheets for some 700+ Jazz standards, Jazz classics, Latin and Brazilian classics and more, the Real Book has long been an indispensable tool for professional Jazz artists and students alike.
Why it’s cool: iRealBook (iTunes link) improves on the paper copy by providing chord charts of every song in the catalogue, each of which can be easily transposed to any key. Where the physical copy of the Real Book provides only sheet music with standard notation in the originally written or recorded key, this iPhone version gives players easy-to-read, chord-based notation that fits on a single screen, in extra large fonts that make the sheets easy to read in both profile and landscape modes. It even offers a “Night View” with white text over a black background that makes charts legible on darkened bandstands. Songs in the catalogue can be browsed by style or composer when a user is stumped for ideas, and the developer, Massimo Biolcati invites requests for additions to the database.
Where to get it: iRealBook is available on the iTunes App Store for $7.99 and is worth every penny for the jazz and standards aficionado who wants to have the critical oeuvre at hand on the go.
Hit the jump for screenshots.


Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Favorites, Software, iPhone, iPod Touch | Comment on this article












This is a brilliant app! I just don’t get it’s this cheap in the App Store, and the real Real Book is around 40 dollars…
Laurens, on August 17th, 2009 at 4:28 am
This is great, but can you get this for your MacBook? That would be even better…
Ictus75, on August 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Man is that an incredible app. Well done and a perfect example of what an iPhone can do. Really well done interface IMO as well – very impressive design.
@ real RealBook is $40 – no melody line, no lyrics, no hits/emphasis or rhythmic exceptions other than time changes. So it’s considerably more lean than a normal fake book. Also, no paper or ink LOL
It’s kind of tiny on the iPhone tho … I am looking forward to seeing what they do with a media tablet
perkiset, on August 17th, 2009 at 12:52 pm