For singers brought up in a “classical” mindset, the first chance to interpret in a jazz idiom can be disconcerting.
Do I need to sing the exact rhythms on the lead sheet? Why are there chords in parentheses at the end? (Either it’s part of the piece or it isn’t, right?) How do we start if there’s no written introduction or clear ending?
The answer, of course, is that it’s an oral tradition. So why the lead sheet? Why have written music at all?
Well, first, because it’s easier to share ideas if we’re referencing the same musical ideas.
But more significantly, the lead sheet gets more useful if you begin to think of it in a different way. If you think of a classical score as a Google Maps route – telling you exactly when to turn, when you’ll arrive, and lots of other information – then you can think of a jazz lead sheet as a topographical map of a national park.
Want to get to the other end of the park? Here’s the terrain. Choose your own route to get there. The map gives you important information, but you can make a lot of the important choices yourself.