Head (music) - Knowing Heads

Knowing Heads

Jazz musicians are frequently called upon to play a series of songs in short order with no planning, either at jam sessions or impromptu gigs. Therefore it is important for professionals to know as wide a variety of tunes as possible and be able to play them proficiently. Most of the time this means memorizing the melody, chords and anything else important about playing the song with a band. Many musicians stipulate that one does not know a head until one knows the lyrics (assuming it has), and it's generally accepted that one should be exposed to recordings of a tune to properly know it. Sometimes there will be fake books available at jam sessions, and sometimes it is easy to recall a tune while playing it or learn it on the spot, but for the most part it is expected that professional jazz musicians have a very large vocabulary of tunes available by memory. In truth, there are hundreds of tunes jazz players ought to be prepared for, but this is a lofty goal. A common mantra is that if one knows one tune, one should know five, and that if one knows five tunes, one should know twenty five, et cetera.