What is a Lead Sheet?

A lead sheet differs from a lyric sheet in that it has a treble staff with melody notations and the lyrics of the song. The chord letter names are written above the measures where they are to be played as the melody is either sung or played to chord accompaniment.

In the sample song below, you will see that the song is written in the Key of C major. Now look at the slice on The Music Wheel that refers to C major. You will see the I, IV, V chords listed there in their triad root forms CEG; FAC; GBD. Now look at the lead sheet. You will see the letter names C, F, and G hovering above the measures to indicate what chord is to be played as the melody notations progress. Those letter names stand for the chords as they are listed on The Music Wheel in the Key of C major slice. (On The Music Wheel the chords are stacked vertically beneath the Roman numerals with the root letter name at the top of the chord:

C F G
E A B
G C D

I wrote the “ Tennessee ” song in 1990 to sing at a family reunion. It is an example of applying the I, IV, V chord progressions of a particular Key—in this case the Key of C major.If I had wanted to sing it in the Key of G major, I would use the I, IV, V chord family (progressions) from that Key. Look at The Music Wheel to locate the slice that lists the Key of G major. That family of major chords are:

G C D
B E F#
D G A