Songbook: Do Do Do

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Musical Terms (7)

• agitato Italian
  Agitated, restless. Indicates nervous energy and rhythmic drive.
  Gershwin's agitato markings — particularly in the outer movements of the Concerto in F — call for propulsive momentum. The agitation should feel urban and kinetic, not Romantic and anxious.
• ben ritmato Italian
  Well-rhythmed, with precise rhythmic articulation. Gershwin's direction for Prelude No. 1, emphasising the jazz-influenced rhythmic drive.
  Ben ritmato in Gershwin means the off-beat accents must land exactly — not approximately. Use a firm touch on the syncopated notes and keep the pulse rock-steady in the left hand, exactly as a jazz drummer would hold the groove.
• blue note English
  A note played at a slightly lower pitch than the standard major scale, particularly the flattened third, fifth, or seventh. Characteristic of blues and jazz tonality.
  In Gershwin's melodies, blue notes should be rendered with a slight expressive lean — a gentle swell of tone or a tiny portamento into the note. They are not accidentals to be played straight; their expressiveness is the point.
• bluesy English
  Infused with the expressive character of blues music — melancholic, vocal, improvisatory, with expressive bends and a relaxed rhythmic feel.
  Prelude No. 2 is Gershwin at his most bluesy. Allow the melody to sing with a slightly husky, intimate tone — minimal pedal, gentle dynamics, and a feeling of improvisation within the written notes.
• con moto Italian
  With motion. Indicates a forward-moving pulse that prevents slow passages from becoming static or sentimental.
  In the slow movement of the Piano Concerto in F, con moto keeps the jazz-influenced melody from becoming too Romantic. Maintain a subtle forward lean even in the most lyrical phrases.
• rubato e poco Italian
  With a little rhythmic freedom. Used in the Preludes to allow expressive shaping of the melodic line without abandoning the jazz groove entirely.
  Gershwin's rubato is more restrained than Chopin's — think of a jazz singer slightly bending a phrase rather than a Romantic pianist reshaping entire bars. The accompanying pulse should stay grounded even as the melody breathes.
• swing feel English
  A rhythmic quality in which pairs of notated equal eighth notes are performed with a slight lilt — the first slightly longer and the second slightly shorter — evoking the feel of jazz and blues.
  Gershwin's piano writing exists at the boundary between classical notation and jazz idiom. A subtle swing in eighth-note passages — especially in the Preludes and Songbook — brings the music to life without distorting the notated pitches.