Love Is Here To Stay (From "Goldwyn Follies"): Lead Sheet

This collection gathers some of the most essential American standards in a single, practical volume. Singers and pianists will find themselves returning to these pieces throughout their performing lives, and the lead sheet format gives both performers the harmonic transparency needed to develop personal interpretations. The Gershwin catalog here represents the gold standard for what great popular song writing can accomplish.

These songs carry the sophisticated elegance of 1930s New York and Hollywood—witty, urbane, and deeply romantic by turns. There is a clarity and directness to the melody writing that makes these pieces immediately singable, yet the harmonic language beneath suggests depths that reward repeated listening and study.

Vocalists building a standards repertoire and pianists who accompany singers will find this collection indispensable. Jazz students, musical theater performers, and any musician exploring American popular song deserve ready access to these melodies and chord changes.

• Honor the implicit swing in the rhythmic notation; these songs breathe more freely than a strict reading suggests, especially in the verses and transitions.
• Study the chord extensions and substitutions carefully—they reveal Gershwin's jazz sophistication and offer harmonic landing points that will deepen your interpretation.
• Treat the melody as a conversation with the harmony rather than a separate element; the interplay between them is where much of the song's personality lives.
• Work from a recorded reference to absorb the traditional phrasing and rubato, then make deliberate choices about where to honor or reshape those conventions.

Include selections from this collection in jazz recitals, cabaret-style programs, or as encore material in vocal concerts. This material also serves beautifully in collaborative student recitals pairing singers with pianists, and individual songs work well as pedagogical pieces for exploring jazz harmony and American song style.

• Reading chord symbols and realizing jazz harmonies on piano
• Understanding the relationship between melody and underlying harmonic movement
• Interpreting swing rhythms and jazz phrasing in a vocal context
• Developing stylistically informed accompaniment that supports but doesn't overwhelm the singer
• Building fluency with the harmonic language of mid-century American popular song