History of the Composition
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn NewYork on September 26th, 1898. He is one of the most significant and popular American composers of all time, having composed many songs as well as piano pieces. Gershwin died on July 11th, 1937.
An interesting tidbit of information is that the chord progression (the order of the chords) in “I Got Rhythm” has become a standard form that jazz musicians improvise on. These chord changes are so popular they are referred to as “Rhythm Changes” after “I Got Rhythm”.
Personal Note
I am a huge fan of Gershwin, and this piece, “I Got Rhythm”, is one of my favourites to play. It is a very familiar piece to many, and also has great lyrics. “…I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man, who could ask for anything more!…”
I so enjoy playing this piece because of how rhythmic it is and also because of the challenging leaps in both hands. You can see how fun it is to play!
Enjoy!