“Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” was written in 1928 by Cole Porter for his Broadway musical Paris. With its mildly risqué, bordering-on-absurd lyrics, the song is a lighthearted mash-up of clever wordplay and double entendre. It’s also one of those numbers that has lent itself to additional topical verses over the years—a quick search will unearth a dozen additional verses beyond the basic set I’m using here.
Stylistically, “Let’s Do It” has been done in a wide variety of genres—ragtime, big band, cool jazz, and every pop style—generally reflecting the era during which it was recorded. Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg even did a punk rock version for the movie Tank Girl!
Compared to some of the songs we’ve covered in this series, this is a fairly adventurous arrangement using quite a few chords. However, I have offset the relatively sophisticated nature in two ways: First, I have chosen the key of F major, which takes as much advantage as possible of easy, first-position chording. Second, I’m using a fingerstyle pattern similar to the stride piano style, alternating between thumb-picked bass notes and three-note chord partials, which I pick with my index, middle, and ring fingers. I favor this technique for its clear articulation, allowing me to sound the strings I want cleanly and simultaneously, while avoiding those I don’t.
I’d recommend starting by taking the song at a slow tempo, and then picking up the pace as you get comfortable with the chord fingerings. Let’s do it!
Maurice TaniMaurice Tani is a veteran singer-songwriter and alt-country band leader based in California.
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