Ben cantando

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or below the staff at the start of a melodic passage, often with legato or dolce; it lasts for that passage, until a contrasting articulation or character word appears.

How Composers Use It

Ben intensifies cantando: a full, sustained singing tone with the phrase shaped like a vocal line. It is chiefly a reminder to instrumentalists — pianists especially — to connect and grade the melody rather than strike it. Cantabile and cantando already imply singing, so keep ben cantando for passages where that quality is most at risk.

Example

Chaminade, “Chanson groënlandaise”, piano, m. 6: “ben cantando” with “legatissimo” in the same bar.

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