Gershwin for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist who lived from 1898 to 1937. He wrote hit songs for Broadway shows, and he brought the sound of jazz into the concert hall with Rhapsody in Blue. He died at 38. The best first piece for a child is the opening of Rhapsody in Blue, where a clarinet slides up like a siren.

Quick facts

• Born: 1898, in Brooklyn, New York
• Died: 1937, in Los Angeles, California
• Era: Modern
• Played: piano
• Known for: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, the opera Porgy and Bess, and dozens of songs

The life in short

Gershwin’s parents had come to New York from Russia. George was the second of four children. He spent his days roller skating and playing street games, and no one in the family thought of him as musical.

When he was about 12, his parents bought a piano for his older brother, Ira. George sat down and played a popular tune. He had taught himself on a friend’s piano.

He took lessons and learned fast. At 15, he left school for a job as a “song plugger.” He sat at a piano in a music publisher’s office and played new songs all day for customers.

Soon he was writing his own. At 20, he wrote a song called “Swanee” that sold in huge numbers. After that, he wrote the music for a string of Broadway shows. His brother Ira wrote the words.

In 1924, a bandleader named Paul Whiteman announced a concert of new American music. He asked Gershwin for a piece. Gershwin had about five weeks. He wrote Rhapsody in Blue and played the piano part himself at the first performance. It made him famous around the world.

He went on to write a piano concerto, An American in Paris, and Porgy and Bess, an opera with the song “Summertime.”

He moved to California to write songs for films. There he became ill with a brain tumor, and he died at 38.

What the music sounds like

Gershwin mixed two worlds. From jazz and blues, he took sliding notes, off-beat rhythms, and the sound of the clarinet, the saxophone, and the muted trumpet. From classical music, he took the full orchestra and long forms such as the concerto.

Four pieces to play first

Rhapsody in Blue. A clarinet trills low and then slides all the way up to a high note. Play the first three minutes, then skip to the broad, slow tune near the end.

An American in Paris. A visitor walks through the busy streets. Listen for the real taxi horns that Gershwin brought home from Paris for the orchestra.

“Summertime.” A slow lullaby from Porgy and Bess. Hundreds of singers and players have recorded it.

“Walking the Dog.” A short, jaunty piece for clarinet and small orchestra from one of his film scores. It is also called “Promenade.”

Things to do together

Slide up. Play the first ten seconds of Rhapsody in Blue. Slide your hand from the floor to above your head with the clarinet.

Honk. Play the first two minutes of An American in Paris. Honk an imaginary horn each time the taxi horns sound.

Walk the dog. Play “Walking the Dog” and stroll around the room with a pretend dog on a leash.

Train sounds. Gershwin said the rattle of a train gave him ideas for Rhapsody in Blue. Listen for music that chugs and clatters.

The clarinet slide

The famous slide was not in Gershwin’s first draft. He wrote a fast scale. At a rehearsal, the clarinet player smeared the notes together as a joke. Gershwin liked it and kept it. Read clarinet for kids to learn how the instrument does it.

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for Gershwin. For another American who mixed styles, read Copland for kids. For the composers of his century, see modern classical music for kids.

For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.