This piano tuning blog is a companion to our How to Tune a Piano Yourself tutorial. In this blog we expand on the tutorial with new information and perspectives on do-it-yourself piano tuning. If it is your first time here, visit the tutorial first.
Tuning Gershwin's Piano
From the "Curious Piano Tuning Stories" file: A piano tuner is called to tune (what he is told) George Gershwin's piano, many years after Gerswin's death. Inside, he finds a wadded paper. He inadvertently kept the paper, but did not know it. Years later, he finds the paper, but did not immediately recall its origin. He discovers that the wadded paper has a few notes of a melody written on it. He writes a tune based on those notes, and adds lyrics. Only later does it dawn on him where that paper came from. The question is, who does the tune "belong" to--Gershwin, or the tuner? Now that's not an easy question! He can't prove the tune is Gershwin's. He no longer has the paper, and the Gershwin family trust turned everything Gershwin over to the Library of Congress. His offers to turn over the copyright have gone unacknowledged! What would you do?
05/29/11
Comments
The piano tuner did try to turn it over and was apparently ignored. I think the library is not interested cause it is not "pure" perhaps?
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