For over thirty years it has been a mission of mine to create the most accurate note for note transcriptions of all of George Gershwin’s piano improvisations (on his own songs) from early electrical recordings, film clips and radio broadcasts from the 1920s and 1930s. 

Fortunately, for all Gershwin fans they will at last become available to play and study as they are soon to be published in an exciting new volume of the Gershwin Critical Edition which I have been privileged to edit.

Gershwin improvised many variations on his own songs at parties and public events. He would monopolise the piano for hours – his sister Frankie said that he never played the same tune the same way twice. His unique “stride” based piano style was inspired by jazz pianists like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller and was dense, orchestral and virtuosic. Its impact was mesmerising and magical. Gershwin played with a relentless rhythm drive and used ingenious tricks and effects inspired by jazz and the “novelty piano” style pioneered by Zez Confrey.

Though Gershwin did not use his improvisational style in his compositions he did publish brief improvisations for 18 songs (of just the choruses) in the George Gershwin Song Book of 1932. These are the well-known arrangements you have heard most concert pianists play for many years, but they don’t give you the full effect. These fragments are generally far less difficult and thinner in texture.

My fascination with this goes back to 1993 some time after I discovered Gershwin aged 14 when I learnt to play Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F. I discovered some of Gershwin’s improvisations published by Artis Wodehouse and was inspired by Jack Gibbons’ outstanding recreations and arrangements on the ASV label in four volumes called The Authentic Gershwin.

I had little idea in those days, and it was difficult to hear using a cassette player. I soon discovered these transcriptions needed to be done a lot more accurately after hearing clearer digitally restored versions on compact disc.

Over the years I perfected these transcriptions, listening to different versions of the originals. But it was only at the beginning of 2026, during a final revision (of many) that I found the clearest way to hear these old recordings – listening to multiple versions on YouTube against checking my own scores. I found for the first time I could hear absolutely everything and even decipher all of the wrong notes I could not work out before. I had of course got a lot better at transcribing over many years but I was also able to solve many mysteries of what Gershwin was playing by studying film footage of his playing, the fingers used, position on the keys etc.

It was far harder than I ever imagined. To transcribe accurately you have to literally hear every note and eliminate possible overtones. You cannot guess, you need to actually hear it and tune your brain into the right frequencies. Then you cross reference different parts of the track and other recordings.

I am so happy they have now been done properly and that they will be made available. It is something that was long overdue but I’m so glad it has taken this time and be sure of getting it right. I can’t imagine spending so much time on anything else in such excruciating detail, (though I did with album Dudley Moore’s Songs Without Words!) but it will create a whole new repertoire of piano music for Gershwin. His genius deserves it.

Gershwin’s piano rolls

Artis Wodehouse and George Litterest published some of the piano rolls for piano solo and duet in the early 1990s.  These were exactly transcribed by playing the rolls though a Yamaha disc playing piano and turning the Midi tracks into sheet music.

I made my own solo versions of the remaining rolls by ear. I did not find any versions of these rolls made by enthusiasts on YouTube etc. to be accurate but I found some Midi files and scores from an unknown source made from optical scans of piano rolls. I checked Come to the Moon and Nobody But You and I believe them both to be accurate.

They were difficult to transcribe. Some notes came out unevenly or with slight differences on different recordings.

I recently discovered that Poppyland is listed as a Gershwin roll. I’ve yet to transcribe this.

My hope is that piano versions of these will be published. Though they would be hard to play it would be more practical than making duets.