Editing Irving Berlin (section)

==Songwriting methods==
According to Saul Bornstein (a.k.a. Sol Bourne, Saul Bourne), Berlin's publishing company manager, "It was a ritual for Berlin to write a complete song, words and music, every day."<ref name=Wilder>Wilder, Alec. ''American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950'', Oxford Univ. Press (1972)</ref>{{rp|92}} Berlin said that he "did not believe in inspiration," and felt that although he might be gifted in certain areas, his most successful compositions were a "result of work". He said that he did most of his work under pressure. He would typically begin writing after dinner and continue until 4 or 5 in the morning. "Each day I would attend rehearsals", he said, "and at night write another song and bring it down the next day."<ref name=NYT-1916/>

Not always certain about his own writing abilities, he once asked a songwriter friend, [[Victor Herbert]], whether he should study composition. "You have a natural gift for words and music," Mr. Herbert told him. "Learning theory might help you a little, but it could cramp your style." Berlin took his advice. Herbert later became a moving force behind the creation of ASCAP, the [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]]. In 1914, Berlin joined him as a charter member of the organization that has protected the royalties of composers and writers ever since.<ref name=NYT-obit/> In 1920, Irving Berlin became a member of [[SACEM]], the French Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers.<ref name=":0" />

In later years, Berlin emphasized his conviction, saying that "it's the lyrics that makes a song a hit, although the tune, of course, is what makes it last."<ref name=Furia/>{{rp|234}} He played almost entirely in the key of [[F-sharp major|F-sharp]] so that he could stay on the black keys, and owned three [[transposing piano]]s so as to change keys by moving a lever.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The Straight Dope]]|date= July 28, 2006 |first1=Cecil |last1=Adams |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2664/if-irving-berlin-could-not-read-or-write-music-how-did-he-compose|title= If Irving Berlin couldn't read or write music, how did he compose? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927074932/https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2664/if-irving-berlin-could-not-read-or-write-music-how-did-he-compose/ |archive-date= September 27, 2023 }}</ref> Though Berlin eventually learned how to produce written music, he never changed his method of dictating songs to a "musical secretary".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Irving Berlin reader|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor-last1=Sears |editor-first1=Benjamin |isbn=978-0195383744|location=New York|oclc=708648754}}</ref>{{efn|Berlin never learned to play in more than one key and used two special pianos (his first piano, purchased second-hand in 1909, was made by Weser Brothers, augmented in 1921 by a second from Somner Brothers) with transposing levers to change keys. Berlin demonstrated his transposing keyboard during a television show with Dinah Shore, and the piano was placed on display in Belgium's Red Star Line Museum in 2013, on loan from the Emmet family. A second transposing piano is on loan from the Peters family to the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.}}

As a result, Wilder says that many admirers of the music of [[Jerome Kern]], [[Richard Rodgers]] and [[Cole Porter]] were unlikely to consider Berlin's work in the same category because they forgot or never realized that Berlin wrote many popular tunes, such as "Soft Lights and Sweet Music", "Supper Time", and "Cheek to Cheek". Some are even more confused because he also wrote more romantic melodies, such as "What'll I Do?" and "Always".<ref name=Wilder/> Wilder adds that "in his lyrics as in his melodies, Berlin reveals a constant awareness of the world around him: the pulse of the times, the society in which his is functioning. There is nothing of the hothouse about his work, urban though it may be."<ref name=Wilder/>