Editing George Gershwin (section)

===Early life===
George was born on September 26, 1898, in the Snediker Avenue apartment. His birth certificate identifies him as Jacob Gershwine, with the surname pronounced "Gersh-vin" in the Russian and Yiddish immigrant community.<ref>{{harvnb|Jablonski|1987|pp=24}}: "Morris Gershovitz moved his family...to Brooklyn, where he had found an unprepossessing two-story brick house at 242 Snedicker Avenue... In this house on September 26, 1898, Jacob Gershwine (as George's birth certificate reads) was delivered...The name change may have been Morris's idea; it is possible that by the time he married he had streamlined his name to "Gershvin," and so would the doctor have been informed. Gershwine in a Jewish community would still be pronounced Gershvin.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Pollack|2006|pp=fn707}}: "Gershwin's birth certificate reads, 'Jacob Gershwine'; [Frances Gershwin] suggests that Morris's brother, Aaron, first changed the family name, though the latter gave his name in the 1920 census as 'Gershvin.'"</ref> He was named after his grandfather, and, contrary to the American practice, had no middle name. He soon became known as George,<ref>{{harvnb|Jablonski|1987|pp=25}}: "Eight-year old George (no one in the family remembers calling him Jake or Jacob)..."</ref> and changed the spelling of his surname to "Gershwin" around the time he became a professional musician; other family members followed suit{{Sfn|Jablonski|1987|pp=10, 29–31}} after Ira and George, another boy, [[Arthur Gershwin]] (1900–1981), and a girl, [[Frances Gershwin]] (1906–1999), were born into the family. The family lived in many different residences, as their father changed dwellings with each new enterprise in which he became involved. They grew up mostly in the [[Yiddish Theater District]]. George and Ira frequented the local Yiddish theaters, with George occasionally appearing onstage as an [[Extra (actor)|extra]].{{sfn|Pollack|2006}}<ref name="google1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ClbSVEha8gC&pg=PT199 |title=The Rough Guide to New York City |author=Andrew Rosenberg, Martin Dunford |publisher=Penguin |year= 2012|isbn=978-1-4053-9022-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/loc/Gershwin.html |title=Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress: George Gershwin |encyclopedia=Jewish Virtual Library |year=2013 |access-date=March 10, 2013}} As quoted by Abraham J. Karp (1991) ''From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress'', p. 351, {{ISBN|0-8478-1450-5}}.</ref>

George lived a boyhood not unusual in New York tenements, which included running around with his friends, roller-skating and misbehaving in the streets. Until 1908, he cared nothing about music. Then, as a ten-year-old, he was intrigued upon hearing his friend Maxie Rosenzweig's violin recital.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gershwin, His Life and Music |last=Schwartz |first=Charles |year=1973 |publisher=Da Capo Press, Inc. |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-306-80096-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gershwinhislifem00schw/page/14 14] |url=https://archive.org/details/gershwinhislifem00schw/page/14 }}</ref> The sound, and the way his friend played, captivated him. At about the same time, George's parents had bought a piano for his older brother Ira. To his parents' surprise, though, and to Ira's relief, it was George who spent more time playing it as he continued to enjoy it.{{sfn|Hyland|2003|p=13}}

Although his younger sister [[Frances Gershwin]] was the first in the family to make a living through her musical talents, she married young and devoted herself to being a mother and housewife, thus precluding spending any serious time on musical endeavors. Having given up her performing career, she settled upon painting as a creative outlet, which had also been a hobby George briefly pursued. [[Arthur Gershwin]] followed in the paths of George and Ira, also becoming a composer of songs, musicals, and short piano pieces. George studied with various piano teachers for about two years (circa 1911) before finally being introduced to [[Charles Hambitzer]] by Jack Miller (circa 1913), the pianist in the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra. Until his death in 1918, Hambitzer remained Gershwin's musical mentor, taught him conventional piano technique, introduced him to music of the European classical tradition, and encouraged him to attend orchestral concerts.{{sfn|Hyland|2003|p=14}}