Benny Goodman even to use new fingering techniques. He had his old finger calluses removed and started to learn how to play his clarinet again—almost from scratch." Goodman commissioned compositions for clarinet and chamber ensembles or orchestra that have become standard pieces of classical repertoire. He premiered works by composers, such as "Contrasts" by Béla Bartók; "Clarinet Concerto No. 2, Op. 115" by Malcolm Arnold; "Derivations for Clarinet and Band" by Morton Gould; "Sonata for Clarinet and Piano" by Francis Poulenc, and "Clarinet Concerto" by Aaron Copland. "Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs" by Leonard Bernstein was commissioned for Woody Herman's big band, but
Benny Goodman railroad yards and factories that was populated by German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Jewish immigrants. Money was a constant problem. On Sundays, his father took the children to free band concerts in Douglas Park, which was the first time Goodman experienced live professional performances. To give his children some skills and an appreciation for music, his father enrolled ten-year-old Goodman and two of his brothers in music lessons at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. During the next year Goodman joined the boys club band at Hull House, where he received lessons from director James Sylvestert. By joining the band, he