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Paul C(larence) Herfurth [C. Paul Herfurth] began violin lessons at the age of 7 and studied in Germany for a year before entering the New England Conservatory of Music in 1911, graduating in 1916.
Paul Herfurth’s first school position was at Asheville, North Carolina. In 1922 he moved to New Jersey and organised that state's first full instrumental music program. He was the first author of the Tune a Day books, which are used across the English speaking world to teach music. Although best known for his Tune a Day books, Herfurth also edited and arranged many collections for violin, cello and viola with piano. Herfurth later enlisted the services of Hugh M. Stuart and other writers to expand the coverage of the books. In his retirement he lived in Florida. |
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The earliest, dated, Tune a Day book listed in the Library of Congress catalog is simply entitled Tune a Day and was published in Boston by the Boston Music company in 1937. Others quickly followed: Tune a Day for Cornet (Trumpet) Instruction (1941), titles for clarinet, string bass, trombone(baritone) and saxophone in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945 respectively. The series soon expanded to include 15 different versions, with books in each version catering for various levels. The books remained seemingly unchanged for sixty years maintaining typographical idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies that give them an "amateurish" feel, and retained photographs of teenagers from the 1940’s playing the instruments. It was only in 2006 that the Boston Music Company updated the series to create the New Tune a Day series, with color photographs and modernised typography.
Interestingly the series did not include any books for piano, perhaps because the beginners books of John W. Schaum filled this niche: both series contained simple well known hymn and folk tunes. |
