Rational decomposition of modular forms

We prove explicit formulas decomposing cusp forms of even weight for the modular group, in terms of generators having rational periods, and in terms of generators having rational Fourier coefficients. Using the Shimura correspondence, we also give a decomposition of Hecke cusp forms of half integral weight k+1/2 with k even in terms of forms with rational Fourier coefficients, given by Rankin–Cohen brackets of theta series with Eisenstein series.