Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, In Music Lessons
Jeremy Denk“Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music, & especially to the music teachers, in his life.” — Conrad Tao, pianist & composer
In Every Good Boy Does Fine, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. His life is already a little tough as a precocious, temperamental 6-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey, & then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico. There, Denk must please a new taskmaster, an embittered but devoted professor, while navigating junior high school.
At sixteen he escapes to college in Ohio, only to encounter a bewildering new cast of music teachers, both kind & cruel. After many humiliations & a few triumphs, he ultimately finds his way as a world-touring pianist, a MacArthur “Genius,” & a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall.
Many classical music memoirs focus on famous musicians & professional accomplishments, but this book focuses on the everyday: neighbourhood teacher, high school orchestra, local conductor. There are few writers capable of so deeply illuminating the trials of artistic practice - hours of daily repetition, mystifying advice, pressure from parents & teachers. But under all this struggle is a love letter to the act of teaching.
In lively, endlessly imaginative prose, Jeremy Denk dives deeply into the pieces & composers that have shaped him - Bach, Mozart, & Brahms, among others - & offers lessons on melody, harmony, & rhythm. How do melodies work? Why is harmony such a mystery to most people? Why are teachers so obsessed with the metronome?
In Every Good Boy Does Fine, Denk shares the most meaningful lessons of his life & tries to repay a debt to his teachers. He also reminds us that we must never stop asking q