Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons
- Downloads：6764
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-22 06:52:05
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeremy Denk
- ISBN：0812995988
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A beautifully written， witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music--its power， its meanings， and what it can teach us about ourselves--from the MacArthur Genius Grant-winning pianist
"Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music， and especially to the music teachers， in his life。"--Conrad Tao， pianist and 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 six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey， and 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 and cruel。 After many humiliations and a few triumphs， he ultimately finds his way as a world-touring pianist， a MacArthur "Genius，" and a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall。
Many classical music memoirs focus on famous musicians and professional accomplishments， but this book focuses on the everyday: neighborhood 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 and teachers。 But under all this struggle is a love letter to the act of teaching。
In lively， endlessly imaginative prose， Denk dives deeply into the pieces and composers that have shaped him--Bach， Mozart， and Brahms， among others--and offers lessons on melody， harmony， and 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， and tries to repay a debt to his teachers。 He also reminds us that we must never stop asking questions about music and its purposes: consolation， an armor against disillusionment， pure pleasure， a diversion， a refuge， and a vehicle for empathy。
"Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music， and especially to the music teachers， in his life。"--Conrad Tao， pianist and 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 six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey， and 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 and cruel。 After many humiliations and a few triumphs， he ultimately finds his way as a world-touring pianist， a MacArthur "Genius，" and a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall。
Many classical music memoirs focus on famous musicians and professional accomplishments， but this book focuses on the everyday: neighborhood 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 and teachers。 But under all this struggle is a love letter to the act of teaching。
In lively， endlessly imaginative prose， Denk dives deeply into the pieces and composers that have shaped him--Bach， Mozart， and Brahms， among others--and offers lessons on melody， harmony， and 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， and tries to repay a debt to his teachers。 He also reminds us that we must never stop asking questions about music and its purposes: consolation， an armor against disillusionment， pure pleasure， a diversion， a refuge， and a vehicle for empathy。
Reviews
Drew
，
A narrative of life's truths & liesBy wrestling and eventually learning how the author accepted or didn't accept his notated journey， you become better acquainted with the secrets music will explode or implode upon you， as a musician and/or as a thinking person。 After reading this book， I feel like I have had a super-duper set of piano lessons。 Can not wait to hear him perform at Severance Hall， soon。 A narrative of life's truths & liesBy wrestling and eventually learning how the author accepted or didn't accept his notated journey， you become better acquainted with the secrets music will explode or implode upon you， as a musician and/or as a thinking person。 After reading this book， I feel like I have had a super-duper set of piano lessons。 Can not wait to hear him perform at Severance Hall， soon。 。。。more
R。A。
，
Flashbacks to music theory classes that I didn’t need。 Witty， self-deprecating， and beautiful。 Fun to hear about Darrett， a former teacher of mine。
Linda Robertson
，
Interesting take on learning the piano。
Judy
，
I listened to the audio version of the book， and found the story was enhanced by the inclusion of music samples along the way。 While Denk’s personal story has many chapters， the book felt a little too long。
Ann
，
I adored listening to this book and its insights。 Especially into 3 essential elements of music: harmony， melody and rhythm。 I also learned how a classical concert musician gets his start in training and lessons。 Fascinating and sometimes sad。 An endearing person。 Many people would wear out reading / listening to this。 Mrs Maevers’ memory kept me reading！
Joyce
，
An interesting use of musical concepts to define a life。 The musical selections for each chapter provide context。
Jeana Smith
，
Wonderful book capturing the dedication and sacrifices musicians make。
QA
，
Amazing book， only Denk could have written such a wonderful bildungsroman， a tale of growth and more than anything else the struggle all of us have to go through to grow up in a life。 The musical analysis is thrilling and quite moving， I choked up many times during this。 I am going to have to read it again， just to savor many of the innumerable points he makes。 He is the kind of writer that you wish you have as a friend so that you can delight in his random comments。 It is up to the level of his Amazing book， only Denk could have written such a wonderful bildungsroman， a tale of growth and more than anything else the struggle all of us have to go through to grow up in a life。 The musical analysis is thrilling and quite moving， I choked up many times during this。 I am going to have to read it again， just to savor many of the innumerable points he makes。 He is the kind of writer that you wish you have as a friend so that you can delight in his random comments。 It is up to the level of his Think Denk blog， which is the highest praise one can give for writing about music 。。。more
JDK1962
，
As I've mentioned in other reviews， one reason I read is to experience other lives。 This book gave me the opportunity to experience a bit of a conservatory student/pianist's life。 I was especially happy that it didn't skimp on the geeky musical detail， a pet peeve with a lot of musician autobiographies。 As I'm not super-familiar with the classical canon， it was actually almost overwhelming at times， but I'd rather have that than being underwhelmed。 Plus， as someone trying （in middle/late years） As I've mentioned in other reviews， one reason I read is to experience other lives。 This book gave me the opportunity to experience a bit of a conservatory student/pianist's life。 I was especially happy that it didn't skimp on the geeky musical detail， a pet peeve with a lot of musician autobiographies。 As I'm not super-familiar with the classical canon， it was actually almost overwhelming at times， but I'd rather have that than being underwhelmed。 Plus， as someone trying （in middle/late years） to learn an instrument and get beyond "notes on a page，" the advice from his teachers and mentors that he passes on is really valuable。 。。。more
Dan
，
Denk's memoir is structured like a classic buildungsroman- we follow him from childhood through his struggles to emerge as a full formed musician through to the end when all the pieces are finally in place for success。 It's a satisfying formula and works well here。 Interspersed are ideas on music and art and life in general， all enlightening and entertaining in their own right。 As someone who never really has managed to get very far in my own musical efforts and consequently knows very little of Denk's memoir is structured like a classic buildungsroman- we follow him from childhood through his struggles to emerge as a full formed musician through to the end when all the pieces are finally in place for success。 It's a satisfying formula and works well here。 Interspersed are ideas on music and art and life in general， all enlightening and entertaining in their own right。 As someone who never really has managed to get very far in my own musical efforts and consequently knows very little of things like music theory， I've always admired Denk's ability to describe musical concepts and ideas in ways I can process。 The caveat is that in the past I've seen him do this with a piano in front of him。 In written form I'm reliant on my own ability to interpret visual representations and find recordings of pieces to isolate the passages that he's talking about， which I did to the best of my ability （and I really appreciate the listening suggestions in the text and the appendix with notes on the pieces- fantastic！）， but I wish I could actually listen to him play the passages and talk about them。 Maybe in the audiobook。 My other quibble is that he comes off a bit blind to what I think of as some of the major issues in classical music education- the power dynamic between students and teachers that is often exploited by bad actors （abuse especially suffered by women and girls）， and the degree to which doors are shut to so many based on race and class。 While he does touch on these issues- he clearly came from a background that was economically more challenging than most of his peers （but not so much his family could not afford a piano or lessons）。 He speaks of bits of bad behavior by teacher/professors， but mostly in a tone that comes off in that "that's how things were in those days" or "if you want to be great you have to suffer this" or even a bit of "isn't it crazy what we let people do *giggle*"。 I have no doubt that this is how he experienced his journey and there's no reason not to go on the ride with him- this is *his* story， after all。 It's impossible to resist putting the music on while you read and you'll find yourself stopping over and over again to really listen to pieces old and new with exciting new angles， approaches and ideas about hearing them， which is reason enough to pick up the book。 。。。more
Rick Rapp
，
This is a fascinating premise for a book: a professional pianist traces his career and development through his many teachers and their conflicting pedagogies。 Each chapter is prefaces with works of music that parallel his journey and his frustrations。 I am unfamiliar with his work， but his story is a compelling one。 He is also adept as a writer in addition to his skills as a pianist。 For any artist struggling with decisions about whether to continue， this is a must read。
Vince
，
This note is specifically about the audiobook version。 It has many advantages over the print version， and is worthy of consideration even for those who have read the book， especially for those that are big Jeremy Denk fans。The first major bonus is the fact that it is read by Denk himself。 His reading imparts a wonderful live quality to the narration; the personal elements of his life story leap to life。 The descriptions of people and events have a vividness that would be impossible to convey eve This note is specifically about the audiobook version。 It has many advantages over the print version， and is worthy of consideration even for those who have read the book， especially for those that are big Jeremy Denk fans。The first major bonus is the fact that it is read by Denk himself。 His reading imparts a wonderful live quality to the narration; the personal elements of his life story leap to life。 The descriptions of people and events have a vividness that would be impossible to convey even with a very talented and musically-inclined voice actor。 One memorable example comes in the “More Europeans！” chapter， when Denk discusses the singing voice of the legendary cellist Janos Starker。 It’s one thing to describe it as “a duck forced to quack while you squeezed it in a vice”， and another thing to hear Denk imitate it。The second bonus is that the audio book comes with numerous snippets of Denk’s piano playing to illustrate the points he’s making。 Reading about music is a bit like a watching an emotionally-complex movie dialogue with subtitles and no sound。 You get the gist， but there’s so much meaning lost if you aren’t able to follow the sound。 The examples， which range from demonstrating his childhood Dohnanyi finger exercises to the discussions of harmony in a Bach Fugue。 One only wishes they could incorporate corresponding music for every episode discussed in the book （e。g。 in the discussion of Nina Simone）， but that would clearly be impracticable。As for the content of book， I can’t add more than what has already been written by Corina da Fonseca-Wollheim （NY Times）， David Weininger （Boston Globe）， and especially Simon Callow （NY Review of Books）。 If you want to know what this book is about， start with those reviews。 。。。more
Jackie Rosen
，
The final poem was really beautiful。
Emily
，
If you want to read this， I highly recommend the audiobook。 It’s read by the author and includes piano examples of the points he’s making。
Don
，
（FROM MY BLOG） （I'm still only half-way through the book， so this doesn't really qualify as a book review。 But I've had immediate thoughts about Denk's writing， arising out of my own very limited musical experience， which I shared on my blog yesterday。）I took piano lessons for six years as a child。 During my final three years， I would practice one and a half hours each day， usually before school。 I enjoyed it， but -- like many kids -- once I was 15， I decided that enough was enough。 I quit。Years （FROM MY BLOG） （I'm still only half-way through the book， so this doesn't really qualify as a book review。 But I've had immediate thoughts about Denk's writing， arising out of my own very limited musical experience， which I shared on my blog yesterday。）I took piano lessons for six years as a child。 During my final three years， I would practice one and a half hours each day， usually before school。 I enjoyed it， but -- like many kids -- once I was 15， I decided that enough was enough。 I quit。Years later， near the end of my legal career， I resumed piano lessons from a teacher in Seattle， dropped out again， and returned to the same teacher several years later。 She was an excellent teacher， far more accomplished than my childhood teacher， having studied at the Leningrad Conservatory as a young woman。 She seemed pleased to have me as a student。She asked me to perform at a couple of student recitals -- which I did， feeling somewhat awkward among a flock of child and teenaged performers。 I recall performing the second movement to Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata。 To a limited degree， I'm a perfectionist， and I wasn't too happy with my playing。 But my teacher told me that it had gone very well， and I took her word for it。I suppose that compared with her sixth graders， I was a delight to teach。 If I learned all the notes to a piece， followed all the printed notations in the score， and in addition brought some sense of emotional feeling to the piece， she professed herself very happy。 "Good sense of musicality，" she would say。What brings all this to mind is my current reading of Every Good Boy Does Fine， by Jeremy Denk。 I hope to review this excellent book once I finish it， but what I've read so far impresses me with how little I knew about any of the classical pieces I played， with whose playing my teacher had professed herself satisfied。 Denk is not only an outstanding pianist， but an excellent teacher， and his book -- published this week -- is a memoir of his life （written at age 51）， intertwined with discussions of the difficulties he had mastering the pieces he was taught。 These discussions are， the reader quickly realizes， a vehicle for teaching the reader an appreciation of musical theory。For me， it's also been a vehicle for teaching me humility -- although， insofar as my musical training was concerned， attaining humility has been hardly an accomplishment。 I learned to play entire pages， listening to the melody where there was a discernable melody， juicing it up with a bit of emotion， and otherwise just playing the notes。 Denk will spend a number of paragraphs discussing the profound musical effect of omitting just one note in a flight up a scale。 His discussions are a revelation， and what they reveal is that no one ever perfects the playing of a classical piece， because there are always new subtleties to be discovered in a good composition -- subtleties that augment the pianist's understanding of the composer's vision， and that can be incorporated in his performance。A few minutes ago， I looked over my copy of the score to the second movement of Beethoven's Pathétique， and noted the composer's copious use of "slurs" -- those curving lines above or below the flow of notes。 They indicate phrases， notes that should be considered together， like words in a sentence。 I always ignored them， because the phrasing seemed obvious without them。Denk， as a college student， tended to ignore them as well。 His teacher demanded otherwise， making him sing nonsense lyrics while playing。The point of the lyrics was that they would force me to observe the slurs written on the page， taking breaths with the words。 Painstakingly， I played ， while Bill made me sing along 。。。。 We practiced until I could do all the slurs exactly as written， which seemed fussy and prissy 。。。。But Denk appreciated the teaching， once he got the hang of it。 But then a later teacher called the slurs simply "sloppy notation" by Beethoven， notation that should be ignored。Sometimes， learning from two teachers with opposing views can be valuable。 Denk appeciated the opinions of the second teacher， but ended up siding with the more exacting demands of the first。These days， I find the slurs almost more beautiful than the notes。 They tell you about the play of the music against the beat， the visible against the invisible。 。。。 Slurs look like an arc， and imply a journey。I don't offer these quotations because I have any feeling， one way or the other， about slurs。 But Denk's discussions remind us that highly trained musicians can argue over matters that are far above the notice or understanding of a novice pianist -- even one who has been praised for his "musicality" by his well-meaning （and probably long-suffering） teacher。 Denk's entire book -- in the guise of a well-written， humorous， self-deprecating memoir -- is an encouragement to everyone， whether music novices or experts， to avoid complacency， and to realize that no matter how well you think you know a piece of music， there's always something more to discover。 Usually， a lot more。 。。。more
Barbara Hall
，
E-G-B-D-F: the first letters in each of the title's words -- the mnemonic memorized by countless beginning piano students to learn the line notes of the treble clef -- make this a spot on perfect title for a pianist's memoir！This debut work by the acclaimed American pianist chronicles his life in music。 A prodigy in his early New Jersey and New Mexico boyhood years， the young Denk was also a misfit among his peers。 Finishing high school at age 16， he goes off to Oberlin， followed by graduate wor E-G-B-D-F: the first letters in each of the title's words -- the mnemonic memorized by countless beginning piano students to learn the line notes of the treble clef -- make this a spot on perfect title for a pianist's memoir！This debut work by the acclaimed American pianist chronicles his life in music。 A prodigy in his early New Jersey and New Mexico boyhood years， the young Denk was also a misfit among his peers。 Finishing high school at age 16， he goes off to Oberlin， followed by graduate work at Indiana University and later， Juilliard。 Each chapter of the book begins with a playlist of musical works。 It is in his studies of these particular works that Denk provides the lens through which his musical AND life lessons are recounted in prose that is thoughtful， insightful and very funny -- I had many genuine LOL moments while reading。Throughout the pages， Denk's profound respect and devotion to music is inspiring。 I frequently queued up the playlist of works as I read， in order to have the aural experience enhance the musical descriptions that were so evocatively written。 The piano training and musical education given by many of the teachers and professors in Denk's life， are portrayed in all their brilliance， kindness and sometimes， cruelty -- making for fascinating reading。I spent my childhood taking piano lessons and in my adulthood， became a piano teacher in my small town。 Though I am not remotely the pianist of Denk's caliber， his memoir resonated with me in many of the situations described with his early teachers。 Because I share a musical language with him， each chapter's playlist provided another depth of appreciation as well as being able to understand much of the detailed musical explanations of technique， tone production， rhythm， etc。 My only reservation about this book is that the non musically trained person might feel a bit lost in the abundant musical detail in this otherwise insightful and entertaining coming of age story。 For me though， this work is a profound love letter to music and a fascinating portrait of the making of an artist。 I have listened to many of Denk's recordings and cannot wait for the day to hear him live in performance！ 。。。more
Bree
，
I received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway and I’m glad I did！！ I thought this book was super well written。 I really felt drawn to Jeremy and only wish I could be as good as him at the piano。 He really loves music and it shows throughout every part of this book。 Music is a passion of mine too and this book has inspired me not only to love the piano more， but to love music more too。 Jeremy wrote this book in a way that makes you really feel like you’re right there with him。 I would abso I received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway and I’m glad I did！！ I thought this book was super well written。 I really felt drawn to Jeremy and only wish I could be as good as him at the piano。 He really loves music and it shows throughout every part of this book。 Music is a passion of mine too and this book has inspired me not only to love the piano more， but to love music more too。 Jeremy wrote this book in a way that makes you really feel like you’re right there with him。 I would absolutely read another book by him。 。。。more
M。
，
It was a good read。
Jan
，
Pianists， classical musicians and music teachers could all relate to Jeremy's trip through music lessons and finally concertizing。 Loved the quarter rests in between sections。 Be sure to read the appendix， Jeremy was free with his wit and humor following the story。 A success story filled with insights from prominent music teachers。 Get out your scores and add slurs， ideas and pauses。 Pianists， classical musicians and music teachers could all relate to Jeremy's trip through music lessons and finally concertizing。 Loved the quarter rests in between sections。 Be sure to read the appendix， Jeremy was free with his wit and humor following the story。 A success story filled with insights from prominent music teachers。 Get out your scores and add slurs， ideas and pauses。 。。。more
Stuart Jennings
，
If you want to get an in-depth understanding of the classics，this gives you a good start。。。The story is just amazing and a good read also。。。The author， seriously knows his stuff。。。and writes deeplyabout his life， his music and everything else。。。A most enjoyable read。。。Highly Recommended！
Dan
，
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Random House for an advance copy of this new memoir。The world has never been kind to artists。 From the most successful to the most driven， to those who find after they have given up， either life or their passion， art never stops the outside from forcing its way in to the artists reality。 To a parent berating a child during a school performance， to a bus full of of enraged elementary school students trying to find who had the My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Random House for an advance copy of this new memoir。The world has never been kind to artists。 From the most successful to the most driven， to those who find after they have given up， either life or their passion， art never stops the outside from forcing its way in to the artists reality。 To a parent berating a child during a school performance， to a bus full of of enraged elementary school students trying to find who had the affrontery to dare play classical music by destroying everything around them。 Jeremy Denk got to experience this first hand。 Piano and math were his passions as a child under ten， so an outsider he was doomed to be。 In his memoir， Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story， in Music Lessons， the MacArthur Genus Grant and renowned classical pianist Jeremy Denk， shares stories of his childhood， his love of the piano， and of the teachers who showed him the way。 Known his his liner notes， blog and other writings on classical music and how to appreciate it， Mr。 Denk is as good on this kind of keyboard as he is on the piano。 Mr。 Denk tells of his parents， and their interesting backstories， his moves as a child which might have made it harder to socialise， gifted programs， bullying， math love and piano， piano， piano。 Mr。 Denk's early love/ hate with the musical instrument will be familiar to many a burgeoning rock star， he loved to play， hated to practice。 Along with stories of growing up， Mr。 Denk adds in stories and appreciations on various composers and their works， what makes one piece resound so， what makes another one forgettable。 Some musical discussions might be a a bit much for some， but it is interesting and gives insight into how Mr。 Denk's mind works。 The writing is both loose and informative。 Some incidents a reader would like to know more about， some incidents the reader might wonder why they were included。 What comes across is that without good teachers， Mr。 Denk might have been lost。 Not that all his teachers were sterling， but enough of them cared， and tried to help what sounded like a unhappy child， be a little less lost。 A well written memoir about a person with gifts who was lucky to have teachers and even occasionally parents that tried as best they could to make a good person。 The parents had their own burdens， but they tried， and in the end， succeeded。 A very good book about the power of music， family dysfunction， and the Great Composers。 Recommended for music fans of all kinds， and especially for parents whose children might be gifted with musical talent。 。。。more
Lydia Wallace
，
What a great book。 I always wanted to learn the piano in my youth， but never had the opportunity。 A uniquely illuminating memoir of the making of a musician， in which renowned pianist Jeremy Denk explores what he learned from his teachers about classical music: its forms， its power， its meaning - and what it can teach us about ourselves。 Everyone should read this book to learn about Jeremy Denk and to learn something about themselves。 Highly recommend。
Cheri
，