Every Good Boy Does Fine by Jeremy Denk - Reading Together - Chapters 3 and 4

In chapters 3 and 4 of Every Good Boy Does Fine, Jeremy Denk navigates his adolescence, trading standard childhood pastimes for rigorous piano lessons. Denk dissects the emotional friction between disciplined drill and artistic impulse, examining how foundational repertoire, such as J.S. Bach’s two-part inventions and early classical sonatinas, shapes technical fluency and musical perception. Balancing witty teenage self-consciousness with profound musical analysis, these chapters explore the grueling mechanics of practice, the early awakening of architectural listening, and the complex, often fraught mentorship that transforms raw enthusiasm into serious musicianship.

If you want to delve into more music theory with your students, here are some resources to do that.

- J.S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions, BWV 772–786: Denk highlights learning Bach’s two-part inventions as a turning point in training both hands to sing independently. This public-domain archive provides historic editions, urtexts, and fingering variants suitable for analyzing voice-leading with intermediate students.
- The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy: Piano Magazine Archives: Chapters 3 and 4 dwell on the psychological tug-of-war between adolescent rebellion and the demands of deliberate practice. The Frances Clark Center publishes peer-reviewed articles, lesson strategies, and repertoire tracks designed to keep intermediate teenagers engaged through technical plateaus.
- Performance Today – Piano Puzzlers & Educational Archive: A core theme in these chapters is Denk learning to hear harmony and architectural structure rather than just isolated notes. Performance Today offers accessible listening guides, interviews with concert pianists, and harmonic breakdowns that instructors can assign to develop analytical listening habits.
- The Bulletproof Musician: Chapters 3 and 4 highlight the psychological grind of daily practice, the struggle to focus through repetitive technical work, and the emotional friction between student and teacher. Created by Juilliard performance psychologist and violinist Dr. Noa Kageyama, this resource translates sport psychology and cognitive research into actionable strategies for music studios. Teachers can use its guides to help intermediate students build deliberate practice habits, navigate perfectionism, and self-regulate during challenging technical development.

-----
I've published five piano music books and one guitar music book. Get them here. Sign up here for my free monthly newsletter! Connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.