Every Good Blog Deserves Friends

There have been many mnenomic devices invented to help young pianists remember the notes on lines of the treble clef--E G B D F--among the best are "Elephants Go Bouncing Down Freeways," "Elvis's Guitar Broke Down Friday," "Ernie Gave Bert Dead Flies," and "Even George Bush Drives Fast."

Tom Stoppard ("Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," "Shakespeare in Love," et al.) and Andre Previn created a musical play called "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor." It was given its premiere performance in 1977 as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations. The cast and company included Ian McKellen, John Wood, Patrick Stewart, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, pianist Jeremy Denk wrote a New Yorker piece called "Every Good Boy Does Fine," subtitled "A Life in Piano Lessons." Now Random House has invited him to expand the article into a book. It is expected to be published in 2015 or 2016; meanwhile, the pianist-author will continue his blog: Think Denk.

The best-known line using the EGBDF formula is "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge." It reminds us of our piano teacher--Miss Ethel Holtham--who always made several kinds of fudge for her students as a treat at the end of recital evenings.

We all got some, whether we deserved fudge or not.