4 years ago by PLAINE

Hi!   I believe ”finger staccato” is quite widely used method for making passages clean or activating and strengthening fingers. I am just wondering here that how well does it fit to Alan’s method? Obviously you can do it more with fingertips or more with knuckles. I assume tha...

6 years ago by ANNE MOORE

What a shock to watch Alan's update this morning, recounting his struggle with injury. He is so honest about this, and it is hard to watch because he is obviously in real distress. I hope Alan knows that he is joining a long tradition of brilliantly creative people who  re-invent themselves over and over, alway...

6 years ago by GORDON

I've been gradually retraining myself after years (like 40) of wrong approaches starting with being taught to "strike" the keys at an early age.  One thing that I notice is that I have much better elasticity and range of motion (with my fingers) in my left hand whereas my right hand I have trouble playing third...

5 years ago by PLAINE

Hi!  I am still quite unfamiliar with this technique, but I think I am gettin the idea little by little... Few questions about Thumb Corkscrew: Does it often start with curved thumb and then straighten when it hits the key? We know Alan has taught a long time that thumb is most powerful...

5 years ago by SIMON CHU

Hello,   So I've been exploring Op.10 No.1, not really intending to perform it but interested in the technique. One of the hardest arpeggios I found was the A major, particularly ascending and the major 3rd of A-C# between the 4th and 5th fingers was really difficult. Having a play around with i...

5 years ago by PLAINE

Hi,   One thing I've been thinking lately (and it's related to my "Bone Ropes" -thread and latest "How To Practise Scales Slowly" -video) is about hyperextended fingers. Alan teaches here and there that we should be practising (and sometimes even playing) with straight fingers a...

5 years ago by PLAINE

Hi, Another concept which have appeared couple of times recently is "Bone Ropes". This is also a technique which I believe I allready have some idea, but it still needs clarification. To me this is mostly an elastic feeling in which fingers feel like ropes contacted to keys. You get this feeling i...

6 years ago by PLAINE

Hi all! Alan has shown us "thumb push up exercise" which I use quite a lot in my own practising and teaching. Recently I’ve been thinking that how about developing similar exercises for other fingers too, especially 5th and 2nd? If I am right lateral movement of the finger wakes up interossei m...

7 years ago by A Pianist

Hello everyone, Just to let you know that I have finally booked my flights home for the summer and so I have a schedule to offer of where I will be and when, for anyone interested in having some lessons. Please visit for all the details! Pianistically yours, AFF

7 years ago by A Pianist

How many of you are aware that the thumb is virtually a hand in itself? It totally opposes to the rest of the hand, and its musculature is almost as big as all of the other fingers' put together? Have you felt how, when you can really feel your thumb's fundamental functional difference from the rest of the hand, it off...

7 years ago by A Pianist

If you've ever worked with professor Alan Fraser,feel free to leave your comments.

7 years ago by A Pianist

Famous pianists I have met… Arthur Rubinstein was my first real hero. I heard him play Tchaikowsky Concerto in the Montreal Forum (ice hockey’s cathedral, home of the legendary Canadiens) of all places. I was just a kid, and we were very far away from the stage. I remember the image of him sitting there in the spotl...

7 years ago by A Pianist

Yesterday in our lesson I wasn’t happy with the left hand of Jovan’s Winter Wind etude (Chopin Op. 25 #11) – it lacked a real desperation of expression. His left hand was good and bold, singing well, but it wanted that incredible intensity of emotion and phrase line that makes this etude sound great. I noticed that as...

7 years ago by A Pianist

Hi, I'm an amateur pianist from the United States. I've owned The Craft of Piano Playing for about six months, and the concepts in the book have been very helpful in my technical development. I'm especially satisfied with the improvements in my right hand. It was my stronger hand to begin with, so it didn't take an awf...

7 years ago by A Pianist

Hi, i found a dvd where Prof.Alan is giving a lessons to students in Germany. Would you like me to put it on server so you can download it? Lessons are great,i mean you will see. But first,i have to ask Prof. if that's fine with him!

7 years ago by A Pianist

I recently received this email and thought it would be a good thing to answer these points here on our forum. Read on... "Dear Mr. Fraser: I downloaded your video preview. A few thoughts: 1) Monkeys do have opposable thumbs and can grasp branches. 2) Your wrist is too high on the legato demo, and I've nev...

7 years ago by A Pianist

British Pianist Rayond Banning and myself have been engaged in a stimulating debate on the Arm Weight School vs. my Hand Structure & Function school of thought. It is all too long to put on the forum here, but I have created a page on my website with the complete transcripts for those of you who are interested... i...

7 years ago by A Pianist

"Haven't read it but a sentence on the site caught my interest: '...replaces both tension and over-relaxation with effective hand activation...' 'Everyone else preaches how you should be perfectly relaxed but this has never really worked for me. Once I really try to relax my hands, shoulders, arms while kee...

7 years ago by A Pianist

I would like to know your thoughts about the following: what is missing for you in the book and the DVD? What needs to be addressed more fully, or in a different way? What hasn't been addressed at all that needs to be? If I were to do another film (or book), what would you like to see included in the material?

7 years ago by A Pianist

Recently I received the following letter, which was so pertinent that I thought I should post both it and my reply here on the forum. Any further insights about this? "Dear Sir! I should, firstly, think a little about your website's contents. You doubtlessly are a truly gifted pianist, but your piano technical...

7 years ago by A Pianist

I was just reviewing all the subjects under discussion here and noticed that there is no mention of legato! But that is the starting point! All the discussion about hand muscles, finger shape, articulation etc. should take place in the context of being able to really join two keys together thus blending their sounds an...

7 years ago by A Pianist

I received this letter a couple of days ago, from someone who has worked with me on occasion. I thought it would be good to post it along with my reply... "I feel a pain when playing between my neck and shoulder on the right hand side! It's driving me crazy; its a bit better when I sit low, but not for a long t...

7 years ago by A Pianist

I was just browsing through my old mail folder and found a message about the lobster claw and the seeming contradiction between relaxation and activation. A GREAT question that deserves a new answer, as I see my thinking has changed from almost a year ago when it was first posted! I'm in the midst of writing about t...

7 years ago by A Pianist

Here is something from a very early book of Moshe Feldenkrais, ABC of Judo (Paris, 1938). Feldenkrais was a student of Jigaro Kano, founder of Judo, and Kano said that Feldenkrais’s books on judo were the best in any language other than Japanese. I have translated this from the French. I hope you will meditate on th...

7 years ago by A Pianist

My last couple of entries touch on the problem of how most freely and effectively to manipulate the piano keys for beautiful and variegated sound. Another way of describing unstable equilibrium (see previous post) is “empowered neutral,” the neutral point being the point at which the greatest amount of potential energy...