Technique and methods

Hello Alan! Would you please, can you give me an advise, when I try to play chromatic scales in 3'ds(minor and major) , and 6 (e-flat and c ) with two hands, it is sounds not simultaneously when I try to play it in f...

When I was a kid, I didn't worry so much about how to play the piano--I just practiced to get the sound I wanted. It's funny, because now, after 4 years of university music school and 3/4 of my masters degree now comple...

Hi, Although I've read many chapters of the book before, I just watched the whole youtube masterclass yesterday and it has proved extremely useful. I've been improving on and off over the last two or three years (it w...

Hi, I've recently been watching a few youtube clips of Golandsky talking about Taubman ideas and I'm just wondering what other people think of these. Personally (while I can't exactly knock the fact that a lot of peop...

Hi everybody, I've been playing the piano for a very long time...Since I was 7, now I'm 28. At the age of 12 circa.... I fell in love with jazz and started at first listening then studying the afroamerican piano cul...

Dear mr Fraser, I'm a pianist from the Netherlands and came to this forum after seeing the demo of your DVD which looks really intersting. I had a few questions for you, -What do you think of daily scale & arpeggio pr...

I hear (And see) alot about letting the key push your finger up, but whenever I see anyone (Including virtuosi like Cziffra, Michelangeli) playing a trill with 4/5 the 3rd finger is always flailing up and down. Also I se...

Hi! Recently I visited a masterclass (as audience) with one of the finer Russian masters. All participants had one thing in common, no rythm, no legato and all covered up by the pedal. The cure for this as pointed out...

Hi, I've purchased the DVD and teh book of Mr. Fraser and I'm working in legato and the hand structure. But in the chapter of octaves, there's a application that explains the position of the hand when we've to play...

Hi Alan, In the DVD and the book, you have pointed out the "sphincter in the hand"--the ring of muscles around the palm. Should this ring of muscles generally be kept taut while playing? It is possible to put the...

I am wondering what is the proper way to strengthen the 4th finger of the weak hand (left in my case). It hurts sometimes when I do a lot of octaves using it on the black keys. It also is extremely slow when trying to tr...

Lately i wanted to study classical piano literature again and improve my technique. It has been for so long that i haven't studied any classical piece.I remember i was trying to improve my octaves so i decided to stud...

So this has been irking me for a while, and suddenly the answer has hit me like a ton of bricks. Alan's book (And just about every other book, teacher, video, and pedagogy) explains the importance of subduing the acco...

Now I loooooove the Bunnymen and have from the momen I heard them, but Mac is just not as engaging as Bono He's too post-punk for that He closes his eyes when he sings The EATB lyrics are too cr to interference and c...

On and off, I've been experimenting with Chopin's Etude op.10 no.5. The major hurdle for me to get the brilliant sound, is the connection of G flat (4th finger) to D flat all the way to the B flat right before the second...

I have been working on the the raindrop prelude lately, which I have polished to a descent degree, and my teacher has recently given me Rachmaninoff's op.32 no.10. During our last lesson during the middle section of the...

I have been working very intensely on trills here recently(and I hope correctly). My only problem is with the 4th finger of my left hand. When I try to trill with 3 4 or 4 5, the 4th finger knuckle stands vertically up a...

hi there. i've playing for a while but i decided to come back to the roots because i had a few technical issues. so i started those first studies from czerny's op 599. now the first question is how should i play the...

Hi all. Just want to let you know I'm back after fighting with a messed up back--3 epidurals every couple of weeks and 3 weeks ago a surgical procedure to the same area of the spine. I'm better. the docs promised t...

Hello Alan. I'm a 54-year old amateur pianist and composer who has been trying to play without pain for 40 years. I discovered your book a few years ago and have found it incredibly useful. I had the good fortune to s...

I've been thinking about the playing of loose-looking pianists like Cziffra and Horowitz (less so) who seems to be very relax. They don't hold any tension in pressing the keys. From the speed they play, I'm sure when the...

Has anyone run across this piano method by William Mason, first published in 1889? It's based on a set of two-finger exercises that he learned from Liszt. The basic form of the exercise is a scale with repeated notes l...

I have a problem with playing fast octaves or large chords is quick progression; while I can maintain the structure of my hand, the mere act of spaying my fingers activates the muscles and creates tension in my arm and l...

I just received the DVD yesterday and I am very excited to start working. I have a problem of unevenness with my 4th and 5th fingers whenever the tempo gets to high. I am a beginner adult and I am now working on a pie...

how proficient can you become if you don't start piano at an early age? i started 17 and i'm almost 22 now...except a 1 year and a half of lessons in the beginning I never took it too serious... guitar is my main in...