Technique and methods

Interosseous for the extension of the proximal and distal joints and the lumbricals to flex the fingers at the MCP (hand bridge) joints. This is the only way of moving the finger that gives real independence because th...

Hi folks, apologies in advance for what may turn into a long rambling post. Here are just a few ideas and things I've noticed recently - nothing particularly profound or original, and maybe not even that useful, but hope...

outward (ascending for RH) arpeggios and scales have always been my nightmare, primarily due to very bad habits I formed in early years that are hard to eradicate now. Alan's exposition of the use of the thumbs and rotat...

I am quite unsure whether to post it under this category or the master video one. This video is very clear precisely because it uses very simple pieces. What a pity I can't understand what she said. But the approach...

I'm currently attending a Master Programme in translations and I'm going to graduate in the summer of 2014. I have very much practice time (the entire day except on Thursdays and Fridays when I have only 6 hours for musi...

Have just finished reading the vast majority of Andrew's posts about mechanically informed piano technique. His approach resembles Alan's and I must say that I got benefits from both of them. The only post I found confus...

Hello everybody and Mr. Fraser, I want to ask a question, concerning etudes (chopin, liszt, rachmaninov). Having played piano for quite a while, since i was 8 (i'm 23 now). I want to start seriously practicing them regu...

Hi everyone! Working on a piece by Ginastera I found out that maybe the whole fingerings that I used so far for major/minor chords and arpeggios might not have been the best match for my hand (I can pick a 10th and st...

Hi, I just completed a new blog post, on connecting the hand to the keyboard with low effort. You'll doubtless see plenty of similarities to Alan's approach, but there are a few rather different perspectives on offer...

I have always been rather poor at playing heavy double octaves and big chords - anything that involves a 'big' technique. Do you have any suggestions for practice?

once again, I have gained a wonderful new paradigm from AF's approach - rotation. I can find many great uses for this technique. Because I undertook to really master this technique, I am learning Chopin's Op 10. #1. BUT...

Just found a great exercise that synthesises countless elements together in a very simple way. Basically, if you feel even the slightest issue of alignment (eg tightness in the wrist , a collapsed finger or a sense of th...

Hi Alan and friends, Which chapters in alan's books will help me most with trills? Also, what is the most efficient finger motion for trilling? Is this the same for all fingers (eg the tricky ones like 3-4)? I read else...

Hi everyone, I feel bad, because I spent all of this time writing out a beautiful paragraph explaining my situation, and I auto-logged off my account. Funny, huh? My problem is that my the pinkies of both my hands ra...

When I play octaves at a slow or moderate tempo, my hands and arms feel very free. However, when I play octaves at a very fast tempo, I sometimes feel excessive tension in the hands and arms. Is this a common problem?...

@ : Alan has uploaded some really interesting new video clips recently. I know I could have posted this somewhere else on the forum, but this section seems to get the most attention. Here is the lecture I have watched a...

Mr. Fraser although I am getting better I still cannot seem to go on the piano and just let go mentally of my right arm and hand. I understand what I am supposed to do and my teacher (the one who trained me not the one i...

Andrew, I suspect you may have missed the entire point of Guerrero's finger tapping exercise. It is not to find the anomalies in your finger's position and improve them: the point is to feels itself and based on that sen...

In a recent lesson with Alan we were working with playing détaché, in the context of arpeggio technique. Since then I've been playing around with different types of non-legato in places where I'd normally play legato. As...

Alan's exercise to raise the metacarpal arch - imagining a string tied round the forefinger knuckle, pulling back to to shoulder gently - got me experimenting: I noticed i could get the same result with a different proce...

I don't know if I've come to the right place. I've recently returned to piano playing. I have gone from playing nothing to playing a lot in a short time, and started experiencing pain in my left thumb (at the MCP joint)...

hi alan, i really enjoyed your all thumbs lecture on youtube (). the sliding corkscrew motion for the thumb is great, but i would like to hear more about finger corkscrews. with the thumb corkscrew, the thumb rotates...

Have been practicing Chopin's Op 69 No 2 and after a few months I can play most of the parts in tempo. Being primarily a guitar player I think that my problem has something to do with the fact that the right hand is just...

Just did the 2 and 3rd part of Falk Feddersen's exercises on "opening the shoulders" The first is useful in a more broad abstract sense, but the 2nd and 3rd are EXTREMELY useful for pianists. I came up with the chain...

What is a good book or resource on applying feldenkrais to singing? as an improvising pianist, i sing lots at the piano but tend to strain my throat. Also, like most musicians I would like to become a better singer anyw...