Technique and methods

If your wrist is going up and down on every note of a scale, your fingers aren't working and your arm is trying to take up the slack. It is a result of your training. As for curling the fingers, the degree to which the...

Very clever question! No, for a you should also have more activity but of a different quality! AFF

Hello, Do you have any suggestions to help cure tendons pain of the hand? (specifically the thumb)? would cold or hot water help?

WHEN plaing fingers 2 3 4 in a row,is it necessary to move the wrist a bit sideways so that it will be beind each finger? -if Im playing a scale and I wan to play it louder and louder, i tend to push my arm to the keys...

Hello Alan, I'm a guy suffering from focal hand dystonia because of some inappropriate piano training. Recently I came across a youtube video () in which you were trying to get your student being conscious of the metacar...

No, if you have back pain then you should figure out what you are doing to cause the pain, not just get up and walk around for awhile. AFF

Cziffra refers to a phenomenon I talk about on the DVD where if you curl the fingers using only the deep flexors (which curl the nail joint alone), the arch of the hand actually collapses, getting pulled down by the acti...

HELLO, I saw the answer about the stomach and how loose it should be while playing. is it possible to write an explanation why it should be loose completely? I heard some people suggest otherwise-hold it a bit to "prot...

HI, WHICH PUBLISHER IS THE BEST FOR CZERNY ETUDES AND CHOPIN'S? THANKS

I've been practicing Chopin Étude 10 no 2 A minor and my right arm gets tired. I think it's because 3rd 4th and 5th fingers aren't strong enough. Does that burn/tired feeling mean that I'm gaining strength? It's the same...

Has anyone ever wondered whether sitting with one foot in front of the other makes us permanently favour the left buttock? And is this a bad thing..? The other day I noticed that my piano stool's stuffing had shifted pa...

Thank you Alan for your reply... So it is like water, spilling over naturally into different parts of life? Or does it need someone with a bucket?

I have been exploring using sliding as a way to make my hands more movable. However, sometimes my fingers just can't slide. On another occasion, often right after shower, my fingers would be too slippery and i would feel...

Thank you sir Alan, for enlightening me! Since i started to play the piano 3 years ago, I've always had troubles using my fifth finger properly. With the lack of viable teachers locally, I've never been able to pinpoint...

My daughter 6.5 year old is learning with a piano teacher who uses "craft of piano" in teaching since last July. But we don't get it systematically, so it is very foggy what to be and what motion to apply. And my daugh...

DEAR ALAN, i'm trying to play a trill with the thumb-is it true that the muscles which move the thumb up and down are slower than the muscles which move the thumb sideways? also-can you suggest me a way to use the thumb...

Hi I recently joined the technique.org site full of video teachings masterclasses etc. Until now I haven't really understood Deppe but after watching som of Alans lessons I think I fully understand it and that's dynami...

HELLO, which muscles move the thumb up and down? is it an abductor move or a flexion-extension move? what's the name of these muscles (is it the brevis or longus?) another question-I saw in previous comments about the...

Hi p2u I'm quite curious about your thoughts about the "knees". I guess the Rachmaninoff exercise has something to do with this. Sometimes I've found just incredible results when using the "knees" in a kind of skeletal...

The triceps plays a key role in stabilizing (stiffening!) the hand and fingers on the keyboard. Your insight is very perceptive and yes, you could probably help your left hand out a good deal by doing a few dips every da...

The new series is up and this is a special one. Alan is answering your questions on video and this series will mainly be free for all. The first question was posted by user markeog of PianoTechnique.org Feel free to...

Q&A with AFF - Ep. 12

Hi all, I believe "free fall" of the relaxed hand is a key concept of arm weight school. You should learn to rise and drop the hand correctly to get powerful chords for example with minimum stress and effort. Barbara Li...

Hey, Fist post... I just discovered this site... I'm a veteran Jazz saxophonist. I've been working on becoming a competent Jazz solo pianist. It's going quite well. In fact, my inaugural piano busk occurs Friday (I...

Dear ALAN I recently read about the arm rotation-in this article it said that in order to move faster from one side of the piano to the other,or in big leaps in general ,using the arm rotation is more effective because...