Technique and methods

. A thorough demonstration and conversation about the technical regimen Adele Marcus suggested for her piano students. Tori Stødle - Professor of piano, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tromsø, Norway Sindre Myrbost...

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...

firstly, this is not a replacement for finger technique. it's a theory about how armweight technique SOMETIMES works without direct attention to fingers. I don't recommend that. This comes off the back of the realisation...

Hi I know that your question is directed to prof. Fraser. If you ask me (which you do not) firing up a public, playing musically, and winning competitions seems at a young age as opposed and irreconcilable tasks. With e...

Hello, I'm posting because I'm in a rather frustrating situation these days with my playing. Some pieces I play I can play consistently well. For example, I can play the Waldstein very well. However, there are these two...

I have just finished reading 'Honing the Pianistic Image'. It's absolutely amazing. This and the Craft of Piano Playing are the best books on piano playing by miles. I think I was fortunate that Yonty Solomon had introdu...

Just written a post categorising the two basic unison scale fingering (which comprehensively covers 22 out of all 24 keys plus the two exceptions required for B flat and E flat). This a slightly edited version of a docum...

Another Free for All lesson was just published! It's a lecture Alan gave in 2012, Smith College. Part 1 out of 4 is free for all! Subscribe for access to this mini series and hours of teaching material already availa...

First of all, ascertain which of the two notes sounds first. Then practice doing the reverse - play them not together on purpose, but with the other note sounding first. Note what changes in sensation you feel in your ha...

Season 2, we are back!

I'm a piano intermediate/beginner, having played badly (and with bad habits) for five years in childhood. I'm taking it up again and want to do it right this time. I had one amazing lesson with Alan via Skype. We focused...

Thank you Andrew for that clarification - very valuable! AFF

Hi all, I know my last post was not very specific so I have a more specific question to ask now. I've been noticing that playing difficult technical passages loudly has helped improve my overall technique. In particular...

Hello Paul and the rest of you, I like Paul's answers here a lot and would agree. Furthermore, the more you practice grasping, the more the grasping action will begin to be present in your hand as a background fact, ge...

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...

Andrew you are absolutely right, and you've hit on something extremely important - bravo! AFF PS I see you are gunning to get hired as a writer too!

My practise recently has revolved around the question in the title and I'm reaping huge benefits from such a simple question. There's a great (and very rich) ATM on openatm.org called Legs Pushing Pelvis and Rocking Back...