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Q&A with Alan Fraser [Season 2]

Season 2, more questions and answers as well as latest news from Alan.

Piano technique teacher
Your teacher

Alan Fraser

Born in Montreal in 1955 Alan Fraser studied piano but also delved into composition, cello, classical singing and had several stints as a pop musician. Alan’s main pianistic influence was the pioneering research of Phil Cohen who studied alongside Ronald Turini, Andre Laplante and Janina Fialkowska with Yvonne Hubert, who had been Cortot‘s assistant in Paris. Alan spent several years with Cohen after an apprenticeship with two former Cohen students, Alan Belkin and Lauretta Milkman.

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54 episodes 3:46:40 Intermediate Finished
1
Elastic Quality
01:48

Asked by: adrienschmitt

2
Playing Pianissimo
10:27

Asked by: sheana2002

3
Putting the Hands Inside the Piano
05:53

Asked by: hadarmo2

4
Walking Forwards vs Walking on the Spot
02:23

Asked by: markeog

5
Playing Fast Passages and Skeletal Alignment
03:28

Asked by: markeog

6
Forte Octaves
08:56

Asked by: hadarmo2

7
Leaps and Accuracy in Piano Technique
05:40

On leaps and jumps via La Campanella - Asked by: ingela

8
Maintaining the Hand Structure and Finger Independence
08:32

Asked by: Ingela

9
Muscles and Skeleton Carrying the Arm
02:06

Asked by: markeog

10
Weak Fifth Finger
03:39

Asked by: plaine

11
Adjusting Students Playing Apparatus During the Lesson
07:18

Tiny adjustments cause the brain to make adjustments to the whole system in order to align with the new organisation. Asked by: markeog

12
Alan - The Background
05:57

Asked by plaine

13
What is the Arm-Thumb?
03:36

Asked by: hadarmo2

14
The Basis of Elasticity
04:22

Asked by: plaine

15
Strong Fifth Finger
03:01

Asked by:plaine

16
Arrau and Rubinstein Piano Technique
05:24

Asked by: hadarmo2

17
How Do You Memorize a Piece of Music
04:08

Asked by:hadarmo2

18
Feel the Melody Pulsing
02:27

Asked by: ingela

19
Keep the Same Fingering
01:30

if you are transposing your music for any reason

20
The Difficult Art of Orchestration
02:51

How to really orchestrate at the piano

21
Is the Word Differentiation a Feldenkrais Term
01:50

Asked by: markeog

22
When I play right hand forte my left hand plays loudly too
08:36

Asked by: ArthurDing

23
Distribute the Weight Between Upper Arm and Fingers
07:50

Asked by: Simon Chu

24
Structure Solidification is to be Avoided
03:21

Asked by: markeog

25
Elastically Loading the Thumb and Uncurling the Claw
02:46

Asked by: markeog

26
How do I play Double Notes and Chords More Evenly
03:43

Asked by: Simon Chu

27
Applying the Principle of Reversibility
01:07

Asked by: Simon Chu

28
What do You Think of Lucas Debargue
01:33

Asked by: Simon Chu

29
Playing on Unfamiliar Pianos
03:59

Asked by: RushWayne

30
One Boned or Segmented Multi Joint Thumb
02:37

Asked by: markeog

31
What is the Role of the MCP Joints in Bone Rope Technique
00:57

Asked by: markeog

32
What do you think about Kissin
02:40

Asked by: Piano4three

33
Feldenkrais and Piano - But Why?
01:46

It's about the quality of movement and how do we translate it to the piano.

34
Status of Pianimals
01:08

Hopefully we get them very soon!

35
Useful Bird Beak Exercise
03:36

Rene shows his exercise he uses with his studenta

36
Silent Piano Practicing
05:03

Ever practiced on a table top, or electric piano? Is it really beneficial or not?

37
Let's Talk About the Wrist
10:39

Alan talks about how information flows throughout the wrist and why is it important it's not blocked

38
How do we actually walk?
06:09

Alan talks about walking from an anatomical and Feldenkrais perspective

39
Better physical organisation for better musical expression
02:16

There can't be one without the other

40
The most difficult piano piece you have ever played
00:59

Asked by: piano4three

41
What do you think of Emma Leiuman?
00:17

Asked by: Ingela

42
How long until the pianistic breakthrough?
05:48

Is it a specific method or a combo of them all?

43
Fast octaves
05:39

Alan's take on fast octaves, submitted by Mark Riches

44
Developing reflexes for playing octaves
05:30

Asked by: MarkRiches

45
The thumb should not invert
05:56

Also on forearm rotation and octaves

46
Is it possible to play with collapseed mcp joint but still sound good?
04:21

Alan is answering a question and touches on Peter Fetuwanger's technique ands Chopin Op. 25 No. 2

47
To what degree does the hand extend and contract during arpeggios?
03:49

Alan answers a question while demonstrating on Chopin's Op. 25 No. 12

48
The faster the speed, the more efficient movements have to be
01:36

Excericess are extreme version but they are created to awake your reflexes up

49
Thumb capability
06:35

"Standing the thumb on the nail"

50
Do the big movements to wake up your reflexes
02:04

Kind of a continuation of a previous answer on practice

51
The great deal of robust positive standing energy
04:17

if your finger stays tense your thumb is not standing well, same for fingers, if they are solid, thumb will be fine

52
Float the arm
02:10

The question was about the Rachmaninoff concerto but can it be applied to anything?

53
Parasitic movements
05:04

What is it and how to avoid it

54
Metacarpal function of the thumb
07:33

without standing or making the thumb vertical