Product Description

Since its publication in book form in 2003, THE CRAFT OF PIANO PLAYING has won kudos from pianists on every continent. The DVD version features exercises from the original book plus several new ones, complementing the book's in-depth investigations with an immediate, graphic and tangible experience of Alan Fraser's teaching. The exercises develop hand structure and function, replacing both tension and over-relaxation with effective activation based on optional skeletal alignment and offering an ever more profound technical development for the assiduous student.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96132 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-28
• Released on: 2008-07-28
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: DVD
• 90 pages

Review
Alan Fraser s biography reads like that of a jack of all trades. Born in Montreal, besides piano he studied composition, singing, cello and also played pop music. In 1988 he came to know the Feldenkrais Method, developed in the 1940s, that refers to the natural conditions of the human body. Nowadays this method has spread worldwide: of special value to musicians, it is taught in many music academies. He went to Yugoslavia in 1990 to work with Kemal Gekic. There he developed a new method of teaching that combines elements of the different schools of piano technique with the Feldenkrais Method. After one year of teaching at Wuhan Conservatory of Music in China he published this new method in his book, The Craft of Piano Playing. Today he teaches in Novi Sad, Serbia. Out of this book which successfully documents his method, Fraser has now developed a DVD, where he graphically demonstrates the basics of his teaching. Everything he shows is very convincing, beginning with explanations of our body s skeleton and the skeleton of the hand before moving to demonstrate effective movement at the piano. He quickly makes us understand that methods such as sitting stiffly at the piano, moving the fingers with a stiff forearm, or playing with an exaggerated movement out of the shoulders evoke a dubious sound quality and inferior control of one s playing. His use of terms such as yin and yang doesn t disturb at all on the contrary, his illustrative way of explaining legato playing by comparing it with walking allows us to quickly recognize the natural resources of the hand, and begin to use them effectively. Linking his profound knowledge of the human body s skeletal structure (and especially that of the arms and hands) to the activation of particular muscles, Fraser develops the following exercises and ways of playing the piano, all in an eminently understandable manner: the special use of the thumb, playing scales, arm rotation, hand rotation etc. His explanations taken as a whole lead to an absolutely natural way of moving at the piano, both powerful and flexible. It is clearly certain that one will greatly improve one s piano sound by following Fraser s advice, and his method also eliminates problems such as tendonitis and muscular dysfunction. He demonstrates with examples taken from well-known piano pieces such as the Beethoven sonatas, Liszt s Dante Sonata, etc. His own playing indisputably exemplifies the success that one can expect to reach by following the method. Fraser s teaching reminds one of the professor who is generous with his time, his bountiful, interesting lessons full of experience extending far beyond their scheduled close. Not every teacher will agree 100% with all of his exercises, but if you as a pianist try to follow his advice you will soon notice where you are making unnatural movements in your playing, and why certain passages never sound well. With Fraser s exercises you will find a better sound! --PianoNews, Germany

f Canadian origin, Alan Fraser completed his musical studies in Montreal, where he worked notably with Phil Cohen, a student of Yvonne Hubert, herself a student of Alfred Cortot. I m the pianistic great-grandson of Cortot, he loves to say. Based on the book of the same name still not translated into French (Scarecrow Press, Maryland), this DVD is a graphic representation of the technical approach Fraser espouses. As he warns us at the start, a beginner should not attempt on his own the very natural gestures recommended here, but first try them under the guidance of a teacher. However, amateurs and teachers alike will find here a highly interesting and useful tool that could well become the basis of their school. The proposed method is in effect a synthesis of the best pedagogical techniques concerning hand position (of which he teaches us its structure and function), the fingers, the arm... The very complete DVD is structured in 8 chapters with The Arches of the Hand and Maximal Finger Action sandwiching sections on Legato, The Thumb, Octaves & Chords, Rotation, etc. These chapters are themselves divided in very short, concise sequences to which one may easily refer. Alan Fraser explains the gestures to be practiced and gives examples at the piano, showing what one should and should not do. All this is illustrated with archival extracts of the great pianists in concert where you can see, among others, the arch structure of Arthur Rubinstein s hand, the octave work of Gyorgy Cziffra, Claudio Arrau s use of arm weight... As it is, the DVD is useful not only to pianists but to all instrumentalists searching for a better understanding of the hand and arm. And it must be said that it can even help non-musicians who use their hands in their professional activities for example computer operators who suffer from tendonitis because at the heart of this DVD (issued in several languages including French) lie the fundamental principles of movement of the hand and arm. --La Lettre du Musicien, France

About the Author
Canadian pianist Alan Fraser has developed a new approach to piano technique growing out of his 20-year collaboration with the virtuoso Kemal Gekic and his professional training in the Feldenkrais Method. Synthesizing and moving beyond the best aspects of the finger action and arm weight schools, Fraser empowers pianists of all calibres with his analysis of the innate structure and function of the hand and its application to piano. Fraser moved from Montreal to the former Yugoslavia in 1990 and has been working with Gekic ever since. Much of the book version of The Craft of Piano Playing (Scarecrow Press, 2003) was written in 1999-2000 when Fraser was guest professor at the Wuhan Conservatory in mainland China where he worked with some of the best young talents in the country. Fraser gives recitals and master class presentations throughout Europe and North America. Visit Alan Fraser's website for more information and to view the free 9-minute online video demo and for the newest master class and performance schedules.

Customer Reviews

Very useful
I viewed a few segments of this DVD at a meeting of music teachers and immediately decided that it was something I needed to have in my own studio. I am currently using it 10 minutes at a time in lessons with my high school students to help them learn exercises to improve their technique using their skeleton and muscles most efficiently. The DVD covers the arch of the hand, the natural grasping motion, legato playing, the training and use of the thumb, octaves and chords, productive use of the arm, rotation, phrasing and maximum finger action in scales. Some of the exercises are T'ai Chi Walking, Isometric Windshield Wipers, The Octave Cobra Strike and Bird Beak. Alan Fraser demonstrates and explains each exercise clearly and often plays a segment after teaching the technique to help students see how it is put to use in beautiful piano playing. Each chapter also includes very brief footage of performances by other pianists: Arthur Rubinstein, Kemal Gekich, Alexander Brailowsky, Gyorgy Cziffra, Claudio Arrau, Evgeny Kissin and Vladimir Horowitz. I think the DVD will prove to be a very good investment.

Best on the market
Having scoured the internet for piano books of all types, this is far and away the best technique book on the market. It is NOT for beginners or even lower intermediate, it is for those who know how to play well, but need to tune up their technique. Even though I have been playing for 20 years, I found within a month I was able to improve my playing by about 15% and up to 30% in some specific areas. If you get this, get both the book and video as they complement each other well, but if you need to pick just one, the book goes into much more detail.