A warm welcome to craftofpiano.com
Craft of Piano Method © was developed by Canadian pianist Alan Fraser over a period of 30 years’ research.
Why yet another piano method?
Though countless excellent methods exist today, some pianists still fall short of their full potential. So many pianists now play with unquestionably beautiful tone and expression, but fewer possess the big, orchestral sound that was the trademark of the Romantic virtuoso. The mark of each artist’s personality is less visible than it was in a bygone era – and there’s a hidden underlying cause: limitations in one’s physical organization.
Craft of Piano also addresses another pressing concern arising more and more these days: performance injury.
What makes this method different?
Recent insights into the nature of human movement offer new
opportunities for improvement. We know more about how the brain uses
the sensory-motor feedback loop to
control the muscles and bones, fine-tuning a movement’s accuracy
literally dozens of times a second. More is known about the hand’s
innate structure, and how its natural grasping function is hidden in
virtually all finger actions. Craft of Piano links these
developments in kinesiology to piano technique, creating a focus on the
physical that enriches personal expression rather than sterilizing it.
What are the basic components of the method?
Craft of Piano doesn’t define any particular
movement as good or bad, but cultivates an enriched sensory picture of
the hand, arm and body to improve your ability to find the best
way of moving in any pianistic situation. In Craft of Piano, old terms take on new meaning – for instance, relaxation is no longer an end in itself but becomes a means to greater activation of the hand. And new terms are introduced, such as skeletality:
how the bones would move if you were a skeleton and nothing more. You
learn to make your bones do more of the work, your muscles less. Freed
from the need to stiffen or take over the work of the skeleton, your
muscles can now fine tune movement, leading to a whole new level and
quality of control.
Craft of Piano analyses
whole body actions such as standing, walking or running, then creates a
pianistic analogy to give your hands the sense that they are really
starting anew, learning from scratch, with the exciting possibility of
leaving old counter-productive habits behind and developing new
combinations of grace and power, sensitivity and brilliance.
At the piano we first look at legato,
the foundation of piano technique. We discover the structural integrity
needed in the hand to create a legato that really joins notes together
but avoids stiffening physically – the combination of structural
stability and moveability that your hand needs to do the job. We then
examine other types of finger action before moving on to the role of
the arm in various aspects of a complex and multifaceted process. Every
physical step is linked to listening: to the aural result any particular physical organization will obtain.
How can one put it into practice?
- Learn to sense your own structural power.
Lessons in Feldenkrais Method © help you experience
the incredible release of muscular tension that happens
when you access the skeletal power of your body.
- Then learn how to stand, walk and
run skeletally at the keyboard.
The Craft of Piano Playing video and book will guide you
in developing these qualities in your own playing.
