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Craft of Piano Playing: A New Approach to Piano Technique
 
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Craft of Piano Playing: A New Approach to Piano Technique (Paperback)

by Alan Fraser (Author), Sonya Ardan (Illustrator)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
List Price: $39.95
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Craft of Piano Playing: A New Approach to Piano Technique + What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body + Mastering Piano Technique: A Guide for Students, Teachers and Performers
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Presenting a new, comprehensive and highly original approach to piano technique with a fascinating series of exercises to help the reader put this approach into practice, this guide uses numerous musical examples and sketches to show how many common movement habits at the keyboard are counterproductive. Fraser provides a new way of manipulating the skeletal frame of the hand to produce astonishing sonic results from the instrument. Visit Alan Fraser's web site at http://alanfraser.faithweb.com/

About the Author
Alan Fraser is Professor of Piano and Feldenkrais Method at the Art Academy of the University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (June 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810845911
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810845916
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Craft of Piano Playing: A New Approach to Piano Technique
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a theoretically and practically sound approach, August 12, 2005
By Alvin Chan (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
I am a piano player from Hong Kong who was attracted to world of classical music, yet start learning piano at an old age. (15, which is normally considered too old for a good technique) Having drawn to different schools and still having no improvement for 4 years, I somehow gave up playing piano. At that time, I can hardly technically manage to play Mozart's sonata, not to say my favourite Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov, etc. I have to say my hands are commented by many as suitable for playing piano, stretching a 11th. But they just don't work for me. From my various failed attempts, I somehow learnt to recognize what is useless for me. I read many books on techniques written by some of the greatest masters, as well as conversations with great pianists like Horowitz, but still find these completely useless, at least completely useless for improving technique which they are supposed to discuss. There is a book which discuss application of Alexander technique on piano technique which I find quite insightful, but again throughout the whole book of hundreds pages, I find very few practical advice: most of the materials is theory which sound very well but I cannot implement on my hands.

Until I saw the homepage of Alan Fraser then I know I can resume playing piano. I just keep improving after I got the book. Obstacles and problems for many years are solved one after one. I am not qualified to describe his method, just go to the homepage of the author for the philosophy behind

http://alanfraser.faithweb.com/

Just a word of warning for some potential readers: this book, while highly practical, is not an easy reading. And it is not an ABC piano playing book. The author aims to tackle technical problems on classical pieces like Lizst, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, which you will heard in a piano concert. It is for those who want to improve their technique in the long run, not for those who want to start playing piano. While the author explains everything fully, there is always a danger of underestimating the depth or do not understand at all of what the author wrote, particularly for those who are quite new to piano. But if you really understand what he means and follow completely and carefully (the exercise require your full attention and self-awareness)his exercisesm you can CERTAINLY expect a breakthrough in your technique!! (unlike other book on piano playing which ultimate rely on luck and the so-called "talent"--just as if you didn't read them)


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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and valuable, November 10, 2005
Many people just love music, and I do, too. While I have practiced pretty diligently since childhood, I've always been a very poor pianist. Last year, it was so bad that two guests at my house asked me very strenuously to play (seeing the pianos in the room). My playing was so abominable that they had to ask me to stop only a few measures in (I warned them). So, loving music isn't enough. My hands and arms have not been habituated to movement in the sensitive and economical way that is capable of producing acceptable tone. Although I have usually lived in a remote site, I have had a couple of good teachers (for short periods of time). They helped me only a little. I have had some extremely nasty and impatient teachers (very harsh people). They didn't help. This book gives clear and accessible instructions of how to use the hands and arms appropriately to produce tones at the piano that I had not known it could produce. It gives good clues of how an actual legato can be obtained on the piano. For those of us who are totally out of the game of music, this represents real hope that we might eventually enjoy making real music, too, and not simply torturing ourselves and our listeners with endless incompetent and ugly "practice." I know of no other book anywhere that gives sufficiently clear and anatomically oriented instructions that an anti-musician like myself might benefit, too. If the author had the goal of allowing those of us in the cheapest seats to enjoy making music, too, it's the best effort I've seen. Thanks so much. Well done. I needed it, and so did the poor unfortunates who ask me to play once too often!
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful view into the mechanics of finger activation, June 23, 2004
By Stephen Gamboa "Stephen Gamboa" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Alan Fraser's book, which reveals the relation of good, legato-based, piano playing to Tai'Chi walking, offers an excellent insight into the art of "activating" the fingers. This technique, in which the fingers are strengthened and trained to function properly, relieves the arm of undue tension, and allows the pianist to produce a greater variety of tone and dynamics.
After purchasing this book and trying some of the exercises, which, by the way, are a little on the uncomfortable side if one's hand is not trained properly, I did notice a change in the way I played. My tone was meatier, and I had more control over articulation, dynamics, and color. Some of the exercises may have brought a little discomfort, but after practicing them for a period of time, the soreness disappeared and I could feel my hand and fingers participating correctly in my playing mechanism.
This book offers many valuable insights into playing piano and the real use of the hand and fingers. If you think you need it: buy it! If you don't: buy it! It will tell you if what you are doing is right or not. Also, the book gets an A+ in terms of understandability---Fraser will not leave you in the dark! Everything is explained fully, and the concepts overlap often. Altogether an excellent and incredibly informative book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jeremy W. Boggess

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any pianist amateur
This book is a complement to the DVD, or rather the DVD is a complement to this book which goes in many more details. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Jean Louis Benoit

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
An excellent primer on the connection between Feldenkreis and paino technique. Many exercises are included, and you have to sit at the piano while reading the book.
Published 11 months ago by P. Adduci

5.0 out of 5 stars Piano technique perfectly and patiently explained by Alan Fraser
I have read several books on piano technique written by extremely well-known authors in the field. However, compared with the book by Alan Fraser, these mentioned books are... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Zuhair Bakdoud

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