The Craft of Piano method was developed by Canadian pianist Alan Fraser over a period of 30 years’ research and pedagogical practice.

Why yet another piano method? 

Although many excellent piano technique methods exist today, it is still true that some pianists fail to reach their full potential. To put it another way, there’s always room for improvement! Performance injury, seen more and more frequently these days, is another pressing concern of piano technique that needs to be addressed. Then there's the question of aesthetics: though many pianists play with unquestionably beautiful tone and expression, fewer now can recreate the big, orchestral sound that was the trademark of the Romantic virtuoso.

What makes this method different?

Recent insights into the nature of human movement offer us a chance to change this situation for the better. Much more is known about how the brain uses the sensory-motor feedback loop to control the muscles and bones, fine-tuning a movement’s accuracy literally hundreds of times a second. More is known about the hand’s innate structure, and how its natural grasping function is hidden in virtually all actions of the finger on the key. Craft of Piano brings these developments in kinesiology to bear on piano technique, creating a focus on the physical that enriches personal expression rather than sterilizing it.

What are the basic components of this method?

Craft of Piano doesn’t define any particular movement as good or bad, but creates an enriched sensory picture of the hand, arm and body to improve your body’s ability to find its best movement path. Instead of relaxation per se, Craft of Piano cultivates a looseness that leads in many cases to a much more powerful activation of the hand. New terms are introduced such as skeletality, describing how the bones would move if you were a skeleton and nothing more – your bones end up doing 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 the movement, leading to a whole new type 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 a new combination of grace and power, sensitivity and brilliance.

At the piano we look first at legato, the foundation of piano technique. We discover the structural integrity needed in the hand to manage 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?

Craft of Piano Method was developed out of the Feldenkrais Method© of Sensory Motor Learning Improvement. Feldenkrais lessons will help you experience the incredible release of muscular tension that happens when you access the skeletal power of the body. Then use this new sensation of yourself to improve your standing, walking and running at the keyboard. The Craft of Piano Playing video and book are a potent guide to developing these qualities in your playing.