ALAN FRASER: SYNTHESIZING THE WORK OF

A technically brilliant but musically shallow performance can wow the audience but fail to touch the heart. Pianists with more to say musically may fall short in their technique - but the Piano Somatics Institute asks whether "technique vs. musicianship" is a false dichotomy. Might mechanics and musicianship be two sides of the same coin?

MOVEMENT MAKES MUSIC

The institute studies the physical component of musical inflection and the musical aspect of physical gesture. At the piano, everything you do, sounds. Moshe Feldenkrais, source of many of the institute’s key ideas, said that “life is movement. Life without movement is unthinkable.” Similarly, musical life without movement is unthinkable. A block to movement anywhere in the body, from the fingertip to the hip joints and beyond, has a negative effect on the sound.

CHOREOGRAPHY REPLACES RELAXATION

Relaxing to unlock the block is ineffective, because relaxation is not an act – it is inert; there is no movement. Instead, choreographing every musical idea, bringing every musical gesture to physical life unlocks the body naturally: physical tension dissolves when there’s a clear musical intention.

A FUNCTIONAL HAND IS A POTENT HAND

The institute analyzes and resolves movement anomalies that often crop up in the developing pianist. The hand, seen as a mini-body that lies down, stands up, walks, runs, hops and leaps, can learn these actions on key just as an infant would – easily, developmentally. The weighted touch is mitigated by the anti-gravity function – the hand’s natural capacity (inherent in the grasping action) to carry the full weight of the arm effortlessly, elegantly on key. The thumb, the pianist’s “ugly duckling,” learns opposition, empowering the entire hand to increased strength and sensitivity and refined, multi-coloured musical expression. Lateral arm movements shape phrases, neutralizing the negative ramifications of a vertical, weighted approach.

THE EAR IS PHYSICAL, TOO

Many insist that the ear must reign supreme, that attention to the physical is a distraction from the essential, from the music - but the institute reconnects the pianist to his or her musical self. Increased physical awareness makes one more capable, more in command, more able to fulfill ones musical goals, and more able to hear. The increased physical integration relieves the pianist from performance anxiety, resolves injuries, and opens a new dimension of musical expression and virtuosity to all pianists.

INSTITUTE GRADUATES REPORT:

• expanded range of tonal colour

• deeper musical expression

• increased speed & suppleness

• other technical challenges resolved

• complete injury recovery

INSTITUTE BROCHURE

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MORE BACKGROUND...

Institute Info

The Alan Fraser Piano Institute takes place in several European countries through the winter,
and in North America over the summer months.

Piano Somatics

The rationale underpinning
somatic piano technique.
Piano Kinematics

A schematic diagram outlining the scope of Piano Somatics.
Arm Weight

Enhancing this technique with the anti-gravity function.
Certification

Become a Certified
Piano Kinematics Practitioner.

Participants said

"Alan showed me how to develop more power, more colour, more expression than I thought possible. Now I can simply do things at the piano I previously only dreamed of."
John Tittmann, M.Mus SUNY Potsdam
"This teaching is truly revolutionary; this one week changed my sound and changed my life! I am now playing consistently pain-free for the first time in years."

Aurelien Boccard, doctoral student in piano, University of Kansas
"These lessons will sustain you for a lifetime. We worked, laughed, bonded and came away with a whole new world of physicality and sound."
Sue Hammond, pianist, author and creator of "Beethoven Lives Upstairs"
"Alan took the strengths of the Russian school and used them to give me real strength. His work with the whole body made my fingers spring into new life, as if by magic."

Irina Saygina, pianist and teacher, Portland, Oregon
"My teaching has been totally transformed. As I try out ideas from the Institute with my young pupils, their hands are waking up and starting to run and dance on the keyboard in a totally new way."

Christine Olson, pianist and teacher, Northampton, MA
"I've never seen a more nurturing teacher. He offers all the knowledge, caring, encouragement, support and dedication a student needs to reach a new high in his or her playing."

Christina Biron, Smith Institute Graduate

Meet the team

Creator

of the Institute

Alan Fraser Institute General Director

Forging a new approach to piano technique since the 1970's, Alan Fraser is still researching these questions in depth, bringing new material and insights to the Institute each successive year.
For my

students as well

Christine Olson Onsite Coordinator, U Mass

It was Christine's influence that first brought the Alan Fraser Piano Institute into being. She came down to New York City for a lesson with Alan in 2009, they got to talking, and the first institute at Smith College in 2011 was the result. Christine does a stellar job of coordinating every detail of the Smith College Institute, and maintains a thriving teaching practice at her home studio on Forbes Avenue in Northampton through the year. She is an Alexander Technique teacher who gets excited at the multiple possibilities for "cross-fertilization" between Alexander, Feldenkrais Method and Alan's Craft of Piano Method. She finds her teaching has not so much improved as transformed her students' playing since she began working with Alan.
À la recherche

du son perdu

Yveline Ciazynski Director of Operations, France

Yveline first discovered Alan Fraser in 2010, and quickly came to believe that his teaching represents an "epistemological rupture" with previous schools. She has translated three of his books (Honing the Pianist Self-Image, All Thumbs, and Play Piano with the Whole Self) into French (Editions Delatour), and her indefatigable efforts to spread Alan Fraser's teaching in France have led to editions of his institute springing up in Paris and numerous other local centers throughout the country.
Suzuki

rocks

Nila Ledesma Onsite Coordinator, Salt Lake City

Nila first attended an Alan Fraser Institute in 2011, and has been using the approach to transform her Suzuki teaching. She finds the two systems dovetail well, and she is happy to offer her students this further refinement of the Suzuki wisdom. Nila is onsite coordinator for the Salt Lake City Institute which is actually held at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, a half an hour north of Salt Lake.
Arches

reign supreme

Kathryn Southworth-Lundahl Onsite Coordinator, Concord New Hampshire

Kathy is Dean of Students and Faculty at the Concord Community Music School, and has an active career accompanying, teaching, and playing the organ in church on Sunday mornings. She has been attending the Alan Fraser Institute since 2012, and immediately noticed the impact Alan Fraser's teaching had on her own playing. She was quick to arrange for him to open a branch of the Institute in Concord, New Hampshire.
die ganze Selbst

klingt besser

Michael Klatte Onsite Coordinator, Eitorf, Germany

Michael is a Feldenkrais practitioner and pianist who teaches at the Eitorf Music School, a half hour east of Cologne in Germany. He has translated Honing the Pianistic Self-Image into German (Stacccato Verlag), and has begun translating All Thumbs.

Institute Photo Galleries

some image — Smith College

Our flagship institute established in 2011

Latest news

Montréal, Bourgogne - Return in November 2018

Yveline Ciazynski, August 28, 2017

We are looking forward to a sixth Institute in Alan's namesake town (he was born in Montréal, Canada). Our hosts are Graham and Christine Battye, an English music-loving couple who have created an artistic oasis in one of the loveliest parts of Burgundy.

Two new translations

Milos Yankovitch, August 28, 2017

Several of Alan Fraser's works have already been translated: The Craft of Piano Playing in German and Serbian and All Thumbs in French. We are excited to offer two new translations to our European fans early in 2018: Honing the Pianistic Self-Image in both French and German. The French version has been published by Editions Delatour and can be bought on their website. The German version will be published by STACCATO VERLAG, who are most well-known for PianoNews magazine, in April 2018.

Alan's fourth book: Play the Piano with Your Whole Self

Alan Fraser, DAugust 28, 2017

Like all my earlier books, this one is taking longer to edit than to write. It's my most ambitious project to date, with whole sections on harpsichord technique, biotensegrity, and infant development of movement skills - all related back to the hand on the keyboard. Hoping to have it ready by early 2018.

Alan Fraser 2017 Recitals

Sophia Cholich, August 28, 2017

Alan's program for 2018 will include the Bach-Busoni C major Toccata, Adagio & Fugue. Other compositions to be confirmed. Watch this space for details of time and place.

Clavier Companion Interview

Sophia Cholich, August 27, 2017

Alan gave an interview in the July/August 2015 issue of Clavier Companion magazine. In it he speaks of Feldenkrais and piano, and gives a new explanation of the pleasures and pitfalls of arm weight technique. For the whole article, read more
Scott McBride-Smith Clavier Companion magazine

Even newer version of this site now in the works

Alan Fraser, August 28, 2017

Meet Jovan Haji-Djuric, creator of pianotechnique.org and wizard designer of this site. Its new look and functionality are soon to be further improved as Jovan is now creating an all-new site combing the store, the institute and articles and reviews.

INSTITUTE INFORMATION

Find an Institute

Find an Institute near you.
Institute Philosophy

The Institute's mission statement.
Certification

Become a Certified
Embodied Piano Practitioner.
Video Lessons

Extensive data base of Alan Fraser teaching videos

ALAN FRASER: SYNTHESIZING THE WORK OF

THE ESSENCE OF PIANO DIVERSITY

What is Somatic Piano Technique?

TECHNIQUE & MUSICIANSHIP, AT ODDS OR NOT?

MOVEMENT MAKES MUSIC

CHOREOGRAPHY REPLACES RELAXATION

A FUNCTIONAL HAND IS A POTENT HAND

THE EAR IS PHYSICAL, TOO

INSTITUTE GRADUATES REPORT:

INSTITUTE BROCHURE

Creator

Alan Fraser Institute General Director

For my

Christine Olson Onsite Coordinator, U Mass

À la recherche

Yveline Ciazynski Director of Operations, France

Suzuki

Nila Ledesma Onsite Coordinator, Salt Lake City

Arches

Kathryn Southworth-Lundahl Onsite Coordinator, Concord New Hampshire

die ganze Selbst

Michael Klatte Onsite Coordinator, Eitorf, Germany