ALAN FRASER: SYNTHESIZING THE WORK OF

Some technically brilliant pianists seem unemotional while a sensitive pianist may lack dexterity – but might mechanics and musicianship be two sides of the same coin? Might "technique vs. musicianship" be a false dichotomy?

MOVEMENT MAKES MUSIC

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. Studying the physical aspect of musical inflection and the musical aspect of physical gesture, one sees that at the piano, everything you do, sounds. 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, we choreograph every musical idea, bring every musical gesture to physical life to unlock the body naturally. Physical tension dissolves when movement reflects 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 learns lying down, standing up, walking, running, hopping and leaping 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,” opposes itself to the fingers to empower the hand, increase strength and sensitivity, and create a multi-coloured musical expression.

• Phrases are shaped with lateral arm movements, neutralizing the negative ramifications of a vertical, overly weighted approach.

THE EAR IS PHYSICAL, TOO

Many insist that the ear must reign supreme, that physical concerns distract one from the music - but this approach uses the phyiscal to reconnect 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.

INSTITUTE GRADUATES REPORT:

• expanded range of tonal colour

• deeper musical expression

• increased speed & suppleness

• other technical challenges resolved

• complete injury recovery

INSTITUTE BROCHURE

Acquaint yourself further with the institute by reading our brochure.

• Print copies of the brochure will be sent upon request.

• View the brochure here.

• Download the brochure to share with your colleagues.

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Re-Inventing Piano Technique

Designed to bring a new dimension to your piano playing and teaching, the institute combines daily Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement lessons with lectures and individual work at the piano. All participants have a lesson with Alan Fraser every day.

This environment stimulates both body and mind to achieve the breakthrough that Fraser commits to at the beginning of the week. The group's camaraderie enhances the learning process as well – much is gained through comparing notes between sessions.

• Participants speak about their Institute experience

Open To All Interested Pianists

Fraser’s approach benefits pianists of all levels - we all share similar skeletal structure, similar muscles, similar nerves, and similar brains. Students, teachers, professionals and amateurs both young and old are welcome as well as singers and instrumentalists.

A Workshop, Not a Master Class

The master class teacher imparts an interpretation, leaving questions of technique to the regular teacher. By contrast, Fraser empowers you to express your own musical ideas at the piano by focusing on technique - always of course linking it to musical structure.

Permission to Play Imperfectly

Pieces brought for study need not be totally polished. Working in the beginning stages of preparation can lead to better learning: old habits are not yet ingrained, new habits more easily acquired. Remember, it's not a master class.

Performance Anxiety and Injury

Honing the physical relationship to the instrument makes playing easier and more masterful. Increased skill improves musical expression and reduces strain - addressing both performance anxiety and injury issues as well as basic ability.

Mini-Institutes

When a full week is not possible, Fraser runs shorter institutes. Full institutes last four days or more; mini-institutes three days or less.

Piano Somatics Institute Administrative 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 U Mass 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.
Skeletal

Music

Mirka Mauck Onsite Coordinator, Hamm, Ruhr Valley, Germany

Like Alan, Mirka is a concert pianist, pedagogue and Feldenkrais practitioner as well. She has collaborated with Alan for almost twenty years, inviting him to teach in her studio in Hamm and also conducting a long-standing exchange in Functional Integration. She performs in a duo with Takako Oishi.
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.