3-D Piano with Fred Karpoff: The Three-Dimensional Pianist

What is 3-D Piano?
3-D Piano is a new, 6-DVD series on piano teaching and playing, produced by artist-teacher Fred Karpoff. With 280 minutes of video and an elegant 84-page workbook to guide the review process, the total experience for the viewer is expected to range from 2 to 4 months.

What does "3-D Piano" mean?
3-D Piano describes the graceful, efficient usage of the whole body to play the piano in three-dimensions, as opposed to faulty tenets such as "making all the fingers the same length," "thumb-under" scales, "high" fingers, and using opposable muscles simultaneously, with curled fingers. In 3-D Piano, these are replaced with concepts such as the Quiet Hand, Rotational Mobility of the Hips, Continuous Alignment Adjustments in three-dimensions (up-down, in-out, and lateral), the Throw, the Vibrato Technique (essential for playing repeated chords, octaves, and tremolos), Three-Dimensional Shaping, and Released Fingers.

How did 3-D Piano come about?
After a vocational injury twenty years ago, Fred Karpoff began an overhaul of his piano technique, guided by Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. Following his study of the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais® Method, he integrated these whole-body modalities with new insights on piano playing, and the concept of 3-D Piano evolved. Together with award-winning documentary producer, Richard Breyer (Freedom's Call, North of 49, Dancing on Mother Earth) Karpoff has realized his vision of conveying these ideas in a cutting-edge video format. Throughout, Karpoff and Breyer have espoused the maxim, "'Let me show you' is always better than 'Let me tell you.'"

What topics are covered in 3-D Piano?
The first three units provide basic but vital information for pianists of all levels, and lay the groundwork for the more advanced concepts in the units that follow:

Unit 1: Foundations Balanced Sitting Position Rotational Mobility of the Hips Bench Height and Distance from the Keyboard Levers and Joints Free Fall Free Fall--Dyads The Point of Sound Opposable Muscles The Quiet Hand Alignment Wrist Height Supported Fingers Common Hand Positions Unit 2: Three-Dimensional Movement Two-Note Slurs Three-Note Slurs Four-Note Slurs The Basic Three-Dimensional Form on Five Notes Three-Dimensional Hanon The Basic 3-D Form in Hanon Exercises Unit 3: Chord Ensemble and Sound Quality Unit 4: Arpeggios One-Octave Arpeggios The Throw Isolating the Throw in Two-Octave Arpeggios Putting It All Together Momentum Unit 5: The Vibrato Technique The Basic Vibrato Motion Repeated Notes and Chords Octaves Tremolos		Unit 6: Trills Trills Through Five Notes Trills: More Than Five Notes Unit 7: Scales The Fallacy of Thumb-Under Natural Hand Position The Quiet Hand in Scale Playing Three-Dimensional Shaping Continuous Alignment Adjustments The Throw vs. Thumb-Under Released Fingers Vertical Adjustment Motions Keyboard Topography Coordinating the Turnaround Playing Scales in Ensemble Speed and Evenness: Additional Exercises Practicing with Different Rhythms Practicing with Accents Practicing for Speed Using the Metronome Unit 8: Pedaling Partial Pedaling: quarter, half, three-quarter Pedaling Before the Attack The Forte-Piano The Staccato Pedal Unit 9: Rhythm and Artistry Chopin: Ballade in A-Flat, Op. 47 Brahms: Sonata in C, Op. 1 Benshoof: Prelude No. 1 from 24 Preludes (2003) Berg: Piano Sonata, Op. 1

What's special about 3-D Piano?
3-D Piano is the first instructional video series of its size and scope conceived for DVD and shot in high-definition ["HD"]. Personnel include 12 students in live, unscripted lessons with Fred Karpoff, at various stages of development. Also featured are several musicians demonstrating whole-body usage or collaborating with Karpoff in performance, and a master Alexander Technique teacher in a lesson demonstration. The beautiful study guide features musical examples and photos from the film to direct the viewer’s experience when working with the material.

There are abundant musical examples, including many performances by Karpoff of the standard repertoire. Throughout, the emphasis is on integrating the knowledge of how to play effortlessly with a musical conception of sound and phrasing.

How do you use 3-D Piano?
The format for most units is the interactive lessons, edited down to shorter segments (usually ranging from 2-4 minutes) followed by instructional reviews. It is expected that you will watch a lesson and a review and then pause the video so you can perform and experiment with the various motions, techniques, and musical ideas being described. The DVD format is especially friendly for reviewing whatever segment you want to, as much as needed or desired.