The Magic of Keyboard Patterns

The Interval Approach:	In my previous article for Muzine, I discussed the simplicity and accuracy of reading keyboard music by a simplified interval approach, which uses a combination of aural, tactile and visual senses and encourages pianists to read by following the flow of the music while fostering awareness of shapes and patterns. This procedure can not only be done on the white notes of the keyboard, but can also be transposed to any key, provided that the performer knows the keyboard pattern or scale pathway for each key.
Scale Pathways:	What I refer to as scale pathway thinking is very much used by improvising musicians, since without notation to refer to, they need to use the layout of the black notes as a point of reference. It is also a very effective way of getting to know your way around a keyboard, and the benefits are manifold for not only improvising musicians but also for reading musicians who can view the keyboard in this way: first, there will be a degree of accuracy in performance not easily obtained in the traditional manner; second, there will be the added security of the tactile awareness of space on the instrument (especially when thinking intervallically); and, third, the player's aural abilities will be called into play, as the eyes will be left free to follow the music, or--in the case of much improvised playing--kept closed . (I find that in many instances I prefer to improvise with my eyes closed, accessing the right brain and the aural function more readily, and shutting out any distracting visual input.)
Gestalt Thinking:	So just what are scale pathways? When teaching the scale patterns, I prefer to use the Gestalt (or whole view) approach, seeing the entire scale at once, as a unit. My system for blocking out the scale begins with holding down all eight white notes within a one-octave range of the scale in question with fingers 5432 (left hand) and 2345 (right hand), respectively; then the black notes are added in key signature order. For instance, in the scale of E Major the student would begin by holding down all the white notes from E to E, and then take the fingers that are on the notes F, C, G, and D up to their neighboring sharps. The resulting scale pattern is W BB WW BB W (W = white, B = Black) . Doing this in key signature order reinforces the process each time a scale is learned. Now take a good look at the keyboard pattern of E Major as you hold the notes down, then close your eyes and visualize it, receiving the tactile information from your fingers. It is helpful to say: "white, 2 blacks, 2 whites, 2 blacks and a white" as you play the scale. Learning the scales which contain all five black notes is easy: if you think of the scale of D-flat Major (which has five flats and looks like a pretty daunting key signature on the page) as a keyboard pattern which uses all the black notes and only two white notes (F and C), learning the scale will be a simple task. There are numerous Gestalt patterns like these which greatly simplify visualizing the various scale configurations; they will be discussed in greater detail in a future article.
Transposition:	Once the scale pattern has been learned for a particular key, a line of music (read by intervals) can be played along any new pattern. In many cases familiar tunes will use either the first five notes of the scale or the last five, while others might use the whole scale. Three Blind Mice is an example of a tune that begins with short, three-note scale segments, whereas a couple of famous Christmas songs which use the entire scale are Joy to the World (starts at the top of the scale and goes down), and The First Noel (starts at the bottom and goes up).
Scale Curiosities:	Many other interesting features appear when working with scale patterns. One fascinating aspect is the 'photographic negatives' that appear when juxtaposing the keyboard patterns of scales such as A Major and A-flat Major: each scale degree is reversed with its counterpart in the other key--white becomes black, and vice versa. Chord patterns also have a photographic negative aspect: the triad of E Major, for instance, is W-B-W, while E-flat Major is B-W-B. These things seem odd because the keyboard does not have the same number of black and white notes in each octave, yet quite perfect "scale and chord opposites" appear.
The Cycle of Fifths:	When one looks at the layout of the scales as black and white patterns, other connecting features become evident. Many theory and piano books have a picture of the Circle or Cycle of Fifths. This is a diagram which shows how keys are related by starting each new scale on the fifth degree of the previous one, adding a sharp each time. Thus, C has no sharps, G (a fifth up) has one, and so on; one can also descend in fifths and add flats instead. It is good policy to learn the cycle as soon as possible after one begins to study the piano.
Mnemonics as a Tool:	I suggest to anyone leaning the piano that the easiest way to remember how to find all the information for a Cycle of Fifths is to learn the sequence by attaching a mnemonic, or memory aid. One used by many teachers for keys with sharps is: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle; this can be used in reverse for keys with flats: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father. My students like these other catchy phrases, too: Fast Cars Go Down At Every Bend, or Father Christmas Gets Drunk After Every Beer (adults only!!); and for the reverse: Billy, Edward And Daniel Go Cat Fishing (or shortened to BEAD Goes Cat Fishing).
More to Come!	I have explored these aspects in my Contemporary Piano Method, and in even more depth in my forthcoming book Pictorial Patterns for Keyboard Scales and Chords. More on the fascinating subject of keys and scales in the next issue!