Pentatonic Music

What if a person only had five notes to use when learning to play the piano? Would it stifle or promote creativity? Would it encourage technical prowess or inhibit technique? Would it develop the melodic and harmonic relationship? Would it help develop listening skills or promote only rote learning? Would it be satisfying to an adult learner or not stimulating enough?
Using the pentatonic method, the beginning pianist has only five notes to choose from. Those five notes based on a whole and half step relationship make up what is known as the pentatonic scale. In the piano world, those five notes correspond exactly to the five black keys on the piano. Conveniently amazing.
Equally amazing is that a beginner needs only those five notes to make beautiful music, develop technical skills, promote listening and play-back skills and encourage boundless creativity. Learning to play the piano using the pentatonic method is also immensely satisfying to the adult novice pianist because this method encourages from day one playing recognizable well-known and loved melodies with accompaniment patterns.
The pentatonic method takes away many of the layers of music-making and refines it to the simplest possible denominator - the physical attributes of playing the piano. Before a person can make music, that person needs to be able to move their fingers and hands.
The pentatonic method, because it uses rote learning, emphasizes hand position and finger movement. It allows the learner to concentrate fully on moving their fingers and developing a proficient technique before adding the other layers of learning the language of music. Technical prowess becomes an attribute of students of this method.
The pentatonic method not only allows but promotes playing with two hands from the onset of the course. Because of the nature of the pentatonic scale, melodic and harmonic relationships are consonant and every combination of notes sounds pleasing. Thus, melodic and harmonic relationships are effortlessly explored. The variation of accompaniment patterns using only the five black keys is endless and hindered only by the player's imagination.
The pentatonic method in its use of melody and accompaniment from the very early stages develops listening skills. Students discover how changing an accompaniment pattern can change the character of the piece they are playing. By moving from a blocked fifth accompaniment pattern to a cross-hand chord cluster accompaniment pattern, the melody takes on a new flavor. The same melody can go from a jaunty Irish dance to a dreamy lullaby in the matter of a few quick note changes in the left hand all while staying on only the black keys.
The pentatonic method is immediately satisfying to an adult pianist. The student makes swift progress and is playing music immediately. Best of all, the learner is not merely a learner but an explorer. Basic patterns are presented but because of the nature of the pentatonic scale, the inventive learner can take this method in many different directions.
Playing the piano using pentatonic creativity is a process of limitless joy and music-making.

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