Does music have patterns? Do you know that as a keyboard player you can read music faster if you see a “chunk” of information on the music page? How can you find the patterns in music and use the understanding of those patterns to create your own music? Keyboard musicians have known for a long time that the knowledge of and the applied practice of scales, chords, arpeggios, rhythms, and harmonies are vital to becoming a better musician. Musical tools are skills that you can learn, which help you play existing music more quickly. These tools also give you the ability to create your own music. It makes learning and playing music a lot more fun!
Recognizing Chord & Octave Patterns:
In the 1st line, top staff, of Canon in C, find the 3 note chords stacked up like a “snowman”. To play, simply put your RH with 5 fingers in a row on the keys with your thumb on the chord name, a C chord will have your thumb on the correct C. Play the “blocked” chord all at once with your bottom, middle, & top fingers playing at the same time. The names of the chords are above the staff. In the 2nd line, top staff, those same chords are simply taken apart “broken”, played 1 note at a time: Bottom, Middle, Top.
The bottom staff has octaves, which are 8 notes apart: C – C, G – G, A – A, E – E, F – F
Octaves are played at the same time with the LH top & bottom fingers and follow the Chord symbols.
Recognizing Arpeggio “Harp-Like” Patterns:
Arpeggio simply means “the notes of a chord – played one note at a time, that can ascend or descend for more than an octave.” Arpeggios create great harmony on the keyboard.
This example shows arpeggios in both hands for the keyboard. The bottom staff is using a common LH which is the “octave and the 5th “(the fifth of the chord) in measure 8. In measure 9 – 13, the LH starts with the octave + 5th and adds the 3rd of the chord as the top note. Chords = Roman numerals.
The top staff first plays a “blocked” chord (played all at the same time). Next the same notes are taken apart in the arpeggio pattern. The chords are in root & inverted (re-arranged) positions.
Recognizing Scale Patterns:
Scales are organized patterns of notes stepping up or down the keys. Scale notes are determined by the Key Signatures of music. You can spot scales immediately in music. Knowing how to play them with correct fingering, gives immediate enjoyment to creating music.
See scale pattern in top staff of Mozart’s Sonata in C. Learn the C Scale & find the best fingering to play the music’s scale passages.
Become a better musician by learning to recognize & play musical patterns. Find them in the music and then map onto your keyboard. Use the black key patterns of 2 keys, 3 keys, 2 keys, 3 keys, etc., to visually see the patterns on the keys. Once you learn to recognize music patterns both on the page and on the keyboard, you will be able to quickly play music and have fun creating your own music!