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A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches in contrast to a eight-note scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including Celtic folk music, Hungarian folk music, West African music, African-American spirituals, Jazz, American blues music and rock music, Sami joik singing, children’s songs, the Greek traditional music and songs from Epirus, Northwest Greece and the music of Southern Albania, the tuning of the Ethiopian krar and the Indonesian gamelan, Philippine Kulintang, melodies of Korea, Malaysia, Japan, China, India and Vietnam (including the folk music of these countries), the Andean music, the Afro-Caribbean tradition, Polish highlanders from the Tatra Mountains, and Western Classical composers such as French composer Claude Debussy. The pentatonic scale is also used on the Great Highland Bagpipe.
“The goal of [our group piano classes] is to lead children to true music literacy by means of a comprehensive musicianship course which holistically addresses both the child and the music. Comprehensive musicianship denotes an appreciation of many facets of music – performance and improvisation (playing by ear, playing from memory, and playing from score); an understanding of rhythm, melody, harmony, and form; and an acquaintance with the historical and theoretical contexts of music.
This method offers children the gift of active and thinking music-making. Children are offered many ways to express themselves through music- by playing the keyboard, singing, responding to music through dance, and enjoying the community of group music making. In addition to the joy which comes from making music, they also experience the sheer enjoyment that comes from listening to great music”.
(from Music Makers: At The Keyboard, Year 2 Teacher’s Guide p. 7)
