Improvising on the black keys

Here is the best-kept secret of piano teachers: the five black keys form a pentatonic scale (penta = five). This scale contains no semitones, so no note "rubs" against another. Whatever black keys you press, in any order, it sounds good. It's the ideal playground for daring.

Where does the magic come from?

The black keys are D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭ (or C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯, A♯). Seen from G♭, they form the G♭ major pentatonic; seen from E♭, the E♭ minor pentatonic. This scale appears in traditional songs all over the world: Scotland, China, West Africa, African-American blues, and in Debussy and Dvořák.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:Ebm
E2 G2 A2 B2 | d2 e2 g4 |]

With the E♭ minor key signature, every note written here is a black key. Here is a little four-bar phrase over the ballad loop in E♭ minor:

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:Ebm
"Ebm" B2 A G E4 | "Cb" G2 A B d4 | "Gb" e2 d B A2 G2 | "Db" d4 B4 |]

Step-by-step exercise

1. Open the ballad backing track in E♭ minor and listen to two rounds without playing. Notice when the loop starts again.
2. Right hand only, use three neighbouring black keys (G♭, A♭, B♭). Play long notes, one per bar. Listen to how each one takes on a different colour depending on the chord.
3. Add the other two black keys. Go up, go down, repeat a note, leave gaps.
4. Left hand: place a low E♭ (with the fifth B♭ if you like) at the start of each bar. Hold the sustain pedal for two beats, then release it.
5. Finish by landing on E♭: it's the "home" of this scale.

White-key version: the same scale exists on the white keys, C D E G A (C pentatonic). Try it over the pop backing in C: same principle, no note can sound wrong.