Introduction to Arpeggios

What is an Arpeggio?

An arpeggio is a sequence of notes, played from lowest to highest (as a scale would be) but the notes themselves are taken from a particular chord.

Arpeggios, in addition to chords and scales, form the basic building blocks of all musical sequences.

An Example Arpeggio

For example, consider the A minor chord. It contains the notes A, C, and E. To play it as a chord, simply form a shape and strum altogether.

But how to play this A minor chord as an arpeggio? Simply play the notes one-by-one as opposed to all at once.

Although a chord shape can be used to play an arpeggio, note that, on the guitar, arpeggios are not merely chord-shapes played sequentially. Using chord shapes to play arpeggios is not the right way to think of it. Using the chord shape will tend to result in thinking that is too small: to play a “full” A minor arpeggio in the open position, it should include all of the A- chord notes available in open position. And those notes should not be allowed to ring together as they would in a chord; each one must fall silent before the next one is played.

A Full Arpeggio Shape

Playing a fuller-sounding arpeggio will require us to start on the lowest chord note available in this position, the open E at the 6^th string.

Take notice that the notes of this arpeggio are played one at a time, and in succession; it is best not to press and/or play multiple notes at once as you would in a chord. Allowing two or more notes from this pattern to ring together at the same time will start to create the impression of a chord sound (harmony) rather than an arpeggio sound (sequence).

Key Tasks

• Play the above arpeggio
• Think of another chord, such as C major. Spell the notes and create an arpeggio from that chord.