# AI Wiki - Music - Arpeggios ## Overview An arpeggio is a chord played **one note at a time**, rising or falling, instead of all at once. The word comes from the Italian *arpeggiare*, "to play on a harp". A C major arpeggio is C–E–G–C–E–G…: the notes of the C [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads|triad]] spread out in time. Older texts call it a *broken chord*; a very fast arpeggio on a keyboard is a *rolled chord*, notated with a wavy vertical line before the chord. Arpeggios sit between chords and scales: - A **chord** sounds its notes together. - A **scale** walks through every note of the key, step by step. - An **arpeggio** skips through only the chord tones, in thirds and fourths. ## Why they matter - **Accompaniment**: fingerpicked guitar parts and most piano accompaniments are arpeggios. Beethoven's *Moonlight Sonata* is an arpeggiated triplet accompaniment from start to finish. - **Soloing that fits the chords**: chord tones are the "safe" landing notes over each chord. Knowing where they are lets a solo follow the changes instead of just the key; arpeggios are central to [[AI Wiki - Music - Jazz Music|jazz]] improvisation. - **Fretboard and keyboard knowledge**: practising arpeggios forces you to know where the root, third and fifth (and seventh) of every chord are. - **[[AI Wiki - Music - Ear Training|Ear training]]**: singing and playing arpeggios teaches you what each chord quality sounds like. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Quality Recognition]]. - **Technique**: they train stretches, position shifts, string crossing and (on piano) thumb-under crossings. ## What's in an arpeggio Any chord can be arpeggiated. The formulas are the chord formulas (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Intervals]]): | Arpeggio | Formula | In A | In C | In G | |---|---|---|---|---| | Major | 1 3 5 | A C♯ E | C E G | G B D | | Minor | 1 b3 5 | A C E | C E♭ G | G B♭ D | | Dominant 7 | 1 3 5 b7 | A C♯ E G | C E G B♭ | G B D F | | Minor 7 | 1 b3 5 b7 | A C E G | C E♭ G B♭ | G B♭ D F | | Major 7 | 1 3 5 7 | A C♯ E G♯ | C E G B | G B D F♯ | Start with major and minor triads, then add the four-note [[AI Wiki - Music - Seventh Chords]]. ## On guitar ### 1. Arpeggiated open chords The first arpeggios most guitarists play: hold an [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords|open chord]] and pick its strings one at a time instead of [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns|strumming]]. Pick the root first (the A string for C and Am, the low E for G and Em, the D string for D), then move up. With fingers, the thumb takes the bass strings and index, middle and ring take the G, B and e strings. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Fingerpicking]]. ### 2. One-position arpeggio shapes To solo with arpeggios, learn the chord tones inside one hand position. The A minor arpeggio between frets 5 and 8 covers two octaves plus a third, and sits right inside the first box of the [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]]: ```fretboard chord: Am frets: 5-8 labels: intervals ``` Played as a single-note line, low to high (index on fret 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8): ```text e|-----------------------5--8--| B|--------------------5--------| G|-----------------5-----------| D|--------------7--------------| A|-----------7-----------------| E|--5--8-----------------------| A C E A C E A C ``` Every note of that arpeggio is in the A minor pentatonic box: the arpeggio is the pentatonic with the passing notes (4 and b7) removed. Highlighting the b3 and 5 inside the box shows which pentatonic notes are chord tones, the strongest notes to land on over an Am chord: ```fretboard A minor pentatonic frets: 5-8 highlight: b3 5 labels: intervals ``` ### 3. CAGED arpeggio shapes The [[AI Wiki - Music - CAGED System]] gives five positions for every chord, each built around one of the open shapes C, A, G, E and D. Playing only the chord tones in each position gives five arpeggio shapes that tile the whole neck. For C major, going up the neck: ```fretboard labels: intervals orientation: vertical --- chord: C frets: 0-3 title: C shape (open) --- chord: C frets: 2-5 title: A shape (fret 3) --- chord: C frets: 5-8 title: G shape (fret 5) --- chord: C frets: 7-10 title: E shape (fret 8) --- chord: C frets: 10-13 title: D shape (fret 10) ``` Learn one shape at a time, starting with the E shape and A shape (they match the [[AI Wiki - Music - Barre Chords|barre chords]] you'll use most), then connect neighbours. Move the whole set two frets up and it's D major; replace each 3 with a b3 and it's C minor. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]]. ### 4. Triad arpeggios on string sets Smaller shapes: the three notes of a triad on three adjacent strings, in each [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions|inversion]]. They're quick to find (locate the root, the shape follows) and are the building blocks of the bigger CAGED shapes. Shape names often refer to the string holding the lowest root ("root 6", "root 5"). ### Advanced: sweep picking Fast [[AI Wiki - Music - Rock Music|rock]] and metal arpeggios are played with **sweep picking**: one continuous pick stroke dragged across the strings, one note per string, muting each note as the next sounds. It's an advanced technique; learn the shapes slowly with alternate picking first. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Lead Techniques]]. ## On piano The right-hand fingering for a two-octave C major arpeggio is **1-2-3-1-2-3-5**: thumb on C, index on E, middle on G, then the thumb passes under to the next C. The same fingering works for the other triads made only of white keys: F, G, Am, Dm and Em. The left hand commonly plays 5-4-2-1 and then crosses a finger over the thumb. ```chord symbol: C pitches: C4 E4 G4 C5 E5 G5 C6 fingering: 1-2-3-1-2-3-5 title: C major arpeggio, right hand ``` Related keyboard figures: - **Broken chords**: the triad played as a pattern within one hand position (C–E–G–E, C–G–E–G) rather than climbing octaves. - **Alberti bass**: low–high–middle–high (C–G–E–G), the classical left-hand accompaniment. - **Arpeggiated ballad accompaniment**: left hand root–fifth–octave (C–G–C), right hand holding or rolling the chord. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]]. ## How to practise 1. **Slow and even**, with a metronome: one note per click, then two. Evenness beats speed. 2. **Say or think the interval** as you play each note (root, third, fifth). That's what makes arpeggios useful later. 3. **Up and down, in one position**, then across two octaves. Always start and end on the root at first. 4. **Mute as you go** on guitar: unless you want the notes to ring like a harp, lift each finger as the next note sounds. 5. **Play arpeggios over a progression**: loop G – Em – C – D and play each chord's arpeggio in one position as the chord changes. Then do the same in A minor (Am – F – C – G). 6. **Target chord tones in solos**: improvise with the A minor pentatonic over Am, but land the end of each phrase on A, C or E. 7. **Piano**: practise C, G and F major and A, D, E minor arpeggios hands separately, then together. ## Common mistakes - Learning shapes as patterns of dots without knowing which dot is the root, third or fifth. - Letting every note ring into a blur when practising for soloing. - Rushing the position shifts and string crossings; the hard part is where the shape changes string, not the frets. - Jumping to sweep picking before the shapes are automatic. ## Key Points - Arpeggio = a chord's notes played one at a time; same formulas as the chords (1 3 5, 1 b3 5, 1 3 5 b7…). - Used for accompaniment (fingerpicking, piano broken chords) and for soloing that follows the chords. - The A minor arpeggio (A C E) is the A minor pentatonic box minus its passing notes. - CAGED gives five arpeggio shapes per chord that cover the neck; learn E and A shapes first. - Piano right hand: 1-2-3-1-2-3-5 for two octaves of a white-key triad. ## Open Questions - Which arpeggio exercises best transfer to fingerpicked accompaniment for the songs Sébastien is learning? - When to add seventh-chord arpeggios to the routine? ## References - Arpeggio — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpeggio - What are guitar arpeggios? 8 things you need to know — Guitar World: https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/guitar-arpeggios-8-things-you-need-to-know - Triad Arpeggios (lesson discussion) — JustinGuitar Community: https://community.justinguitar.com/t/triad-arpeggios/2063 - Melodic-Harmonic Framework, Part 1: Triad and 7th-Chord Arpeggios — Guitar Player: https://guitarplayer.com/lessons/melodic-harmonic-framework-part-1 ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Seventh Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Intervals]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - CAGED System]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Fingerpicking]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Lead Techniques]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Fingering]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Quality Recognition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Folk Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Hand Independence]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Scales]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pop Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Solfege and Singing]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Sustain Pedal]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Fretboard Interval Shapes]]