Pitch & Harmony

Arpeggio

The notes of a chord played one after another.

In plain English

Instead of sounding all the notes in a chord at once, an arpeggio spreads them out. The notes may rise, fall, or follow another pattern.

Play C, E, and G separately. Those are the notes of a C major chord played as an arpeggio.

Arpeggios help musicians hear chord tones and create melodic parts that still describe the harmony.

Watch

Practise

Choose the version closest to the instrument you are working on. These are exercise videos, so they sit separately from the main explanation.

Bass guitar

Use this when you want to connect chord tones to bass movement.

Piano

Use this to see the shape of the chord spread across the keyboard.

Acoustic guitar

Use this for a picked approach to outlining chords cleanly.

Electric guitar

Use this when you want the idea applied to electric guitar technique.