B Arpeggio Piano

[Ronald]

Inthis lesson, Sangah Noona uses slash chords to make diatonic arpeggios sound super sophisticated. All this means is playing different broken diatonic chords over the same bass note used as a pedal point.

This one is more advanced, but you can start slow. Jess plays two different power chords with his left hand and a Bsus4 chord in his right, then makes the whole thing a blur with a schnazzy cross-over.

Lisa Witthas been teaching piano for more than 20 years and in that time has helped hundreds of students learn to play the songs they love. Lisa received classical piano training through the Royal Conservatory of Music, but she has since embraced popular music and playing by ear in order to accompany herself and others. Learn more about Lisa.

This may be an obvious thing for more experienced piano players, but I was wondering whether there is a difference between having a single arpeggio symbol that spans both the left and right hand and having two separate arpeggio symbols for each hand.

I am thinking that they likely mean the same thing (play all the notes consecutively, first the left, then the right hand), but I thought that it might be possible that the split arpeggios are meant to played in parallel (each hand plays its notes consecutively, but both hands play in parallel).

So my question is whether the two notation types are actually the same (maybe due to a limitation in notation software or because of readability), or whether they could notate different ways of playing the arpeggio(s). And if they are the same, are there cases of "parallel" arpeggios? How would they be notated?

When playing an arpeggio with both hands on a keyboard instrument a distinction is made between chords where from the bottom of the left hand chord to the top of the right hand chord no note is missing and those where one or more chord notes are missing.

This sounds very confusing to me and would require the person writing the score to know this small difference and it would require the player to guess whether or not the notator was aware of this rule. It sounds kind of arcane and prone to interpretation errors. Is this actually widely accepted? I would be happy if you could incorporate this aspect in your answers.

The long one in the first example sounds starting from the bottom note in the left hand and runs through to the top note in the right hand. In your second example, you start and finish both arpeggiated chords at the same time.

No, they're not the same. Yes, if several divided arpeggio lines appear underneath each other, then the arpeggios are supposed to be played in parallel. (In practice, this is almost always one arpeggio for the left and one for the right hand, so you're never going to see more than two such lines.)

The second way that Arpeggios are notated in our piano music is by writing each note of the chord one at a time, instead of on top of each other as they are written for chords. (see image 3)

Arpeggios are important and fun to learn. They will teach your hands to move across the piano keyboard faster and with more confidence. You will also be able to play a lot more great piano music by increasing your technique skills to higher levels.

If you'd like to see what Arpeggios look like in piano music and practice playing some of them with me, click on this video to get started. You'll find extra tips and advice as well as Minor Arpeggios, practice examples, and a review quiz!

Fingering is entirely crucial, yes, and the benefits flower over a long period of time. It is often difficult for a beginner piano player to understand why on an intuitive level, but here are a few reasons:

Because of 1, 3, and 5, students with poor fingering habits find sight-reading, already staggeringly hard to master at the best of times, to become an almost insurmountable obstacle to progress at an advanced level.

Sometimes fingering needs to be modified based on your actual hand, but at the beginning, that is where your teacher comes in. My students have traditionally come in with terrible instincts about when modifications are needed (and what they should be).

If you prefer 5 3 2 1 for the left hand fingering, that's fine when playing pieces, but you should practise 5 4 2 1 until both fingerings feel equally comfortable. Possibly the reason you prefer 5 3 2 1 is because your 4th finger is weaker and not so independent as the others (especially on your left hand if you are right-handed) and you need to work on those basic technical things right from the start, rather than just avoiding them.

Fingering is crucial when learning piano - and lots of other instruments. However, it's more productive to know why certain fingerings are important. Sometimes they are just the product of a helpful printer, sometimes they are the only fingerings that work in that situation.

Working out what is the best fingering for you is the most important, as you're the one using your fingers. You may well find a better fingering for something than the one suggested - better for you. And the process of discovering that is the important part. Analysing the piece means looking at the phrasing, timing, notes, and how that all fits together. Your way, giving due consideration to what fingering, will help you understand and learn.

Unlike the other answers, I do not think that the fingering is crucial. You should keep your fingerings dynamic. What fingering you use should be what you feel is most comfortable. For the 5-2-4-1 in the left hand, I too would play that as 5-3-2-1. It just feels more natural. However, lets say we raised the G after by an octave (leaving the E where it is). Here I would not maintain the fingering of 5-3-2-1, because how do you reach the G? 5-3-2-1-1-5 is really awkward, with the thumb jumping a 5th and the pinky jumping to the E. 5-3-2-1-2-5 is better, but you're contorting your hand strangely for the second-last note. Here I would go with 5-4-3-2-1-5, because the first five notes come in fluid motions, and the sixth, only a short jump with the pinky not already playing a key

Close related to the Major scales are these arpeggios based on Major triads (three-note chords).

Arpeggios can be used for melody lines and solos. The pattern shown in the diagrams below can be played all over the keyboard. Arpeggios are similar to scales, but could be seen as more melodic and more colorful. The general fingering is (right hand ascending): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. To accomplish this, the thumb should go under the hand to the next octave and use the long finger as pivot finger. Notice that arpeggios also can be based on seventh chords and other chords types, and that the order of notes can be varied.

The musical notation above is a C Major arpeggio from root over two octaves and ending on the root on the third octave above (see more note examples below in downloadable pdf):

Once you feel comfortable with the C major arpeggio, you can apply the same pattern to other major or minor chords. If you want a really fun challenge, check out our Free Lesson, One Octave Arpeggios. Take your time working on arpeggios, making sure that you keep good posture and technique. Most importantly, have fun and keep practicing!

Looking at a beautifully controlled and choreographed arpeggio, we notice a smoothness and fluidity in the way both arms move across the keyboard, seamlessly connected together and describing a gentle curve. If the arpeggio is played continuously as though on a loop, the curve turns into a figure of eight (or the infinity symbol), all angles rounded out. My general advice for arpeggios is to hold the elbows slightly higher than in scale playing. There will be a bit more space under the arms, as though a current of air from beneath were lifting the arms up slightly so that they appear to float. The golden rule is never drop the elbow down onto the thumb!

There are three main approaches to the thumb in arpeggio playing, all of which are viable. Which one you choose depends on the speed and musical character of the individual arpeggio as much as the particular school of piano playing you have inherited.

We achieve a physical legato to (and from) the thumb, the thumb travelling underneath the hand in the same way as in a scale. To achieve the necessary stretch comfortably the thumb needs to start its journey immediately, as soon as it releases its previous key, and the elbow needs to lead. This is the approach I recommend for beginners and intermediate level players presenting arpeggios for examination, and it is the most traditional. At the advanced level, I would introduce the thumb over approach as well as the arm shift.

Opponents of the thumb-under approach claim passing the thumb underneath the hand causes unnecessary tension at high speed (especially in the big stretches we find in arpeggios). Using an arm shift, the hand is simply carried from one octave to the next, the thumb making no attempt to pass under. A physical legato is compromised, but if done well there is no discernable break in sound.

If you would like to know more about arpeggio playing, I am delighted to announce the launch of Part 3 of my eBook series, Practising the Piano. Part 3 is a single, bumper volume on scales and arpeggios starting with a guide to the basic skills required followed by chapters for the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels.

As with my other eBooks, Part 3 features numerous video demonstrations, exercises written out in manuscript and practice suggestions. It also features a number of resources and interactive tools to keep you motivated and to make your practising more effective.

But it's really not as hard as it looks, as long as you practice it correctly. The first two videos are on the basic sweep, the form, and the practice strategies. Then the final video is on Advanced Sweeping. Basically, it talks about how to add on to your Basic Sweep to make it even more epic. But you'll see what I mean.

2. Arpeggio Sweeps are great for intros, transitions, and outros. They're a little tougher to put in when you only have a little space (because they take both your left and right hand), but it can be done with practice.

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