Theory & harmony
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time in sequence rather than simultaneously.
Any chord can be arpeggiated. The value for a student is that arpeggios train the hand to leap between chord tones, the intervals a scale never covers, and train the eye to recognise a chord shape spread across a staff, which is one of the biggest single accelerants of sight-reading.
On a string instrument, arpeggios usually require crossing strings and often shifting, so they double as a technical study in bow arm levels and position changes. Practising them in the same key as the day's scale is the standard pairing.
Try it now · no account needed
Build an arpeggio from a C major chord
The C major triad contains C, E and G. Sound those notes one after another, then add the next C to reach the octave. You have a one-octave C major arpeggio.
C major scale: C D E F G A B C C major arpeggio: C E G C, G E C
The arpeggio picks out scale degrees 1, 3 and 5, with the root repeated at the octave. It skips D, F, A and B because they are not notes of the C major triad. Play or sing slowly enough to hear the larger gaps.
Check your understanding
The G major scale is G A B C D E F♯ G. Which four ascending notes make its one-octave major arpeggio?
Show answer and explanation
G, B, D, G. Choose the root, third and fifth of G major, then repeat the root one octave higher. F♯ belongs to the scale but is not part of this triad.
A common mix-up
An arpeggio is not a fast scale. The defining feature is its chord tones, not its speed. Changing the chord changes the notes: C minor uses C, E♭ and G.
Related terms
Every term in this glossary is taught in context somewhere in Arco's curricula, on the staff, on the keyboard, and on your own fingerboard at the same time.