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.
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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
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