Arpeggios Explained: What Is an Arpeggio in Music?

An arpeggio is a broken chord, or a chord in which individual notes are struck one by one, rather than all together at once. The word “arpeggio” comes from the Italian word “arpeggiare,” which means "to play on a harp." (“Arpa” is the Italian word for “harp.”)

Arpeggiated chords occur regularly in guitar and piano music. Both the guitar and the piano can play chords—groups of notes struck at the same time. They can also play individual notes. Guitarists and pianists play arpeggios when they cycle through chord progressions one note at a time. The term arpeggio can apply to other instruments as well since nearly any melodic instrument can play one note at a time.

The standard definition of arpeggio involves a broken chord that is played in sequential order from its lowest note to its highest note, or vice versa. However, the lowest and highest notes of a particular chord can vary.

1. 1. Triad starting on the root: If a player is attempting a C major arpeggio, they could start on the root note, which is a C. They would then go to the next scale degree, which is E (the third in a C major scale). From there, they would play a G, which is the fifth scale degree of the C major scale. After that, they would play a C one octave above the starting pitch, and the pattern would continue upward. You can also reverse direction and go from the highest note to the lowest.
2. 2. Triad starting on the third or the fifth: You can arpeggiate a chord starting from a different scale degree. That same C major arpeggio could begin on E (the major third) or G (the fifth) and continue in the same pattern.
3. 3. Going beyond triads: Arpeggios work for any kind of chord, not just major triads. Minor chords can be broken out into minor arpeggios, and the same goes for seventh chords. For instance, a G major seventh chord adds the chord tone F♯ to the major chord formed by G, B, and D. If you were to play a downward arpeggio on this chord starting from the third scale degree, you would play: B, G, F♯, and D. Then you would play another B one octave down from where you started and continue the pattern.

Guitarists of all genres—but particularly classical and jazz musicians—use arpeggios in their everyday playing. You can add arpeggios to your guitar vocabulary in two ways.

• Add arpeggiation to chords: Instead of strumming guitar chords, try flatpicking or fingerpicking individual notes on the fretboard. Guitarists from Joni Mitchell to Peter Buck to Jim Hall have used this to great effect. The technique requires dexterity in both your right and left hand, as fingering must be precise and rhythms must be steady and intentional.
• Use guitar arpeggios in solos: Beginning lead guitarists tend to solo off of a single scale—often a major pentatonic or minor pentatonic scale—no matter what chords are playing underneath. Advanced guitarists may adjust their improvisation to chord progressions and match the notes of their guitar solo to the chords beneath them. Playing arpeggios up and down the guitar neck can be a lot like playing riffs, and it can help you find a soloing pattern for any chord you encounter. The sweep-picking technique has helped heavy metal and jazz fusion guitarists blaze through multi-string arpeggios.

Pianists encounter arpeggios in classical music and popular music alike. Famous pieces from classical music literature, such as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Bach's Art of the Fugue, are built on luxuriant piano arpeggios. Virtuoso jazz soloists like Herbie Hancock play arpeggios up and down the piano keyboard, both on solos and on melodic motifs.

You can play piano arpeggios by playing block chords one note at a time, taking care to differentiate each note in a steady rhythmic pattern. To play long extended arpeggios, proper piano technique calls for crossing one hand over another to keep a continuous run up and down the keyboard. To improve your arpeggio playing, make sure you know each individual note in a chord shape and work out patterns to keep your fingers flowing through all the notes of the chord, in both ascending and descending order.

Become a better musician with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Herbie Hancock, Itzhak Perlman, St. Vincent, Sheila E., Timbaland, Tom Morello, and more.