Questions tagged [arpeggios]

For questions about playing broken chords, where each pitch of the chord is played successively. Arpeggios are often, but not always, played either ascending or descending. Many questions may also use the `technique` tag.

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Glissando during arpeggiando on string instruments

(Related to this question for the case without glissando) Consider following example of an arpeggiando on the four open strings of the cello (but the question also holds for violin or viola). Is it ...
Karlo's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Fingering for arpeggio in Scriabin's piano sonata no. 1

What fingering is recommended for the righthand section here? I'd originally been using 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-4-135, but at around dotted quarter = 80-85 it's started to feel quite difficult and I've hit ...
voskresenie's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
95 views

When do arpeggiations change the voice leading?

In the top example of the music above, I have composed a simple chord progression with an idiomatic top voice that leads to a cadence. In the bottom part, I have tried to arpeggiate the right hand of ...
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-1 votes
1 answer
45 views

Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude): tension-ful chord progression in bar 9, 10, 11

I am trying to digest the Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude) chord progression in bar 9, 10, 11 with the full of tensions. Three related sub-questions. In both the Zoltán Gárdonyi (1906–1986) ...
wonderich's user avatar
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Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude): Top voices on ascending fifth, descending second, descending second

I wanted to follow up to analyze the top voice on the right hand of the Liszt Transcendental Étude No.1 (Prelude). Here are my (related) questions: Is the red box note a B-flat or B? (It looks that ...
wonderich's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
112 views

Need help with sheet music fragment? It repeats throughout the song so need to be sure

How do I play these notes? I’m aware that I have to play an arpeggio for the top notes but do I play F and C after I finish the arpeggio? Or somehow during the arpeggio??
rebbeca waters's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
826 views

What's holding arpeggiated chords in piano called?

What does this technique called? Also, what's the proper notation for this? The audio link is attached below. https://voca.ro/19p4jeWEK5g8 Edit: It sounds like fast arpeggio repeated over and over ...
will's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
237 views

Arpeggiated chords: which order to play, and does it matter if it's right or left hand?

In an answer here Carl Witthoft says the default is that arpeggiated chords are played from lowest to highest. Does this convention apply to both hands? E.g. in Measure 8 of the 2nd movement of this ...
GrandAdagio's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
142 views

Broken 7th chords fingering

I'm learning piano and came across an exercise called broken chords, when you play arpeggios for every inversion of a particular 7th chord. The problem is that different sources use two types of ...
cartoflur9's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
140 views

Piano fingering for fast right hand arpeggio (B-A#-F#-C# in 3 octaves)

What would be the recommended fingering for this descending arpeggio? (I'm currently using 5-4-2-1 but it's tricky to shift between positions.) The tempo is somewhere around 1/4 @ 135 bpm.
haiduc's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
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How do we play a wiggling line with multiple notes on the piano? [duplicate]

I saw a wiggling line with three notes for a song for piano, and played it and recorded it on GarageBand and edited it on the picture on the right: I waited about a quarter of a beat to play the ...
pokemon's user avatar
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7 votes
5 answers
706 views

What is the musical function of broken chords?

I'm new to musical theory and interested in playing guitar. It seems to me that the broken chords are very often used in the music sheets arranged for guitar. I wonder if they are also usually used in ...
InTheSearchForKnowledge's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
105 views

What's the best way to notate a timed arpeggio with specific cutoff

This is a short excerpt (the upper hand part) from a piano piece I'm working on. I'd like this arpeggiated chord to end exactly when the trill start and to be played with the same hand. What is the ...
Alex Kowal's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
1k views

Glissando vs Arpeggio

What is the difference between an arpeggio and glissando? Is a glissando just another form of an arpeggio? I still don't exactly understand.
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4 votes
1 answer
157 views

Timing of arpeggiated chords

Arpeggiated chord [A] can be realized by either playing the first note on time, and the following notes later [B], or starting a bit in advance and playing the last note on time [C]. When each of them ...
user1079505's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Does a broken chord, alternating up and down intervals, have a name?

It's like an arpeggio but doesn't go straight up or straight down. I want to call it a non-linear arpeggio but I completely made that up. So is there a name for the pattern?
D Winters's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
392 views

Correct arpeggio direction

Should the left hand arpeggio be played up or down when there's two half notes in the bottom and a quarter note above?
Richard Ennis's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
2k views

How does the chord progression G-F-Eb-D work?

So, I've been this arpeggio sequence of G major to F major to Eb major to D major and can't really seem to figure out the theory behind it. All of the root notes fit into G Mixolydian flat 6 & G ...
Phoenix Krebs's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
518 views

Tuxguitar software and note length

I am using Tuxguitar for guitar and how can I have for example (4/4) with the bass (E for example) ringing all the first bar while followed by 7 "eight notes"? It's quite often to face this ...
Ambile's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
288 views

Meaning of left parenthesis notation on chords

As an example, in the Joseffy edition of the Chopin Nocturne op.62 no.1, there are many instances where a "left parenthesis" is used in front of a chord. I have always assumed this means a ...
MICHAEL WALTERS's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
400 views

Piano fingering in Un Sospiro

For the tall left-hand arpeggio that descends two and a half octaves in the first bar, my first thought for fingering (for my hands which can only span an octave comfortably) would be starting from ...
Pen and Paper's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
958 views

How to notate an arpeggio that anticipates the beat

The last chord of a piece of music I wrote has an arpeggio in the right hand and not in the left. I want the top note in the right chord to fall on the beat so that it matches with the chord in the ...
Timothy Smith's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
360 views

Fingering - Chopin Waltz in a minor - measure 21

Need some suggestions with the following. I am playing the first 3 notes - E, G♯, B with fingers 1,2, and 4, then I am shifting my hand, then playing the next octave up with the same fingering. The ...
Darren's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
284 views

How to engrave an arpeggio with arrow over two voices in Lilypond?

I want to connect notes from two voices with an arpeggio and that the arpeggio has an arrow pointing down. I was able to create the arpeggio so that it connects the voices, however \arpeggioArrowDown ...
Andreas N's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
1k views

arpeggiated chord and half bracket symbol - what does it mean? (piano)

I have a piano piece with arpeggiated chords and at first glance, I thought I would have to leave out the bottom note on one of them because my hands aren't long enough. Then I looked closer at the ...
pianoandknitting's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Four-note arpeggio on string instrument

Consider following excerpt of the first movement of Mendelssohn's Violin concerto: It contains a series of arpeggios. What are the rules to write such arpeggios? Are the four notes always played on ...
Karlo's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Pachelbel's Canon in D, arpeggio's fingering

In measure 5 to 12 of this R. Schultz arr. of Pachelbel's "Canon in D", the left hand plays the arpeggios. I have seen various fingering for the left hand: (a) 5 5 3 1 | 5 5 3 1 | 5 5 3 1 |...
Qvantvm's user avatar
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-2 votes
2 answers
109 views

Left hand fingering on arpeggio G-E-G-E-B-E on Piano keyboard [closed]

I'm absolutely new to piano and really want to learn piano myself at home without teacher. I've got a new sheet for a song, and I'm trying to figure out left hand fingering for the arpeggio G-E-G-B. ...
Alex's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
590 views

Rolled chords: how much flexibility in the rhythm?

Best way to illustrate this question is by example, looking at Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's 6th symphony, movement 2. Compare 9:30 in: to the very start of: ...
BenG's user avatar
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20 votes
3 answers
4k views

What's the proper piano notation for adding one note at a time to a chord and holding all the notes?

I came across a bar that sounds like this while transcribing a piece for keyboard. Is there a correct/better way to write this?
spider_gem's user avatar
15 votes
7 answers
5k views

Where should I press white keys - between black keys or below them?

I've been learning to play piano for couple of weeks, and I've faced a question that has some controversial answers on the internet: What is the correct position of 2-3-4 fingers on white keys (WK) ...
AlexandrX's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
120 views

I chord interpretation and broken chord interpretation blocking broken chords

I'm having trouble interpreting this chord. It is labeled as a I chord, and from seeing that there is no key signature, I'm assuming it's in Cmaj or Amin. But what I'm not getting is, to my knowledge, ...
this is currently being update's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
225 views

Notation of piano arpeggios, cross-staff and between hands

I need opinions on the notation of cross-staff notes in piano arpeggios. I chose not to write the usual rests so that my page would have a clean look. I cannot beam the notes of the whole arpeggio ...
Gilbert DeBenedetti's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
725 views

What is the correct terminology/notation for playing notes in a chord at the same time, and not as an arpeggio?

It is very common for interpreters of sheet music — especially string players — to roll chords. What is the notation to specify that all notes should sound at once? I had thought it was a square ...
to7m's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
118 views

Should I avoid looking down while training arpegios and scales? (Piano)

I can play while not looking down with almost no performance loss while playing scales. Arpeggios are a different story. I have to slow the metronome a lot and I start to make a lot of mistakes. It's ...
Wolfpaka's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
185 views

How would you finger this arpeggio on guitar?

What would be your approach for right-hand-fingering this arpeggio pattern with classical guitar or fingerstyle technique (no pick)? I've tried out several approaches, being this one the most ...
Juan Luis's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
146 views

Can you help me understand what I am doing with these arpeggios?

I have a song with a part that I am wanting to play arpeggios over with the guitar. But just using the actual chord tones sounds boring to me. So I have started with an arpeggio pattern on the first ...
Jelmar's user avatar
  • 103
7 votes
2 answers
923 views

What do these left arrows or angle brackets mean to the left of a chord?

I almost wonder if this is a weird way to draw an arpeggio, but they seem like distinct arrows or left angle brackets each on a line to the left of a chord in piano music on the left-hand bass clef. ...
snydergd's user avatar
  • 173
2 votes
2 answers
299 views

How to execute rapid broken chords in Beethoven Op. 90

I am looking for advice in executing the following passages of fast, broken chords in Beethoven's Sonata in E Minor (Op. 90), first movement. The passages in question are pictured below. There are ...
Aaron's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Piano arpeggio symbol: split vs drawn through

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 ...
Cerno's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
152 views

Can I play an arpeggio of the first chord of the scale over this chord progression?

I am writing a music piece in E minor using the chord progression Em-C-Bm-G. I independently wrote an arpeggio in the chord e minor (together with some passing notes) and I want to add this arpeggio ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
99 views

What is the meaning of the various fingering on this arpeggio?

What is the meaning of the two fingerings : "3" and "4" in the D # minor arpeggio (second inversion) ? Should I "choose" one ? Is there an "academic/official" ...
Mathieu Krisztian's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
438 views

At which speed (tempo) is an international piano concertist able to play an arpeggio, like F sharp (black keys only) [closed]

I'm struggling to play fast the F sharp arpeggio (this is black key only : F#-A#-C#-F#-A#-C#-etc) Currently, I play this arpeggio on 4 octaves at the tempo of 130 for 4 notes (with no mistakes) after ...
Mathieu Krisztian's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
2k views

These two phrases use exactly the same notes, but one sounds major, the other minor. Why is that?

I've been playing around with arpeggios, adding an approach note for each degree of the arpeggio. In the first two-bar phrase below, I approach each note of the C Major arpeggio from the note one ...
Brian THOMAS's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
55 views

Inverted pedal tones but intervals

What is the correct term when you play melodic intervals in higher pitch than primary melody? As for the rhythmic support for primary melody. If it was pedal tones played that way, it would be called ...
Joonas's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
914 views

What do these squiggly arrows mean? [duplicate]

What does these squiggly arrows mean?
Meew Meew's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
194 views

Finding root keys and chord progression for arpeggios

I have a riff I've composed using the following power cords notes (here is what is sounds on piano https://soundcloud.com/tomasz-jasku-a-133883769/keyboardforsolo-rzczywistosc) : Time 1 & 2: C#, ...
Tomasz Jaskuλa's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
257 views

Fingerings for 2+ octave major/minor arpeggio inversions

Here is a traditional fingering for a Em arpeggio across 2 octaves RH 123 1235 LH 5421 42 What is fingering best practice one wished to practice 1st and 2nd inversions of Em arpeggio across 2 ...
rocketas's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
127 views

Passing note vs changed chord

I'm pretty new to theory, so apologies if this is a stupid question but I can't seem to figure this out. Let's assume I am in the key of C major and I want to play the following progression on guitar:...
Rooirokbokkie's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
281 views

How exactly do the rules of traditional voice leading apply to broken chords?

In Gore Ouseley's Treatise on Harmony (p. 194 of the 1868 edition), the author states: When chords are broken, care must be taken, first, that every note requiring any fixed progression or ...
Kim Fierens's user avatar
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