What is an arpeggio?
If you're like most music theoretical students, you've heard the term and are intimidated by it. Many people think arpeggio is Italian for 'hard to play'. Although I don't know the exact translation, the real definition of an arpeggio is just a 'broken accord '. Some people will argue with me and say that an arpeggio looks more like a scale than a chord, because it is a linear series of tones and not a simultaneous “tone cluster”. That's right, but what the hell does it matter? It's still a broken chord. Like a scale, an arpeggio is linear: it is a series of notes that you play one by one in order or in a different way. As a chord, it consists only of certain notes in that sequence. So an arpeggio is an chord that is played as a scale.
Arpeggio
Let's say we have a major. It is made up of A, C# and E. Instead of playing them all at once, as we would with a chord, we play them separately: AC #EAC #EAC #EAC # EAC #. Here's a list of all major chords and their arpeggios so you can see how they all work:
| agreed | arpeggio |
| C | C, E, G |
| G | G, B, D |
| D | D, F #, A |
| ONE | BAITS |
| E | E, G #, B |
| B | B, D #, F # |
| F # | F #, A#, C # |
| C # | C #, E #, G # |
| C | C, E, G |
| F | F, A, C |
| Bb | Bb, D, F |
| Ebb | Ebb, G, Bb |
| Ab | Ab, C, Ebb |
| db | Db, F, Ab |
| Gb | Gb, Bb, Db |
| cb | Cb, Ebb, Gb |
