Arpeggios
In Lesson Eight you were introduced to broken chords. Another useful way of playing chords is arpeggio style. An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. This technique can be applied to any chord and can make the accompaniment to a melody much more interesting. The following example demonstrates the chords C and G7 played as arpeggios in^ time.
Once you are comfortable playing these chords as arpeggios, try adding a melody with the right hand, as shown in the next example. This is a new arrangement of the song you learned in Exercise 4.
Chopsticks is one of the most well known pieces of music for keyboard. If your hand is not big enough to stretch the octave in bar 7 you can play the whole right hand part of the song using two hands. The left hand part consists of arpeggios of the chords C and G7. Practice each hand separately at first if you have trouble co-ordinating the two parts. This song is in the key of C major as indicated by the key signature (i.e., no sharps or flats).
Arpeggios In * Time
Like broken chords, arpeggios work equally well in any time signature. The following examples demonstrate some of the ways arpeggios can be used in * time. These examples are written in the key of G major as indicated by the key signature.
This time the arpeggios are played as eighth notes. The pattern of four notes per chord is exactly the same but they are played over two beats instead of four beats. This may seem difficult at first, but remember that these arpeggios are the same chord shapes you already know, played one note at a time. Once again, practice each hand separately at first if necessary.
The Sloop John B
This song is in the key of G major. There is a tie between an eighth note and a quarter note in bar 13. This gives an "off beat" feel called syncopation.
