Arpeggios, Part 2

Using broken chords to create melodies
by Tom Brislin

In my previous article (Arpeggios, Part 1), I discussed different types of arpeggios. What distinguishes one type from another is the order, or the direction, in which the notes of the chord are played. They can be played ascending from lowest to highest (“up”), descending highest to lowest (“down”), both ascending and descending (“up/down”), or vice versa (“down/up”). Here we’ll aim to put these arpeggios to some musical use. These simple devices can provide you with a handy way to create melodies, spice up left-hand accompaniments, and create dreamy two-handed flourishes. Let’s start with the right hand.       

 

Right-Hand Melodies

In Example 1, we have a chord progression over which your left hand plays block chords while your right hand plays a melody using descending arpeggios. Notice that while both hands are playing the same chords, each hand is playing a different inversion of each chord. 

 

Ex. 1. Play this right-hand arpeggio melody over a left-hand block chord accompaniment.

Also notice that since the arpeggiated chords contain only three notes each, you get a natural rhythmic emphasis every time you play the top note of each arpeggio. We end up one note shy of a full cycle of the arpeggio at the end of the measure.  Instead of playing that bottom note of the arpeggio at the start of the next measure, you simply “reset” the pattern, either starting at the top of a new chord (such as in bar 2), or resetting the same chord, such as in bar 3. Let’s call this the “Coldplay effect.”

What if this effect just doesn’t work for a particular piece you want to play or compose? Adding a fourth note to each arpeggio gives you an even number of beats in every pattern, which in turn creates a sound that is . . . well, even. Our up/down and down/up arpeggios have four notes each, and they give us a slightly different mood. So in Example 2, let’s use all down/up arpeggios over (mostly) the same chord progression, so you can hear the difference.

Ex. 2. Add another note, and you get a different sound with a symmetrical pattern.

You can also add a fourth note to ascending or descending arpeggios by adding a chord tone in a higher or lower octave. Since we’ve been working strictly with three-note chords so far, I’ve illustrated a few of the four-note chords in block form in Example 3, for both hands. Once you’re comfortable with these voicings, play Example 4, which applies them to the progression in arpeggio form.

 

Ex. 3. Here are some different inversions to try out; these will give you a different kind of four-note pattern.

 

Ex. 4. This is the kind of pattern that results from using four-note arpeggios.

 

Try new combinations of arpeggios and new progressions on your own. Next time, we’ll tackle left-hand arpeggios for accompaniments, and two-handed patterns. Happy practicing!

 

Arpeggios in Action

Here are a few tunes to check out that get a lot of mileage out of simple arpeggios like the ones we’ve worked on here.

The Beatles, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
Coldplay, “Clocks”
Rooney, “I’m Shakin’”
Chopin, Etude Op.10 No.1 in C Major

Tom Brislin plays for the modern rock band Spiraling www.spiraling.net, and has toured with Yes, Meat Loaf, Camel, and others. He is the author of 30-Day Keyboard Workout (Alfred), available at www.tombrislin.com.

 
This article presented courtesy of Keyboard Magazine.