Scales & Arpeggios - Basic Introduction

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The Basics of Playing Arpeggios

Introduction

Arpeggio playing relies on similar technical skills to scale playing, only an arpeggio is more demanding. A scale is built up of eight notes per octave (counting the key note twice), the arpeggio four (for major or minor). Thus, arm and whole-body movements are much quicker in an arpeggio. The greater distance the thumb has to cover compounds the difficulty; in a scale the distance from one thumb note to the next is a fourth or a fifth, in an arpeggio it is a whole octave. Unless the correct technical conditions are met precisely, an arpeggio is likely to be...

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