Arpeggios

Chapter overview

Purpose: An arpeggio carries a chord through successive positions and registers. Secure its chord spelling and hand-specific crossings in a shorter range before extending the route to four octaves, inversions, and seventh-chord families.

Preparation: Identify root, third, and fifth, and place a simple triad without forcing a stretch.

Planned development

• Major and minor triads, then inversions
• Dominant, major, minor, half-diminished and fully diminished sevenths
• Diminished and augmented triads; later minor-major sevenths
• Explicit ascending and descending fingerings in both hands
• Progression from shorter runs to four octaves

Musical connection

Planned application: a cadence or accompaniment figure in a sonata, connecting chord identity with the sound of a phrase.

In this review edition: selected material follows. The development list describes the full intended chapter; unengraved exercises and unverified repertoire candidates remain planned.

1. Carry a triad across two octaves

Purpose: connect successive chord tones without an accent or delay at a position change. An arpeggio unfolds a chord: C major uses C–E–G, skipping the other scale notes. Start with one hand; the RH begins on middle C and the LH an octave below.

Ascending RH uses 1–2–3–1–2–3–5; LH uses 5–4–2–1–4–2–1. The top C is played once. The final half note gives the phrase time to settle. Both hands keep their opening clefs throughout; ledger lines show the top of the run.

Build the crossing, then the run

1. Play C–E–G slowly in each hand and release. Identify the next C before moving.
2. RH: rehearse E–G–C–E with 2–3–1–2. LH: rehearse G–C–E–G with 2–1–4–2.
3. Practice the return groups with the printed fingers. A familiar ascent does not guarantee a fluent descent.
4. Join the two-octave run at a steady eighth-note pulse. Add the other hand only when both routes are secure.

Let the arm accompany the hand along the keyboard. Do not hold the starting position while reaching for the next octave. Begin without pedal so gaps and uneven attacks are audible.

Checkpoint: internal Cs do not sound like endings. The crossing has the same timing and volume as its neighbors. If a gap persists, rehearse a smaller group at a slower tempo rather than forcing a larger stretch.

Variation: play softly, then at a moderate dynamic without speeding up. The following pages add major and minor keys; the later sections introduce four-note inversions and seventh chords; this fingering is a C-major reference, not a universal formula.

Connection: compare the same C–E–G material in the triads and broken-chords chapters: simultaneous harmony, then a repeating accompaniment pattern.

2. G and D major: the left hand changes

The RH uses 1–2–3–1–2–3–5 in both examples. The LH uses 5–4–2–1–4–2–1 in G major, but 5–3–2–1–3–2–1 in D major. Check the third of each chord: B in G major, F♯ in D major.

The hands start one octave apart, as in the introductory C-major example. Both retain their opening clefs; ledger lines show notes beyond the staff.

Isolate the difference: play just the first three LH notes of each chord, then the three around its internal tonic. In D major, rehearse A–D–F♯ with 2–1–3. Return through F♯–D–A with 3–1–2. Keep the crossing even before joining the entire run.

Checkpoint: you can choose LH 3 or 4 from the named chord before playing, without correcting the finger midway through the ascent.

3. A and E major: rehearse the new third

A major uses A–C♯–E; E major uses E–G♯–B. Both keep the RH route from C major but use the same LH 3 route as D major. The key signature also contains notes that do not appear in the tonic arpeggio.

Name root, third, and fifth before playing. In A major, the LH crossing E–A–C♯ uses 2–1–3. In E major, B–E–G♯ uses the same fingers. Practice each small group descending as well as ascending.

Variation: play one slow run with a quiet, even sound, then another with a gentle rise toward the summit. The change in loudness should not change the timing. Finish with even volume to check that the thumb is not supplying an unintended accent.

Next: lower the third of each chord and compare its minor form. Listen to the changed quality and check the LH finger rather than assuming that everything else remains identical.

4. A and D minor: change quality and fingering

A minor uses A–C–E, and D minor uses D–F–A. Their RH sequence remains 1–2–3–1–2–3–5. For these minor arpeggios the LH uses 5–4–2–1–4–2–1, changing the 3 used for the major third in the preceding major examples to 4 for the minor third.

D minor has B♭ in its key signature, but its tonic triad contains no B of either kind. An arpeggio selects chord tones rather than playing every scale degree.

Compare parallel keys: play the first three notes of A major, then A minor. C♯ becomes C-natural; LH 3 becomes 4. Repeat with D major and D minor: F♯ becomes F-natural. Keep the roots and fifths unchanged.

Checkpoint: you can name the altered chord tone, play it with the printed finger, and retain the correct route on the return. Use separate hands until the major/minor comparison no longer causes hesitation.

5. E minor and a practical key rotation

E minor uses E–G–B. As in the A- and D-minor examples, the LH uses 4 on the third; the corresponding E-major arpeggio uses 3 on G♯. The F♯ in E minor’s key signature does not occur in this tonic arpeggio.

Separate two useful comparisons

Parallel major/minor: compare A major with A minor, D major with D minor, or E major with E minor. The root stays the same; the third and the LH fingering change in these examples. Hear that change before extending to the full run.

Relative major/minor: pair C major with A minor, G major with E minor, and F major with D minor. These pairs share a key signature but have different tonic triads. F-major arpeggio notation will be added with the remaining white-key major patterns; for now, use the fully notated C/A and G/E pairs.

A short session

1. Select one fully notated pair and name its chord tones.
2. Play each hand separately, isolating the internal-tonic crossing.
3. Play both hands together at a tempo that preserves the pulse.
4. Repeat only the transition that was uneven, then play one complete return.

Listen for: the change of chord quality is clear, but the attack, rhythm, and volume remain controlled. A successful run includes its descent. Do not count an accurate ascent followed by guessed return fingers as a completed repetition.

Progression: the following studies change the chord structure. Read their four-note cycles explicitly rather than repeating a triad fingering.

6. Add a seventh: a four-note cycle

A seventh chord has four different chord tones. C dominant seventh (C7) contains C–E–G–B♭. Its seventh is a minor seventh above C; C major seventh would use B-natural. Name the quality before playing.

RH ascends 1–2–3–4–1–2–3–4–5. LH ascends 5–4–3–2–1–4–3–2–1. Reverse the printed fingers on the return. These are editorial suggestions for this C7 route, not a fingering formula for every seventh chord. The last C lasts four beats.

Rehearse the crossing by itself: RH G–B♭–C–E with 3–4–1–2; LH B♭–C–E–G with 2–1–4–3. Allow the hand to travel with the notes. The thumb does not need to reach under a hand held at its starting location.

Distinguish chord quality from harmonic function

C7 commonly acts as the dominant of F. Play C7 slowly, then a comfortable F-major chord to hear that relationship. C7 is not the dominant seventh of C major; that chord is G–B–D–F. A chord symbol gives a root and quality, while a Roman numeral describes a role within a key.

For a first color comparison, change only B♭ to B-natural and hear C major seventh. Next lower E to E♭ while restoring B♭ to hear C minor seventh. Name every changed note and reconsider the fingering before extending either comparison into a run. Complete major/minor seventh reference patterns remain later additions.

Checkpoint: you hear a four-note cycle, keep the crossing even, and can name the chord without confusing its root with the key in which it functions.

7. Diminished sevenths: spelling and symmetry

B diminished seventh contains B–D–F–A♭. Its notes are separated by minor thirds. In C minor these pitches can form a leading-tone diminished seventh, with B tending toward C. The corresponding half-diminished chord would use A-natural, not A♭.

Use the fingers shown in both directions. The RH cycle is 1–2–3–4 before its next thumb; the LH internal cycle is 1–4–3–2 before its next thumb. Learn the A♭-to-B connection slowly rather than treating the symmetrical sound as proof that every physical movement is identical.

Let the notation explain the harmony

A♭ is a diminished seventh above B when the letter names are counted: B–C–D–E–F–G–A. Calling the same piano key G♯ hides that spelling in this context. Enharmonic respelling may be appropriate in another key, but it changes how the chord is understood on the page.

Block a comfortable selection of the chord tones, listen, then return to the single-note arpeggio. There is no requirement to hold the entire span of a moving pattern at once. Compare B–D–F–A♭ with B–D–F–A-natural in a short range to distinguish fully diminished from half-diminished quality.

Finish by resolving to a comfortable C-minor chord. Listen for the semitone movements B to C and A♭ to G. A useful technical repetition should preserve that sense of direction rather than sounding like an endless mechanical loop.

Checkpoint: you can spell both seventh-chord qualities and retain the correct accidental on the descent. Broader diminished and half-diminished patterns will receive separate fingering review.

8. Four-note tonic chords through inversions

A four-note tonic chord can still be a triad: C–E–G–C doubles the root at the octave. It is not a seventh chord. Here the next shapes double E and G respectively as the inversions rise, before returning to a higher C-root shape.

Begin hands separately. RH starts on C4 and LH on C2: their lowest notes are two octaves apart so the octave-wide shapes do not share a key. This is an intentional exception to the single-note arpeggios’ one-octave spacing. These octave-wide shapes are optional if they do not fit comfortably. Use the broken version below without holding all four notes down, or work with the earlier three-note shapes. The printed four-finger choices are editorial suggestions for C major.

The broken study retains each shape’s fingers. It is deliberately different from a continuous arpeggio with thumb crossings: each new group begins a new hand position, and some pitches return below the preceding group’s last note. Blocked and broken forms should sound like the same sequence of harmonies.

Pause between shapes first. Then give each blocked chord two beats and each broken group two beats. Return through the shapes in reverse order; for broken descending practice, also reverse the note order within each shape. Do not reverse only the groups while continuing to play every group upward.

Checkpoint: you can distinguish a doubled triad from a seventh chord, and can hear each inversion inside its broken form.

9. Plan the extended route

The preceding ladder advances its lowest note by one octave, from C to the next C. A four-octave ladder repeats that inversion sequence through four such spans. The register and turnaround must be planned before joining a long pattern.

The two hands’ lowest notes remain two octaves apart to avoid shared keys. Each shape extends one octave above its lowest note. Thus the final RH blocked shape reaches C8. Use a shorter route on a keyboard that lacks this range. The table describes a four-octave movement of the lowest note, not a total four-octave compass for every note played.

Move through root position, first inversion, second inversion, and the next root position at each span. On the return, retrace the shapes. Play the highest shape once before reversing. For a broken version, decide whether the summit uses an ascending or descending group and write out that join; otherwise a repeated group can conceal an unplanned change of direction.

Reference scope

The RCM Piano Syllabus 2022, Level 10, distinguishes two-octave four-note blocked/broken chord work from four-octave arpeggios. This guide’s longer blocked/broken route is an extension for study, not a claim to reproduce that examination requirement. See the RCM syllabus.

The complete engraved four-octave blocked and broken routes, including their exact summit and return, belong in the chord-reference appendix. The current page is a route map and the preceding page is its preparation; neither should be mistaken for a finished long-range score. We will retain readable system breaks and explicit RH/LH fingers there rather than squeezing a large sequence onto one line.

Practice choice: expand by one span only after the short ladder is secure. Increasing distance, changing chord quality, and increasing speed are three separate changes; introduce one at a time.