Everything Piano

The Arpeggiated Chord

If you have some intermediate to advanced classical training in piano, I’m sure you have experienced the wonderful little squiggly lines on the left side of some notes, representing the musical ornament of an “arpeggio.”

Although sounding beautiful when performed effectively, depending on where the notes lie and how many notes there are, it can be difficult to execute.

For those of you who don’t exactly know what an arpeggio is, I will explain it as best I can. Arpeggio is Italian for a broken chord, in which the notes are played in sequential order one after the other as opposed to pressing them all at the same time.

Executing an arpeggiated chord requires the musician to play the sounds of the chord individually to differentiate each note.

I have practiced arpeggios for years during my piano lessons, which is an essential part of technical practice for classical examinations. Only until the higher grades did I notice that I came across several arpeggiated chords in several pieces I was looking to play.

As an example, here is an exert from the second page of Debussy’s Clair De Lune. If you listen to the piece, you can distinctly here the sequential movement of the fingers playing each note separately in a beautiful sweeping motion.

Arpeggiated Chords

This is a difficult section for me because there are a lot of notes to be played in the left hand, using all five fingers for the second and third chord. The position of my fingers and wrist feels awkward, and not only that, but being able to press each note separately without rushing too much or tripping over my fingers is a completely different story.

And so, technical work in piano comes to bite me in the butt yet again.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

If you need to practice an arpeggiated chord, you really need to take your time. Figure out all the notes and the fingering that feels most comfortable. This will help you establish the best position for your fingers. Practice it as slow as possible, pressing each note one by one. It’s tedious work and it will probably feel awkward for a while, but you will be able to play it faster and see improvements if you keep working at it.

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Tags: Arpeggiated, Arpeggio, Clair De Lune, Classical, Debussy, Fingering, Notes, Technique