Arpeggios

[bobbykunkle]

Hey guys, alright, heres the deal...i love arpeggios. they could be maybe one of the coolest parts of playing piano and all. i can rip them pretty fast and all, but lately, i have been experiencing a little problem. i can go as fast as i want going up, but when i go down, i still hear the small skip between each octave of the arpeggio. i keep it in time, but there is a little space that i dont really like. (what i'm talking about is when i go down on for instance a C major arpeggio, i go G - E - C - (small skip) G - E....) Any tips on how i can get it a little cleaner?

[Guardian]

i know what you mean...
It happens to me to :tongue:
its all about practice, just practice that skip and youll have it...
The annoying problem is, if you dont do it regurally, your fingers forget the moves, and then youre at the beggining.
Thats my situation, usually 10 mins will be enough, to get it smooth :wink:

[normthesamurai]

Yeah that really bugs me. I find if I just slow down and do the arpeggio for 10 minutes playing as fast as I can while keeping the sound smooth usually helps. It might help to have a look at what your fingers are doing which is causing the problem. Maybe if you find a way in which you can play the arpeggio so that one finger does not have to leave the key before the other one can reach the next key if you get what I mean

[SerFox]

arpeggios and sales eh? Well, best thing I can suggest is stick a metronome on and practise these excercises:

1. Chromatic scale bottom to top to bottom

I always start with this as it doesnt require you to put any strain on your hands, and I do left and right, and try to have them at a constant speed, I'll do three octaves both hands, then bottom to top to bottom with each seperately, with a mtronome, starting slow and building it up until I start to lose ocntrol, then back down to my best then try and improve, and stop when I get up a few bpm's.

2. Do all of the white note based major scales

Just do C to C, because these can be easier to bring into your mind then go onto...

3. Do all the black note based major scales.

so thats C# D# F# G# A#. Then

4. Do all of them chromatically

Doesn't matter about speed for these three excisercises, you want to go for prescision and even time more than anything else. These excersises are good for accuracy and fluidity.

5. Repeat 2 3 and 4 with the minor scales.

Same as above, no matter about speed.

6. Now go onto arpeggios.

I'd work on the basics first for warming up, the basic Majors and Minors, then try some variations, maybe sevenths, diminisheds. These may seem easier becaus eyou don't have to skip a note to get to the octave but it makes you think a lot. It's all about timing and accuracy, stick a metronome on a speed your perfectly comfortable with and do some, if you find you are slipping up, bring the tempo down. Then add on a little bit, and theres no need to worry about being tempted to pump the tempo up, thats a good thing, that pushes you, and if you start to get into this kind of practise, although it may seem boring, you'll work yourself and make yourself od better thinking "Yeah, I can do this!" and it's really rewarding, which then brings me to the next bit of practise I'd reccomend.

7. Do a 5 minute improvisation

Ok, assigning a time limit is all well and fine, but if you run out of ideas, thats okay, but you should also try and close the piece rather than just stopping Oh, and if you can, hit record. There have been many times in the past I've played somehting really nice or impressive but can't remember most of it, but if you go bakc and listen to the piece you can find you can play along quite easily, it's just a matter of making it from an improv to an actual wirtten piece, changing things you don't like or things that don' fit. This si a great oppertunity to put arpeggios and scales into practise.


All these things are good, and it's not hard to actually come up with things to do to practise and ot improve oyurself. Maybe some pentatonics, osme strange fingering passages, like sya a minor pentatonic going down is one I do myself, say Amin. I'd start on an A with my middle then go to G on second finger then thumb E then back to G then E then cross over to D with second the tuck my thumb under then E with third then D and so on, and variate this kind of pattern include m fourth and fifth fingers, do some strange patterns and so on.

Never concentrate on a singl aspect, that makes you go down on other areas. practise everything evenly. It may seem boring, so change your sounds occasionally, play the cales in different styles, add chords to them, do funk, jazz, even try to do some crazy lead stuff like jordan. It's all about having fun really, it shouldnt be religeous, you should have fun practising. Eventually when practising this stuff welds into your playing as you mess aorund then maybe do some recording, and you sometimes find yourself doing things fancy and awesome sounding.

And Practise doesn't make perfect.

Practise makes awesome.


Hope this helps you guys :wink:

[Mental Floss]

I have one more question... what are the correct fingerings for standard minor/major arpeggios? In Keyboard Wizardry it says C E G C as 1 2 3 1, but the 3 to 1 step feels so awkward... or is it just me?

[Athox]

When you go slow, you have to move your arm a little. But when you go fast, you should just practice, practice, practice... The speed to jump from G to C (up) or C to G (down) is dependent on your biceps and triceps, as well as your shoulder. Not necessarily strength, but more speed, training them to move fast.

Just practice over three or four octaves, and you'll have it in no time. Go a little faster than you can handle, and keep that speed until you can do it smooth :wink:

[SerFox]

The fingering really is what is most comfortable for you. KW is just the best given guideline, but it depends on what you're incorporating at the time to your song when soloing or improving, theres no real major rules, just guidelines.