How to Play Piano Arpeggios: A Useful Accompaniment Pattern

Here’s how to play Piano Arpeggios, a simple, yet useful, accompaniment pattern

As you start learning the Piano, you will soon realize that one of the challenges is to know what needs to be done with the left hand. The left hand is normally used to play rhythmic patterns while the right hand is busy playing the melody. Though it takes some time to synchronize both your hands, you can still look for some easy patterns for your left hand. That is where Arpeggios come into picture!

What do you mean by Piano Arpeggios?

Arpeggio is nothing but a chord played one note at a time in quick succession; some players also refer to it as a broken chord. To be able to play arpeggios, you will need to know the major and minor chords, preferably with their inversions. This will really help you to play them well.

Arpeggios as a left hand pattern

I think the 3-note chord, played as an arpeggio, is the easiest left hand pattern that you can play. Try it out on any song that you know; you will realize that it fits easily on the left hand. Use Left Hand fingers – 5 3 1 to play the C major Chord – C E G as an Arpeggio. The same pattern applies to minor chords as well.

Here’s an example of how to play an arpeggio on a C major chord.

So now you already know one left hand pattern, which you can easily apply while playing. As you get comfortable with it, try playing 4-note arpeggios. It should not be difficult!

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