Arpeggios make the perfect left hand accompaniment tool. Whether you’re improvising or songwriting – or just need to waste some time at the piano – learning a few arpeggio-based patterns with your left hand will open up a whole world of possibilities for creating mood and energy in your music.
Here’s a breakdown of the lesson:
Take your standard one octave arpeggio. In C you would have C-E-G-C. Remove the 3rd so you’re only playing C-G-C. Now, play this with a variety of rhythm patterns. I demonstrate my favorite version in the lesson.
Take the same arpeggio, but this time rock back and forth between the 5th and the top note. In C this would look like C-G-C-G-C-G. This one is great for wedding music and romantic improvs!
Let’s go back to a basic arpeggio: C-E-G-C. Now, walk up another note or two and then back down the same way: C-E-G-C-D-C-G-E-C. You will instantly find yourself feeling relaxed. This arpeggio is perfect for relaxation and meditation music!
In this final arpeggio, we remove the third and place it on top. This creates a wonderful feeling of lightness! In C you would play C-G-C-E.
The nice thing about these arpeggios is that they can be mixed and matched to create whatever sound you want in your left hand. This is just the beginning. Take what you’ve learned and create your own arpeggio patterns!
Enjoy!
Lisa Witt has been teaching piano for 19 years and in that time has helped hundreds of students learn to play the songs they love. Lisa received classical piano training through the Royal Conservatory of Music, but she has since embraced popular music and playing by ear in order to accompany herself and others.
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