Advanced Arpeggio Playing Tips

 December is the month for the arpeggio challenge in my piano studio. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so canva comes in handy to compensate for my lack of artistic skills!

 I love to create visuals to post on my bulleting board to make the learning more memorable and pique the interest of students as they come each week.

This poster pairs with the concepts I posted about previously on Resources for Teaching Arpeggios.  There you can view more ideas for teaching hand over hand arpeggios, 1 octave and 2 octave arpeggio fingering tips. 

These videos are a bit lengthy, but I love the tips shared that I will be condensing and highlighting for my older students at group lessons next week.

Shift your Sit Bones

As you play music with arpeggios that cover a larger range of the keyboard, remember to lean on your "sit bones" towards the area you are playing on the keys. The feeling is similar to when you are shifting your body weight to navigate turns and corners while bicycling.

Watch the video by Jane Trotter about transferring weight on your sit bones (starting at 4:10)

Thumb Over

We often use thumb tucks in scale playing and 2 octave arpeggios, but for certain fast arpeggio passages (like the broken arpeggios patterns in Piano Adventures Level 4 Technique page 53) a thumb raise (float or over)  is more effective. Watch Graham Fitch Arpeggio Playing Tips by Graham Fitch as he demonstrates this motion starting at 6:45 in this video.

No Chicken Wings!

The "no chicken wings" principle applies to both scale and arpeggio playing. Watch out and don't let those elbows fly up and down. Instead aim for a gliding arm. Watch the same video starting at 3:10 to see the difference between the gliding arm and the chicken wing.

Nahre Sol's Arpeggio Practice Tips video includes some excellent specific technical tips for arpeggio practice.  These strategies can help you play arpeggios with more continuity, evenness and consistent fingering.

:45  Practice by altering the rhythm and/or adding accents

Play Long-Short, Short-Long, or triplet groups

3:53 Block practice based on hand positions

9:15 Teeter Totter repeating certain groups of notes

For more helpful visuals relating to simpler piano arpeggios, visit my previous post Resources for Teaching Arpeggios. 

Related Posts:

Flipped Learning in the Music Studio

Intermediate Piano Video for Flipped Learning

Monthly Piano Challenges

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