Arpeggios complement scales in developing the agility of the hands and the knowledge of those basic building blocks of music – chords.
Ex. 1: Here is the arpeggio of C major played hands together, 2 octaves:
Ex. 1 in Braille
Each hand repeats the same pattern of fingering for each octave of the arpeggio. It follows that the arpeggio may be usefully practised as follows in order to get a feeling for the basic shapes under the hands:
Ex. 2
Ex. 2 in Braille
Obviously this will not be legato but a smooth sideways movement of the hands should be cultivated. For practising the legato touch while coordinating the two hands the following exercise is useful:
Ex. 3
Ex. 3 in Braille
If arpeggios are always practised in groups of three notes then the same note in each octave will be stressed:
Ex. 4
Ex. 4 in Braille
In order to cultivate evenness of touch in arpeggios it is important to practise them in different groupings, such as groups of four notes:
Ex. 5
Ex. 5 in Braille