The short guide
Understand the idea
An arpeggio plays the notes of a chord one after another instead of all at once. The notes stay the same; only their timing changes. An arpeggiator is a tool that does this automatically from a held chord, following a direction such as up or down at a set rate, with each note held for part of a step.
What you can explore
- Hear the difference between a block chord and the same chord as an arpeggio.
- Choose a direction and explain what up, down and up and down do to the note order.
- Change the rate and the range, and say how many notes play in each bar.
A worked example
A minor, up, in sixteenth notes
A minor uses three notes: A3, C4 and E4. As a block chord, all three start together at the beginning of each bar. Spread it upward in sixteenth notes at 124 BPM and the notes play one at a time, low to high, four per beat, over a quiet kick on every beat. The loop is two bars long and the pattern starts again from A3 at each bar line.
- Block chord
- A3, C4 and E4 together, held for most of each bar.
- Up in sixteenths
- A3, C4, E4, A3, C4, E4 and so on: 16 notes per bar, each a quarter of a beat apart.
- Bar restart
- 16 steps hold five full A3, C4, E4 cycles plus one extra A3, so A3 plays twice in a row across the bar line when the pattern starts again.
- Two octaves
- The same three notes plus A4, C5 and E5, so up climbs through six notes before repeating.
Direction, rate and range
Direction sets the order. Up plays the chord from its lowest note to its highest, down plays it from the top, and up and down climbs and then comes back without repeating the top or bottom note. None of these is more correct; they move differently over the same harmony.
Rate sets how often a new note starts. Eighth notes give two notes per beat and sixteenth notes give four, so the same order runs twice as fast. Range adds the same chord notes one octave higher, so the pattern travels further before it repeats.
Note length and the bar restart
Note length, often called gate, is how long each note is held as a share of one step. Short notes leave gaps and sound plucky; long notes feel more connected. Here each note is held for a quarter of its step or for most of it. A brief release fades after each held note, so the longer notes can overlap as they fade.
Many arpeggiators can restart their pattern at a set point. Here the pattern always starts again on the first note at every bar line, so the start of each bar is predictable. When a pattern does not fit a bar exactly, the end of the bar cuts it short, and the picture shows where.
Block chord is a valid result too, and the review says which one Play uses. If you want to choose the chords themselves, Chord Progressions puts several in order; Melody Writing builds a line from single notes rather than from a chord.
Common questions
What is the difference between a chord and an arpeggio?
A chord plays its notes together. An arpeggio plays the same notes one at a time in an order. The harmony is the same; the rhythm and movement change.
What happens if I choose a direction while the block chord is playing?
Each "Spread +" choice stops playback, turns the block chord into an arpeggio and sets that direction, rate, range or note length in one move. Press Play to hear the change. You can return to the block chord at any time; your arpeggio settings are kept for the next time you spread it.
Why does the pattern seem to stop early at the end of a bar?
The pattern restarts from its first note at every bar line. When the number of notes in the pattern does not divide the steps in a bar evenly, the last cycle is cut short.
What can this lesson not do?
It uses three supplied chords, a fixed tempo and a simple synth tone. It does not record, upload or export audio, and the playing cue follows the loop clock rather than measuring sound. The recipe download is a text description of your settings, not a sound file. Your work is saved only in this browser.
Published by TunePal. Interactive examples for beginner music producers.