Break Up Any Three-Note Chord in 10ths – Left Hand Piano Arranging Style #5 

Good morning. This is Duane, and we’re taking a series of lessons on left hand styles. We’re going to do a series of left hand styles and a series of right hand styles, and then we’ll put them together.

This is fifth in the series of left hand piano arranging style, and today I’d like to take up the arpeggios in 10ths. Now arpeggios simply means a broken chord. Last time we learned the Alberti bass, which was bottom top, middle top, middle top, middle top, like so. Today we’re going to stretch the chord out. We’re going to play arpeggios. Arpeggio means broken chord, but we’re going to do it in 10ths. That is, we’re going to play the low root down there and then the 5th of the chord, and then the 3rd an octave higher.

Now if you have a small hand like I do, what you’ll have to do is pivot on that index finger. A lot of you won’t have to. I wish I had big hands like you, but I don’t. If you have small hands like I do then pivot on the index finger like that. You see the logic there? You’re taking the middle note out of the chord. Instead of playing the chord like that you’re taking the middle note out and playing it an active higher. That’s all that’s happening.

It’s okay to play it there but you’ll be running into your right hand. If I play … it would be kind of tight. Besides, I likes the sonority better down there; it gives a fuller sound. Now push your damper pedal down as you hit the lowest note, and then you want to let it up when you get through with the highest note, before you go into the next one. Now, if you don’t know chords very well then you’ll have to slow it down and figure out what the root and the 5th are, and then take the 3rd an octave higher.

For example, if you’re playing C minor then you’d play C, G, and then you’d take this E flat and play it an octave higher. It would look like that. Let’s do it on C. What we’ll do is we’ll just play that over and over again until we get the feel of that. If you’re playing in 4/4 time you would be one on the low note, two on the 5th, three on the 3rd an octave higher, and then on the 5th again. One two three four, one two three four. If you’re playing in 8th notes then probably want to just toggle between the two top notes after playing the bottom note, like so. One and two and three and four and, one and two and three and four and. If the chord was D minor, for example, here’s a root 3rd 5th, so root 5th 3rd 5th, 3rd 5th, 3rd 5th. If the chord was E flat then you’d have to know what the E flat chord is and you’d play root 5th 3rd. On those black keys sometimes I have to use my third finger to make it up there because my hand is so small. If the chord was D flat: D flat, A flat, F.

Let’s stay on C, F, and G for the time being and just practice a bit. C, F, G, back to C. Let me put something in right hand with it. Let’s say we move to C augmented there. See C augmented is C like C, E, G sharp, so you can play it G, C, G sharp, E, back to F, C, F, G. Then when you end it you probably go like this, and end on a low root. It feels more finished that way.

Again, with the pedaling you push the pedal down at the start of the sequence and let it up at the end, unless there’s too much going on in your right hand. Sometimes the melody changes too much and it’s all a blur. If you need to let it up twice a measure, that’s fine. I even sometimes pedal on every single beat, but you probably won’t need to do that at this point.

You understand the concept; it’s called arpeggios, which means broken chord, but in 10ths. It’s a 10th between there and there. That’s why I call it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – arpeggios in 10. The 10th is the same thing as the 3rd an octave higher. Get used to that feel. I would go through all the major chords and do that. That’s D flat, D. Some are easier to reach than others. E flat – and like I say, if your hand is small it’s going to take some practice. E. It’s a very good style you can use on so many different techniques. You see this is smoother style than the swing bass. In swing bass we swung back and forth like that. The alternating bass we hit the 5th on the offbeat. Then the Alberti bass, it’s an arpeggio too, but we played bottom top, middle top, middle top, middle top with songs. Arpeggio in 10s is a little different in that we stretch it out.

Learn that well because it will be the basis for so much of your playing. Let me just play it a little bit. You see, so it does provide a nice left hand accompaniment to whatever’s going in the right hand. Sometimes I call it the orchestral bass because it provides that background orchestra sound to whatever’s going on in the melody. That’s it for today so thanks for being with me. If you enjoy this series or you enjoy these videos at all, come on over to playpiano.com and sign up for our free video tips. We’ll see you then. Bye bye for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QltM8PUu_Dc&feature=youtu.b

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