Clicky

View post (Broken Chords)

View thread

Ben Lindholm
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 02/02/02
Posts: 980
Ben Lindholm
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 02/02/02
Posts: 980
04/26/2011 7:51 pm
Just use the same chart you're using for your chords, and play the strings one by one. That's all there is to a broken chord.

Maybe you're referring to arpeggios? An arpeggio is a broken chord, where the notes are played in order - meaning you would play Root, third, fifth, root, third, fifth etc. You can start on any note.

Let's take a C major chord. It consists of the notes C, E, and G. C is the root note, E is the major third, and G is the fifth.

When you play a standard C chord on the guitar, you're playing these three notes - but often adding duplicates of those notes in different octaves. The standard C chord looks like this (if we skip the low E string): C, E, G, C, E.

A C major arpeggio would be the notes C, E, and G played one after the other, instead of at the same time.