Arpeggios
An arpeggio is a chord which is played or sung one note at a time. As it is not possible to play two notes simultaneously on the tin whistle, playing an arpeggio is the only way a wind player can play a chord. The following example shows the arpeggios of G and D major played both ascending and descending.
It is also possible to play arpeggios of any other type of chord, e.g., minor arpeggios, seventh arpeggios, diminished arpeggios, etc. Arpeggios are often used in song melodies.
The reason they work so well is that they fit perfectly with any accompanying chord because both the melody and chords contain exactly the same notes. If you look at the songs Lavender’s Blue and Morning Has Broken, you will notice that they both begin with arpeggios.
Since a chord can be built on any note of a scale, an arpeggio can also be played on any note of the scale. Depending on the chord type (e.g., major or minor) the type of arpeggio will vary from one scale degree to the next. The following example demonstrates arpeggios derived from all the degrees of a G major scale.
