Although there’s nothing wrong with block chords, sometimes you want your harmonies to have a little more rhythmic movement.
Arpeggios, sequences that break up a chord into a series of individual notes, are a great way to achieve this. They can also sound quite beautiful in a melodic sense; if you’ve written any amount of music, chances are you’ve worked an arpeggio into a few of your melodies without even realizing it.
On that note, let’s dive into this week’s Songwriting Club prompt: create a song that features an arpeggio.
Here’s my example — it’s a track titled “Anata,” from my latest album Two Dreamers.
In my mind, the arpeggio that comes in within the first few seconds is one of the distinguishing elements of the track. I used Logic Pro’s MIDI arpeggiator function and a Serum pluck preset from this sample pack on Splice Sounds. If you want to use Splice Sounds in your song but don’t have an account, get your first month free with the code songwriting.
If you’re feeling proud of your tune or you’re looking for some feedback, upload it to the Splice community, SoundCloud, YouTube, Bandcamp, etc., and toss the link in the comments below. Before you share, just make sure you’re following these guidelines:
- Make sure your track aligns with the prompt – it should be something that you’ve specifically written in response to this blog post.
- No promotional posts – no links to contests, social media pages, etc.
- Comment on at least one other person’s song before you go – even if it seems small to you, your praise or critique can make a transformative impact on someone else’s craft.
- Give a quick summary of your goals for your song – asking for feedback on specific aspects (ex. the lyrics, chord progression, etc.) is also recommended!
Check back in for your next prompt on January 24th. We can’t wait to hear what you create!
January 10, 2020
