Folk & Bluegrass Piano Arpeggios With Melody (Banjo-Style)

To make a piano arpeggio sound folk or bluegrass, play the chord as straight eighth notes in the left hand while the right hand adds scale notes on the sixteenth-note e and a of the beat, the spots the left hand leaves empty.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 7 min

Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

This lesson from Jason Zac at Nathaniel School of Music shows one simple trick for turning an ordinary arpeggio into a rolling, banjo-inspired folk or bluegrass pattern. It suits pianists who can already play a basic broken chord and want a fresh accompaniment sound, especially when a singer is carrying the melody and the piano does not need to play the tune itself.

This is the first of two parts. Here the left hand plays the arpeggio and the right hand creates the folk effect. The follow-up lesson flips the roles.

Step 1: The left-hand arpeggio

Take a chord in your left hand. The video uses D major (D, F#, A). Play it as a simple broken chord, moving through the low note, the middle note and the high note of the chord. This is a pattern most pianists already know. You can hold the low note down with your little finger to keep the harmony ringing.

Play the arpeggio in straight eighth notes, counting:

• 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and

The and divides each beat into two. Keep this steady and even. It is the engine of the whole groove.

Step 2: Divide the beat into four

Now count the same beats in sixteenth notes:

• 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a

The e falls a quarter of the way through the beat and the a falls three quarters of the way through. Your left hand never plays on these spots, because it is only playing eighth notes. That leaves the e and the a free for the right hand to fill.

Step 3: Add the right hand on the e and the a

With the right hand, play any note that belongs to the key (any diatonic note, with any finger) on some of those in-between sixteenth positions. Mostly aim for the a of the beat. The bands that inspired this style tend to sit on the a, but the e gives a very similar vibe if you prefer it.

The important point is that you do not hit every a. Let some beats pass without a right-hand note. For example, try playing only on the a of 1 and the a of 3 while the left hand keeps flowing. These sparse off-beat notes are what create the rolling, banjo-like feel.

Step 4: Bring in right-hand creativity and melody

Once the groove feels natural, start adding your own right-hand ideas and fragments of melody on top, while the left-hand eighth notes and the sixteenth-note accents keep going. The trick works over any chord progression and can be applied to popular songs too, giving almost anything a more folky or bluegrass flavour.

Where the sound comes from

The technique is influenced by banjo playing. For listening, Jason Zac recommends Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, led by an outstanding banjo player, and Mumford & Sons, who share that bluegrass feel. His own song The Sun Rises in the Autumn Sky uses the same pattern.

How to practise

1. Play the left-hand D major arpeggio alone in eighth notes until it is completely steady.
2. Count the sixteenths aloud (1 e and a) while the left hand plays.
3. Add a single right-hand note on the a of 1 and the a of 3 only.
4. Experiment with other a positions, then try the e instead.
5. Move the pattern through a chord progression you like and begin adding melody.

Questions about this lesson

What makes a piano arpeggio sound folk or bluegrass?

Keep the left-hand arpeggio in straight eighth notes and add right-hand notes on the sixteenth-note e or a of the beat. These off-beat touches imitate the rolling sound of a banjo.

Which notes should the right hand play?

Any note that belongs to the key works, played with any finger. The rhythm placement matters more than the exact note.

Should I play on the e or the a of the beat?

The a is the more common choice in the bands that inspired this style, but the e gives a very similar feel. Either way, leave some beats empty rather than hitting every one.

When is this pattern useful?

It is ideal for accompanying a singer, when the piano does not need to play the melody. It works over any chord progression, including popular songs.

Practise it

• Rhythm TeacherBuild accent patterns, divide beats and explore odd metres and polyrhythms.
• Groove MetronomeWork with tempo, accents and polyrhythms instead of a single unchanging click.
• Piano classes at Nathaniel School of MusicLive online or in Bangalore, with a teacher.
• All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.

Related lessons

• Groovy Piano Arpeggios Using Latin Rhythms (Tresillo, Son, Rumba and Bossa)To make piano arpeggios groove, play the chord notes only on the hit points of Afro-Cuban rhythms such as the tresillo, son clave, rumba clave and bossa clave, counted in sixteenth notes, while your left hand holds the root on a steady pulse.
• Piano Hand Independence: Play Offbeat Chords Over Arpeggios (Part 1)To build piano hand independence, play a steady sixteenth-note arpeggio in the left hand while the right hand places chords first on the downbeats and then on the e, and and a of each beat, switching between staccato and legato.
• 10 Rhythm Patterns That Make Chord Inversions EasyTo make chord inversions musical, play the root position, first inversion and second inversion of a triad such as Bb major or C major through real rhythm patterns like block chords, oom-pah, waltz, broken chords, arpeggios, the tresillo, the Charleston, dual-speed arpeggios and floating inversions.
• 3 Piano Rhythm Techniques That Make Your Chords GrooveThe 3-3-2 piano rhythm groups eight eighth notes in a bar as 3+3+2, placing the hits on beat 1, the 'and' of beat 2 and beat 4, and you can play it as single chord hits, as accents within continuous eighth notes, or as arpeggios.