High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! An arpeggio (plural arpeggi or arpeggios) is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. This word comes from the Italian word "arpeggiare" , which means "to play on a harp." An alternate translation of this term is "broken chord." Formed from musical scales, the arpeggio is based on the relative scale playing the "key" notes or those affected by the key signature.