scales and arpeggios

Scales and arpeggios are fundamental musical exercises.

A scale is a sequence of notes ascending or descending in stepwise order; an arpeggio breaks a chord into individual notes played in succession.

Musicians practice both to develop technique, finger dexterity, and familiarity with keys.

The phrase evokes the routine discipline of instrumental training: She spent an hour on scales and arpeggios before learning new pieces.