Right-hand pattern · Film & wonder
Waterfall
Down from the top and splashing between two notes, over and over. Musicians call it falling arpeggio 8-3-5-3.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Waterfall goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Falling arpeggio: The right hand falls down the chord like rain.
Songs with Waterfall
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Waterfall, from verse to chorus.
More sparkling figures
All patternsQuestions about Waterfall
What is Waterfall on piano?
Down from the top and splashing between two notes, over and over. Musicians call it falling arpeggio 8-3-5-3, one of the falling arpeggio patterns: the right hand falls down the chord like rain.
How do I play falling arpeggio 8-3-5-3 with the right hand?
Over C major it is C5 (5), then E4 (1), then G4 (2), then E4 (1), then C5 (5), then E4 (1), and so on; the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Waterfall?
It is heard in 16 songs of the library, such as Eres Tú/Touch The Wind, It’s A Blue World, Ein Grosses Leben, Never Forget.
Is Waterfall easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 4/4, usually around 98 beats a minute.