Arpeggios

A "broken chord" is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.

An arpeggio (Italian: [arˈpeddʒo]) is a type of "broken chord" where the notes that compose a chord are played or sung in a rising or descending order. An arpeggio may also span more than one octave.

The word "arpeggio" comes from the Italian word "arpeggiare", which means "to play on a harp".

Even though the notes of an arpeggio are not played or sung all together at the same time, listeners hear the sequence of notes as forming a chord. When an arpeggio also contains passing tones that are not part of the chord, different music theorists may analyze the same musical excerpt differently.

Arpeggios enable composers writing for monophonic instruments that play one note at a time (e.g., flute, saxophone, trumpet), to voice chords and chord progressions in musical pieces. Arpeggios and broken chords are also used to help create rhythmic interest. A notable example of which is the Alberti bass figuration which was widely used in piano music from the Classical music period. With an Alberti bass, rather than play the notes of a chord all at once, the pianist plays simple rhythmic figures in which the notes of the chord are played as a broken chord.

An arpeggio is a group of notes which are played one after the other, added either going up or going down. Executing an arpeggio requires the player to play the sounds of a chord individually to differentiate the notes. The notes all belong to one chord. The chord may, for example, be a simple chord with the 1st, (major or minor) 3rd, and 5th notes of the scale in it (this is called a "tonic triad"). An arpeggio for the chord of C major going up two octaves would be the notes (C, E, G, C, E, G, C). An arpeggio is a type of broken chord. Other types of broken chords play chord notes out of sequence or more than one note but less than the full chord simultaneously. Arpeggios can rise or fall for more than one octave. Students of musical instruments and singers learn how to play and sing scales and arpeggios. They are often a requirement for music examinations. An "arpeggiated chord" means a chord which is "spread", i. e., the notes are not played at the same time, but are spread out. Arpeggiated chords are often used in harp and piano music. An arpeggiated chord may be written with a wavy vertical line in front of the chord. It is spread from the lowest to the highest note. Occasionally, composers such as Béla Bartók have asked for them to be played from top to bottom. This is shown by adding an arrow pointing down. Some ostinato figures consist of arpeggios.

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