Dear Stephen, I think it is important to differentiate between arpeggiating a chord, and rolling a chord. I think of arpeggiating as playing each note of a chord separately, for example this passage from the lute accompaniment of Thomas Morley's "Thirsis and Milla":
_____a_______a_______a_________a___ ___b_______a___a_____________a___|_ _______d___________d_______c_____|_ _________c_______________c_______|_ _a_______________a_____a_________|_ _________________________________|_ etc. or this realisation of bar 1 of Kapsberger's Toccata Arpeggiata: ----------------------------------- ---------------------------------|- -0-------0-------0-------0-------|- -------3-------3-------3-------3-|- ---3-------3-------3-------3-----|- -----2-------2-------2-------2----- etc. I think of rolling a chord as playing each note of a chord separately, but in swift succession, so that you can hardly differentiate between them, written: _a______a_____a________ _a______c_____a____e___ _c______d_____c____f___ ___________________e___ ________a__________c___ _a____________a________ but played: _ a______a_____a______ _ a______c_____a____ e_ _ c______d_____c___ _f__ ___________________ e___ ________a__________c____ _a____________a_________ I don't know what evidence there is for this sort of thing, but many modern players roll chords like that. It can be irritating, especially when done a lot. The important thing is to start rolling on the beat, not before it. The bass note should fall on the beat with the other notes following. Unfortunately lots of players roll in such a way that the treble note falls on the beat, which means they have to start rolling before the beat. This is bad enough in a solo, but it can be fatal in an ensemble, because the other players in the group hear you coming in early, they try to adjust to fit in, and the whole piece starts to accelerate uncontrollably. At a recent masterclass given by Julien Bream at the Lute Society, students were told not roll any chords at all. The music was significantl;y better as a result. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Arndt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 6:15 PM Subject: Arpeggio > Hello to All! > > I have noticed on lute CDs that different performers seem to make very = > different choices about when to arpeggiate a chord.=20 > > I am wondering whether the decision to arpeggiate a particular chord is = > based on > > 1) the feeling of the moment, > 2) the peculiarities of the individual piece in question, > 3) a general principle specific to a particular composer, time period, = > or geographical region, or > 4) some other factor. > > Does anyone know of any Rennaissance author who gives instructions for = > when to play a chord as an arpeggio? > > Is there anyway to indicate in tablature (as there is in guitar = > notation) that a particular chord is to be played as an arpeggio? > > I would appreciate any input anyone could give me on this issue. > > Thanks! > > Best regards, > > Stephen Arndt > -- >
