An arpeggio is a musical technique in which the notes of a chord are sounded sequentially rather than simultaneously — each note played in turn, typically in ascending or descending order. The parameters of an arpeggio are: (1) a harmonic basis (a chord with ≥3 notes), (2) a temporal ordering of its constituent notes (directional or patterned), and (3) a performance practice that renders vertical harmony as linear motion. It persists through musical notation, pedagogical tradition, and performance convention. [formal: arpeggio | substrate: behavior | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique in which the notes of a chord are sounded sequentially rather than simultaneously — each note played in turn, typically in ascending or descending order. The parameters of an arpeggio are: (1) a harmonic…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A musical technique in which the notes of a chord are played sequentially rather than simultaneously — each note sounded in turn, in ascending or descending order. Built to articulate chord harmony as linear motion, serving performance practice and musical analysis.
Names and aliases
- arpeggioen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cms69wfhk00fm5ygs7pupy8wnSERVES →
An arpeggio is designed and maintained for the sake of harmony — it articulates vertical chordal structure as sequential linear motion. Law 8d: servant(arpeggio)→master(harmony). The technique exists to realize and express harmonic content.
- cms69wfhk00fm5ygs7pupy8wnDEPENDS_ON →
An arpeggio IS the sequential playing of chord notes — it needs the concept of harmony (chords) to operate NOW (Law 8 removal test). Remove harmony/chords and the arpeggio has nothing to arpeggiate. Arpeggio SERVES harmony (already accepted) and DEPENDS_ON harmony (constitutive prerequisite — the technique extracts from the harmonic structure).
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 29, 2026, 6:03 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 8693c1ebae2a78d095ba0deb8c3ae1f0040453dfd24e3e7903c5d1f492d4b614