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Arpeggio

An arpeggio on a chord (also known as a broken chord) is denoted by appending \arpeggio to the chord construct:

     
     <c e g c>1\arpeggio

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Different types of arpeggios may be written. \arpeggioNormal reverts to a normal arpeggio:

     
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio
     \arpeggioArrowUp
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio
     \arpeggioArrowDown
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio
     \arpeggioNormal
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio

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Special bracketed arpeggio symbols can be created:

     
     <c e g c>2
     \arpeggioBracket
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio
     \arpeggioParenthesis
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio
     \arpeggioNormal
     <c e g c>2\arpeggio

[image of music]

Arpeggios can be explicitly written out with ties. For more information, see Ties.

Predefined commands

\arpeggio, \arpeggioArrowUp, \arpeggioArrowDown, \arpeggioNormal, \arpeggioBracket, \arpeggioParenthesis.

Selected Snippets

Creating cross-staff arpeggios in a piano staff

In a PianoStaff, it is possible to let an arpeggio cross between the staves by setting the property PianoStaff.connectArpeggios.

     
     \new PianoStaff \relative c'' <<
       \set PianoStaff.connectArpeggios = ##t
       \new Staff {
         <c e g c>4\arpeggio
         <g c e g>4\arpeggio
         <e g c e>4\arpeggio
         <c e g c>4\arpeggio
       }
       \new Staff {
         \clef bass
         \repeat unfold 4 {
           <c,, e g c>4\arpeggio
         }
       }
     >>

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Creating cross-staff arpeggios in other contexts

Cross-staff arpeggios can be created in contexts other than PianoStaff if the Span_arpeggio_engraver is included in the Score context.

     
     \score {
       \new StaffGroup {
         \set Score.connectArpeggios = ##t
         <<
           \new Voice \relative c' {
             <c e>2\arpeggio
             <d f>2\arpeggio
             <c e>1\arpeggio
           }
           \new Voice  \relative c {
             \clef bass
              <c g'>2\arpeggio
              <b g'>2\arpeggio
              <c g'>1\arpeggio
           }
         >>
       }
       \layout {
         \context {
           \Score
           \consists "Span_arpeggio_engraver"
         }
       }
     }

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Creating arpeggios across notes in different voices

An arpeggio can be drawn across notes in different voices on the same staff if the Span_arpeggio_engraver is moved to the Staff context:

     
     \new Staff \with {
       \consists "Span_arpeggio_engraver"
     }
     \relative c' {
       \set Staff.connectArpeggios = ##t
       <<
         { <e' g>4\arpeggio <d f> <d f>2 } \\
         { <d, f>2\arpeggio <g b>2 }
       >>
     }

[image of music]

See also

Music Glossary: arpeggio.

Notation Reference: Ties.

Snippets: Expressive marks.

Internals Reference: Arpeggio, PianoStaff.

Known issues and warnings

It is not possible to mix connected arpeggios and unconnected arpeggios in one PianoStaff at the same point in time.

The parenthesis-style arpeggio brackets do not work for cross-staff arpeggios.

This page is for LilyPond-2.11.58 (development-branch).

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