Broken Chord

What it is

A broken chord plays the notes of a chord one after another rather than simultaneously. The notes are separate events, each with its own duration, rather than a chord that has been spread. Use the free chord finder to check yourself on this. More of this kind of thing is in the left hand section.

The distinction from a rolled chord is one of degree and intent. A rolled chord is a chord executed as a fast spread. A broken chord is written as separate notes and heard as a melodic line that outlines harmony.

The Italian arpeggiato and the English arpeggio describe the same idea.

How it differs from a rolled chord

A rolled chord is notated as a chord, with the notes stacked vertically, and is played fast enough to read as simultaneous.

A broken chord is notated as separate notes, each with its own written duration, and is heard as a sequence.

The practical difference is rhythmic. A rolled chord occupies one rhythmic position. A broken chord occupies several.

Some passages sit between the two, particularly in Baroque repertoire where a chord may be written vertically but performed as a spread figure occupying real time.

How it is produced

The bow crosses strings, sounding each note in turn.

The main technical challenge is string crossing rather than the left hand, since the fingers are typically placed and held while the bow moves across them.

Whether the notes are separated or connected depends on the writing. Broken chords may be slurred, in which case the bow crosses strings within one stroke, or played detache with a bow change per note.

The left hand often places all the fingers at once and holds them, letting the notes ring into one another. This is common in Baroque writing and produces a fuller sound than lifting each finger.

Letting notes ring

A significant expressive choice.

If the fingers stay down as the bow moves on, the earlier notes continue to sound, and the chord accumulates. The effect is resonant and full.

If each finger lifts as the bow leaves its string, the notes are separate and the texture is cleaner.

Which is wanted depends on the music. Baroque broken-chord writing usually wants the resonance. Cleaner classical textures may not.

Students often lift fingers unnecessarily out of habit, losing resonance that the writing assumes.

What goes wrong

Uneven string crossings. The bow accents some crossings and not others, so the figure sounds lumpy.

Lifting fingers unnecessarily. Losing resonance.

Left hand late. A finger arrives after the bow reaches its string, producing a gap or a wrong pitch.

Bow distribution. In slurred broken chords, the bow must cover several notes and students frequently run out.

Rhythmic unevenness. The crossings take time and if some are slower than others the rhythm distorts.

Tension. Holding several fingers down while the bow moves invites gripping.

Broken chords and bariolage

Broken chord writing that alternates between strings, particularly involving an open string, becomes bariolage, which is treated as its own technique.

The overlap is substantial. Many Baroque broken chord passages are also bariolage passages, and the same practice approach serves both: the difficulty is in the bow arm and the string crossings, not in the fingers.

Where you meet it

Extremely common throughout the repertoire.

Baroque writing uses broken chords extensively, both as figuration and as a way of implying harmony on a single-line instrument.

Classical and Romantic repertoire uses them constantly in accompaniment and figuration.

Etude collections drill arpeggios and broken chords systematically, and arpeggio practice is a standard part of technical routine at every level.

How it is taught

We start with the arpeggio as a technical exercise: three-octave arpeggios in every key, which build the left hand shapes and the string crossing coordination together.

Then the ringing question, practising the same passage with fingers held and with fingers lifted, so the difference is audible.

Then string crossing evenness, usually on open strings first.

Then repertoire.

Arpeggio practice is one of the more transferable technical routines. The shapes recur constantly and a student who knows them reads chord-based passages far faster.

Practising them

Arpeggios as a technical routine are the most efficient preparation. Three-octave arpeggios in every key build the left hand shapes and the string crossing coordination simultaneously, and the shapes recur constantly in repertoire.

Beyond that, practise the same passage twice: once with fingers held down so the notes ring into each other, once with each finger lifting. Hearing the difference makes the choice conscious rather than accidental.

Then string crossing evenness, on open strings, since that is where broken chord problems actually live.

Recognising the pattern

Broken chord figuration is one of the most common textures in the repertoire, and recognising it changes how a passage is learned.

A run of notes that looks like a fast melodic line is often a chord outlined one note at a time. Seeing that, a student can place the whole hand shape at once and let the bow do the work, rather than finding each note separately.

This is the difference between learning a passage as twelve notes and learning it as three chord shapes. The second is far faster and far more secure under pressure.

Etude collections drill arpeggios partly for this reason: the shapes become recognisable on sight.

An instructor watching you play catches in one lesson what left-hand work like Broken Chord articles cannot describe. Private and group violin lessons in Sugar Hill, Cumming and Dunwoody. 470-789-2422, or book a no-commitment evaluation lesson.