Rolled Chord

What it is

A rolled chord is a chord whose notes are sounded in rapid succession from lowest to highest rather than simultaneously. Practising this is easier with the free chord finder. The left hand section covers the rest of this group.

On violin this is not primarily a stylistic choice. The curvature of the bridge makes sounding three or four strings simultaneously difficult and sounding them all evenly nearly impossible, so chords of more than two notes are rolled by physical necessity.

The roll is fast enough that the listener perceives a chord rather than an arpeggio, though how fast varies with the music.

How it is produced

The bow contacts the lowest string and travels across the others as the stroke progresses.

The arm changes level continuously through the stroke, moving from the lowest string plane to the highest. The speed of that level change determines the roll speed.

Pressure varies through the roll. Lower strings are thicker and need more energy to speak; upper strings need less. A roll with constant pressure produces a chord where the bottom dominates.

The direction is almost always down-bow, which moves from the heavier part of the bow toward the lighter and lets gravity assist.

Where the beat falls

This is the detail that most often goes wrong.

The convention is that the top note lands on the beat. Because it is the melody note in most chords, the ear expects it to arrive with the pulse. The lower notes precede the beat.

Students who begin the roll on the beat place the melody note late by the duration of the roll. In a single chord this is barely noticeable. In a passage of consecutive chords it accumulates and the tempo sags audibly.

Some contexts and styles place the bottom note on the beat, particularly where the bass line is the point, but melody-on-the-beat is the default.

How fast to roll

Depends entirely on the music.

Fast, almost simultaneous. Where the chord is a percussive accent, or where the harmony matters more than the individual pitches.

Moderate. The standard, where the chord should read as a chord but the notes should each be audible.

Slow and deliberate. Where the composer wants the arpeggiation heard as an event, often marked with a wavy vertical line before the chord.

Reading which the passage wants comes from tempo, dynamic, character and the surrounding texture.

Bow distribution

A roll consumes more bow than a single note because the bow travels across strings as well as along them.

If the chord has a sustained note after the roll, that note needs bow remaining. Students who use most of the bow on the roll find the sustained note thin and short.

Planning is required: how much bow for the roll, how much for what follows.

What goes wrong

Late melody note. Covered above, and the most common fault.

Bottom-heavy. Constant pressure through the roll makes the lower strings dominate and buries the melody.

Roll too slow. The chord becomes an arpeggio.

Running out of bow. Very common.

Uneven roll. The level change is not smooth, so some strings speak louder or later than others.

Left hand instability. All notes must be in place before the roll begins. A finger arriving late produces a gap.

How it is notated

Often not marked at all. A three or four note chord is understood to be rolled because it cannot be otherwise.

Where a specific effect is wanted, a wavy vertical line before the chord indicates a deliberate, audible arpeggiation. Its absence does not mean the chord is simultaneous; it means the roll should be quick and unobtrusive.

Some editions mark the direction of the roll with an arrow, which matters occasionally when a downward roll is wanted.

Where you meet it

Any repertoire containing chords, which is most of it beyond the beginner level.

The Bach solo works most prominently.

Concerto and sonata repertoire throughout.

Orchestral parts at climactic moments.

Students meet rolled chords as soon as they meet triple stops, and the roll is really a subject within chord playing rather than a separate technique.

How it is taught

We start on open strings, so the bow motion is isolated from the left hand.

Then the level change specifically, making it smooth and even.

Then pressure variation through the roll.

Then with the left hand.

Then rhythmic placement with a metronome, which is where the real learning happens and where most students discover their chords have been landing late.

Practising them

Open strings first, isolating the bow motion. The level change across three or four strings is the whole technique and it is easier to learn without the left hand as a variable.

Then with a metronome, checking specifically that the top note lands on the beat. Most students discover their chords have been landing late and had never noticed.

Then dynamic shaping through the roll, so the melody note is the strongest despite arriving last and with the least bow.

Then bow distribution: mark in the part how much bow the roll gets and how much remains for what follows.

An instructor watching you play catches in one lesson what left-hand work like Rolled 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.