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Glite Dictionary
to arpeggiate

to arpeggiate

1 8.9
To play the notes of a chord one after another quickly instead of all together
  • verb
  • /ɑːrˈpɛdʒiˌeɪt/
  • Specialized
: arpegiar
  • The guitarist decided to arpeggiate the rather complex chord progression during the song.

The opening idea goes right up the arpeggiate.

Examples

  • Students may decide to arpeggiate or otherwise break the chords.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The arrangement features a mash-up of spacey synthesizers, arpeggiated harp flourishes, and a breakbeat reminiscent of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows."

    Blog text (21)

  • There's no J. Scott Skinner arpeggiated strathspeys here, and there are some tunes that hardly sound Scottish at all, like the beautiful slow tune "Tomnahurich."

    Blog text (25)

  • It can produce complex chords and arpeggiated textures as readily as single-note melodies.

    Academic text (2010)

  • What rapture to arpeggiate the typist's mantra, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country," to the rousing melody of the concerto's first movement!

    Academic text (2005)

  • The Alberti bass arpeggiated sixteenth-note figures that lie so well in the clarinet's low register can be played as quarters or eighths on the lowest notes of the figures.

    Academic text (2000)

  • In her piano recital, she chose to arpeggiate the chords instead of playing them all together.

  • To create a soothing atmosphere, the musician would often arpeggiate the chords slowly.

Synonyms

to ARP
vsto arpeggiate
  • Specialized
9.4

To play chord notes quickly one after another

has identical meaning but is the other form of the term

Surface Forms

arpeggiate infinitive
arpeggiated past
arpeggiated past participle
arpeggiating present participle
arpeggiates third person singular

Morphology

arpeggiate = arpeggio (transparent) = arpeggio + ate

The verb is a regular verb formation from the noun 'arpeggio' using the productive suffix '-ate', meaning 'to perform an arpeggio'.

Etymology

The word arpeggiate comes from the Italian arpeggio, from arpa meaning 'harp'. An arpeggio is playing the notes of a chord one after another like plucking the strings of a harp, so to arpeggiate is to play a chord in quick steps instead of all at once.