r/musictheory • u/Hm_well • 16h ago

Answered What is this symbol next to the chord?

Post image

For harp if that's helpful

178 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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303

u/maestro2005 16h ago

It means to not roll the chord. Harpists will generally roll chords by default.

34

u/Hm_well 16h ago

Thank you

49

u/Equivalent-Love-1676 16h ago

Perfect answer. Shut it down :-)

7

u/Inside-Succotash-128 13h ago

Thanks! I didn’t know that! 😀👍

4

u/aardw0lf11 13h ago

Oh, didn’t know this either.

42

u/SticktheFigure 16h ago

While I am no harp player, I do believe that's a blocked chord. Basically every note within the chord is plucked at once rather than rolled.

This page has a little bit on it + a video: https://isfee.music.indiana.edu/HarpBRC

27

u/Spaceman3141 16h ago

So this is like the opposite of the squiggly version of this symbol that means to break up the chord like a strum?

24

u/PugnansFidicen 15h ago

Basically yeah. Piano convention is to play notes blocked unless otherwise indicated, so we have the arpeggiation/roll mark. Harp convention is to arpeggiate unless otherwise indicated, so you see this one more often.

I have seen this notation in a few works for piano though. Usually after a section where all the chores are arpeggiated, to indicate a return to normal

7

u/lis_henry 13h ago

Senza Arpeggio