The notes of a chord played in succession rather than simultaneously — a broken chord that unfolds like a spreading wave.
From Italian arpeggiare (to play the harp), from arpa (harp). A harp cannot sustain chords the way a piano can, so harpists spread the notes across time. The arpeggio was born from the harp's limitation — a constraint that became a signature.
The arpeggio exists because a harp cannot play all its strings at once. A limitation forced musicians to spread chords across time, and the result was more beautiful than the chord itself. Sometimes the inability to do something all at once creates something better.
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