arpeggio

noun

1. The notes of a chord played individually instead of simultaneously, usually moving from lowest to highest.

   “He struck the opening chords of the passage; but this time Irene's voice was silent. Victor stopped in the middle of an arpeggio.”

verb

1. (transitive)To play (a chord) as an arpeggio; to play (a piece of music) with arpeggios.

   “1819, Abraham Rees (ed.), The Cyclopædia, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Volume 14, entry “Fingering on Keyed Instruments,” In practising quick passages, the fingers should be lifted up with a spring, and not allowed to hang on the keys, till wanted again, unless in arpeggioing chords, or in passages of expression.”

   “[…] I could see a man with his head buried forward towards a key-board, and his body swaying from side to side amid the storm of huge arpeggioed harmonies that came crashing overhead and round.”

   “[…] having finished her piano-forte practice, touched her harp twice, and arpeggioed the Spanish Fandango on her guitar, Miss Betty read two paragraphs of “Gilbert” […]”

   “When his fingers touched the piano, he formed a D7 chord, arpeggioed it up the inversions, then started singing and playing the “Happy Birthday” song.”

2. (intransitive)To produce arpeggios; to produce sounds resembling arpeggios.

   “Herr Schlitz seated himself on the piano chair, pushed it a little back, drew it a little forward to the original place, looked under the piano at the pedals, took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and hands, and after arpeggioing up and down the keyboard, swung into a waltz of Chopin’s […]”

   “The soaring sound [of the whistling] rippled and trilled and arpeggioed as the songs of wild birds do not;”

   “The accordion player arpeggioed through a chord […]”

3. (ambitransitive, figuratively)To move (the hand or fingers) against a surface as if playing arpeggios on a keyboard; to touch different points in succession along a surface.

   “Her hand was still arpeggioing softly on his arm.”

   “the prickle of horripilation which arpeggioed my spine as I came barrelling down the hill from that ghost house”

   “While we thanked him for having us and told him the car was packed, and so on, he arpeggioed his stumpy fingers across his scarlet blanket.”