Arpeggio indication: slower

[Yinyue]

Hi forum,

Is there a convention on how to indicate that an arpeggio should be played slower than usual?

[Schonbergian]

How fast is usual? To me, it always depends on the character and mood of the piece, and there is no default speed. For anything out of character with the piece, it might be best to write it out as in Beethoven Op. 31/2 mvt. 3.

[OCTO]

It depends of the style and perhaps even tempo, and even in the concert hall (cathedral VS theatre). Just write "slowly" as you did, and they will see what is the best.

[MalteM]

You could specify the duration (f. e. a ) that the arpeggio should take by writing it out in small notes and use only the remaining duration (here ) for the chord:

arpeggio_small_notes.png (12.4 KiB) Viewed 8404 times

Or, if you don’t want/need an exact duration, write something like “a piacere” as Kurt Atterberg did at the end of his 3rd symphony:

atterberg_harp.png (106.76 KiB) Viewed 8406 times

Edit: I’m not an expert, neither for music engraving nor harp but that’s what I as a pianist would write

[David Ward]

I like the first solution suggested by MalteM.

[OCTO]

as Kurt Atterberg did at the end of his 3rd symphony

Wow, bravo - Atterberg! Interesting how you have picked it up just like that!

[MalteM]

I wrote my bachelor thesis about that symphony and “slow harp arpeggio of a D major chord” looked very familiar

[Yinyue]

Perfect! Thanks for the advice, all!