Re: triple-stop

[David Raleigh Arnold]

On Mon, 16 Sep 2002 06:11:48 Graham Percival wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Sep 2002 01:40:13 +0000
> David Raleigh Arnold <address@hidden> wrote:
> > I assume that since you say "triple stop" that you are
> > discussing a bowed stringed instrument.  If the strings
> > are played in rapid succession, an arpeggio mark would
> > be appropriate.  Otherwise, the two strings actually
> > played at the same time should be on their own stem.
> 
> That might make things easier for the performer, but music
> publishing (for violins, violas, and cellos) normally isn't done
> that way -- we normally get three (or four) notes, all on the same
> stem, and we get to decide how fast to roll the chord*, what
> direction to roll it in, and whether we want to end the chord
> on one note or two.  :)

I have seen stem breaks in performing editions
of Bach's violin music, but it's been a while.
The advantage of it is no new symbols, which
is not a minor matter.  :-)

Aside from the more traditional method of adding
tied notes with or without grace notes,
an arrow pointing in the desired direction
is also a standard symbol.

Another way which I should have mentioned is
to use square brackets before the simultaneous
notes.  IIRC someone asked about square brackets
for another purpose but I don't know whether 
anything came of it.

%{
(I used square brackets to ace second year
harmony.  I put 5ths on one side and 8ves
on the other side of every chord, and the
teacher had no option but to give me an `A'
because I never made a mistake in voice
leading.)
%}
> 
> * sometimes the composer will add an arpeggio mark, but I've
> heard people roll non-arpeggio'd chords slower than I'd
> roll an arpeggio'd chord -- an arpeggio will make people
> roll it slowly, but not having an arpeggio won't make people
> roll it quickly.

A rational interpretation.  Forget I mentioned arpeggio.  :-)
DaveA