NOTATIO

When did the vertical squiggly line become commonplace?

Without looking at a bunch of scores, my brain tells me:

1. It’s probably a fairly recent thing - any older music I see it in was added in maybe 20th century or late 19th century editions???

2. In keyboard music, the symbol across both staves means that the entire chord is rolled low to high. If it’s separated per staff (and this may be a more recent differentiation in interpretation) it means the lowest notes of each staff should coincide, and end together.

3. While I have seen ones with down arrows on them, to indicate a downward roll, my feeling is that by default, they’re up, unless marked with the down arrow, but ones with up arrows either were not used, or were only used in situations where there were many of either direction in close proximity - i.e. emulating flamenco guitar for example (and as a guitarist, we DO use the arrows for flamenco strumming, but they’re just on straight lines - the roll is still used as in piano).

4. Were they used, historically, on 2 notes? My feeling is, 2 notes meant to be played “rolled” were always, or at least most commonly marked with a grace note instead - which could go low high or high low.

5. What other instruments, if any, are they used for? Do they appear regularly in traditional (not modern Hammond and pop) organ playing? I’m sure there were Baroque ornaments for harpsichord that were equivalent but they were out of fashion by the time this symbol came along I think. Strings wouldn’t use them right - triple and quadruple stops are written out as either chords that just have to be played that way, or with grace notes - right? Harp maybe? Seems more natural to roll on harp.

Sorry for the pixellated image, but here you go:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f5/78/05/f578 ... -notes.jpg

LSL2026 wrote: 22 Jul 2026, 06:00 When did the vertical squiggly line become commonplace?
… … … Strings wouldn’t use them right - triple and quadruple stops are written out as either chords that just have to be played that way, or with grace notes - right?… … …

Pizzicato triple and quadruple stops are sometimes marked with the ‘vertical squiggly line’ when a noticeable arpeggio is wanted, probably done with the thumb. (I have written it a number of time over the decades and it has always been interpreted as I expected, without comment.)

One of the first arpeggio signs in keyboard music was a line drawn diagonally through the stem of a chord. This sometimes also indicated rolling an interval like a third or fourth and including the passing note(s) between the chord tones. Or a bow, like a vertical slur was drawn on the left side from the top to the bottom note. This latter notation is not quite obsolete even today. I just checked Dannreuter's "Musical Ornamentation, a classic book on the subject and a squiggle is shown along with the other two signs in music of the late 17th century.

When the squiggle came into more common use in keyboard is an interesting question. You don't see it in Beethoven's earliest piano music, but it appears after this. So perhaps at the end of the 18th century.

David Ward wrote: 22 Jul 2026, 09:43 Pizzicato triple and quadruple stops are sometimes marked with the ‘vertical squiggly line’ when a noticeable arpeggio is wanted, probably done with the thumb. (I have written it a number of time over the decades and it has always been interpreted as I expected, without comment.)

Thanks David. So that tells me they’re familiar enough with it it wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.

John Ruggero wrote: 22 Jul 2026, 22:55 You don't see it in Beethoven's earliest piano music, but it appears after this. So perhaps at the end of the 18th century.

Thanks John. So that’s a bit earlier than when I was thinking, but makes sene.

John Ruggero wrote: 22 Jul 2026, 22:55 One of the first arpeggio signs in keyboard music was a line drawn diagonally through the stem of a chord. This sometimes also indicated rolling an interval like a third or fourth and including the passing note(s) between the chord tones. Or a bow, like a vertical slur was drawn on the left side from the top to the bottom note. This latter notation is not quite obsolete even today. I just checked Dannreuter's "Musical Ornamentation, a classic book on the subject and a squiggle is shown along with the other two signs in music of the late 17th century.

Hello, all! The diagonal line and the vertical slur you talk about, John, was also used for the harmonic ornament acciaccatura where one holds also the passing tone for a short moment together with those notated. However, the line was in that case placed between the noteheads.

I should have also mentioned that the squiggle is seen in the keyboard works of J. S. Bach. For example in the Aria and Variation 16 (Overture) of the Goldberg Variations.