Figuration
Figuration denotes the breaking of chords into smaller, evenly moving note sequences. A held chord becomes a running figure. The harmony stays the same; only its sonic shape changes.
- Principle
- chord is broken into single notes
- Notation
- fully written out, usually eighth or sixteenth notes
- Typical patterns
- Alberti bass, broken chord
- Unlike
- ornament (single note, marked with a sign)
From chord to movement
A chord sounds when all its notes sound at once. But you can also take it apart into its notes and play them one after another. That is figuration: it replaces a sustained chord with a note sequence that fills it out, so that the music stays in motion.
Starting point: block chord C major in the bass clef
All the notes sound at once.
Figuration 1: Alberti bass
The same notes in the order low – high – middle – high. This pattern is called the Alberti bass and is widespread in Classical piano music.
Figuration 2: broken chord upwards and downwards
The chord is played one note after another upwards and then down again. You recognise the chord C by its notes.
In the glossary: Broken chord · Arpeggio · Triad · Alberti bass
How to recognise it
Figurations are fully notated, usually in even eighth or sixteenth notes. They can be recognised by the regular pattern of movement that holds over many bars, and by the fact that the notes of a figure mostly belong to the same chord. In piano music the figuration is often in the left hand while the right leads the melody.
Telling it from ornamentation
An ornament such as a trill or turn concerns a single note and is notated as a sign. A figuration shapes a whole section and is written out. It differs from diminution in that diminution breaks an existing melody into smaller values, whereas figuration often concerns the accompaniment.
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Related terms
Broken chordArpeggioTriadAlberti bassNon-chord tone
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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