Glissando facts for kids
A glissando (say "gliss-AN-doh") is a musical slide. It means to smoothly move up or down a series of notes. Imagine sliding your finger along a piano keyboard! The word "glissando" comes from the French word "glisser," which means "to slide." When you see "gliss" in sheet music, it's a short way of saying "glissando." The plural of glissando is "glissandi."
Contents
Smooth Glissandos
Some instruments can make a truly smooth glissando. This means the sound changes pitch very gradually. You don't hear individual notes.
- Singing: A singer can slide their voice smoothly from one note to another.
- Trombone: A trombone player makes a glissando by blowing into the instrument. At the same time, they push or pull the slide. This changes the length of the tube, making the pitch slide.
- String Instruments: On a string instrument like a violin or cello, a player slides a finger along the fingerboard. This creates a smooth change in pitch.
Stepped Glissandos
Other instruments play glissandos differently. On these, you hear each note quickly one after another. This is because the instrument cannot play the pitches in between the notes.
- Piano: On a piano, you can play a glissando on the white keys or the black keys. Pianists often use their fingertips or even fingernails to slide quickly across the keys. Practicing these can sometimes be painful! In Maurice Ravel's piano piece Ondine, you can hear both types of piano glissandos.
- Harp: Harp players love to use glissandos. They can change the harp's pedals to choose which scale will sound when they slide their fingers across the strings.
- Xylophone: A xylophone also plays a stepped glissando. The player quickly slides a mallet across the wooden bars.
Other Instruments and Famous Examples
- Timpani: Many modern timpani (kettledrums) have pedals. These pedals can tighten or loosen the drumhead. Drummers can use them to create a glissando sound. The Hungarian composer Béla Bartók often used this effect in his music.
- Clarinet: Some jazz clarinet players can even make a glissando. They do this by changing how they blow. At the same time, they gradually lift their fingers off the keys. George Gershwin's famous piece Rhapsody in Blue starts with a long, rising glissando on the solo clarinet.
How Composers Write Glissandos
When composers want a musician to play a glissando, they write the first and last note. Then, they draw a long, straight line between these notes. They also write the word "glissando" or "gliss" next to the line.
Related pages
Images for kids
-
Several examples of how glissandos are written in music.
See also
In Spanish: Glissando para niños
