Talk:Glissando
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What this article calles "true glissandi" should actually be refered to as portamenti. Portamento is defined as a continuous change in pitch. Unfortunately, portamenti are often wrongly called glissandi, which leads to the confusion between the two terms. Among trombonists, they are always refered to as glissandi or "glisses" even though what is played is a portamento. In this article the term "true glissando" should be replaced with portamento and "effective glissando" with just glissando.--Hrothgar137
all the chromatic tones Maybe this is true on a piano, but on a harp it isn't always. When a harpist slides her finger down the strings, she plays the tones the strings are set to: not all the chromatic tones (theoretically she could but that would mean a ton of quick pedal movements). She plays all the "diatonic" tones to the "key" the harp is in. The tones are not always diatonic in the usual sense because the pedals allow the creation of "keys" with any number of sharps and flats. One commonly used gliss has a B# and an E#: not a real key, but it sounds pretty :) dreamyshade
- Good that you brought this up - it's something I thought about when I wrote the text but later forgot. It's true: neither pianists or harpists play all the chromatic tones. Have to think of a way of reformulating it. Any ideas? --tbackstr
I had a go and ended up completely rewriting it - hope that's OK. I kept all of the good points hopefully, apologies if I over edited anything. - MB
- Yes, it's definitely better this way, thanks. --tbackstr
I agree it's a lot better, but what's a "melodic note"?
- A note that constitutes part of the melody, as opposed to an "incidental note"... we probably need a link to an article on melody here. - MB
I thought of one more thing: a very limited true glissando can be played on the harp. It is a pedal slide, and is sometimes used in jazz music, and accidentally other times :). If you play one of the lower strings and immediately move its corresponding pedal, you can sort of get a slide from the original tone up or down a half-step. I know it's a stretch, and doesn't need to be in the article, but it's an interesting thought. dreamyshade
How about what guitar players call a "slide"? The finger holding the string to the fretboard slides up or down the neck, shifting so rapidly to the different tones as to resemble a true glissando. Ed Poor
Quoted from the article - "On a harp, the player slide his finger up or down the strings, quickly playing the separate notes. Wind, brass and fretted stringed instrument players can effect an extremely rapid chromatic scale, giving the same effect." - MMGB
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[edit] A request: portamento
It would be nice if someone could revise the article to indicate the difference (if any) between glissando and portamento. They appear to be similar concepts, but as a non-musician it would be nice if the article explained to me the exact relationship between the two terms. Psychonaut 17:23, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Piano tone bending
From the article: "On some instruments, a bending of the tone or continuous sliding is not possible (e.g., piano, harp)" It is possible, if you're willing to damage your instrument a little (and most avant-garde composers are). Volunteer Sibelius Salesman 19:39, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Fretted string instrument glissando
- I removed the reference to fretted unstruments reaching a maximum of three semitones by bending; as any beginning guitarist who has played "Sunshine of Your Love" can tell you, bends of at least four semitones (i.e. two steps) are possible. Deltabeignet 03:10, 23 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Harmonica
Maybe there should be a reference to glissando in harmonica since it is an essential part of blues harp and most methods of playing harmonica.
[edit] Guitar terms further muddying the water?
The technique of dragging your finger down a guitar's fretboard is called "a slide" and results in what this article calls "effective glissando". The cylindrical object you can use as an alternative to fretting is also called "a slide" and, when moved, results in what this article calls "true glissando" (what I would exclusively call portamento). I don't know if including that info in this article would simply increase the already high levels of confusion (given that, as has been pointed out, the "true glissando" usage recommended by this article isn't universally accepted). Boris B 08:42, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
