What is Glissando?
In music a '''glissando''' is a slide up or down the notes of a [[scale (music)|scale]]. The plural is “glissandi”. In [[sheet music|written music]] the instruction to the player is often shortened to “gliss”. The word comes from the French “glisser” = “to slide”. With the [[singing]] voice, or with an instrument such as the [[trombone]] or a [[string instrument]] a glissando is a smooth slide in which the [[pitch (music)|pitch]] gradually changes, becoming higher and higher. The trombonist can make a glissando by blowing whilst pushing out or pulling in the slide. The violinist can make a glissando by sliding a finger up or down the fingerboard. With instruments such as the [[piano]], [[xylophone]] or [[harp]] a glissando is a quick slide in which we hear one note after another because the pitches between the notes cannot be played. On the piano there are two ways to play a glissando: either on the white notes or on the black notes. At the end of the piano piece called ''Ondine'' from ''Gaspard de la Nuit'' by [[Maurice Ravel]] both these types of glissando can be heard. The pianist has to play a glissando with tips of the fingers or the finger nails. It can be quite painful to practise them a lot. Harpists are very fond of playing glissandi. By changing the position of the harp pedals a harpist can change the scale which will sound when the glissando is played. Many modern [[timpani]] have pedals which tighten or slacken the drum head. These can be used to make a glissando. The Hungarian composer [[Béla Bartók]] often used this effect. Some [[jazz]] clarinettists manage to play a glissando on the [[clarinet]]. They do this by gradually changing the way they blow whilst at the same time gradually lifting all the fingers off the keys. [[George Gershwin]]'s ''[[Rhapsody in Blue]]'' starts with a glissando on the solo clarinet. When composers write a glissando they write the first and the last [[note (music)|note]], and then put a long, straight line between the notes, and write the word “gl