Basic glissando question

[sherry-lenox]

My teacher assigned me a piece today with glissandi from middle C to C within the treble staff, one octave, over two quarter notes. I asked her whether the second quarter note would get its full rhythmic value and she said yes.

That was no problem, but when I practiced the piece this afternoon I noticed that I could play the glissando sounding correctly if I stopped on the next string without sounding that string. Is that OK to do? I realize that if

[Calista Anne Koch]

You should gliss to the C and pluck that string.

[barbara-brundage]

Hmm, I’ve played glisses that way for an awful lot of years, Calista.

[barbara-brundage]

I mean Sherry’s way. Sometimes you want a definite final and sometimes you don’t.

[barbara-brundage]

That wasn’t very clear. Sherry, I mean you need to learn to do it both ways. At the end of a piece, you may want to land on that last note, but other times you may want a less definite sounding ending.

The way you are doing now is a good way to start, then once you can do that without looking, go for the pluck.

[jennifer-buehler]

Doesn’t it depend on the style of the music?

[unknown-user]

I’ve been taught to play glissandi both ways as Barbara described, and as she mentioned it depends on the music. I practice both types of glisses on their own, and vary the number of octaves for the glissando. I also practice volume, and I use a metronome. I have to work on getting the glissando to get its full value, and fitting it into the piece.

Cei Cei

[unknown-user]

Now that is interesting, thanks for that Jennifer, as I’m playing some Latin works (mainly transcriptions) and never thought of how to articulate the end of the gliss for

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Lucile Lawrence taught her students to always slide onto the next string and not play it to finish an upward glissando/flux. It phrases the top note as part of the whole and not as a sudden separated event, which is what I hear when someone slides up and then plays the top note with the other hand. You can accent the top note this way, but it won’t stick out like it wasn’t part of the phrase. When you are coming down with the thumb, you place the second finger ahead and finish 12, or place 234 and finish 111234. I’ve heard no better way of doing it.

[sherry-lenox]

I certainly do appreciate all the comments my question has received. I have found that at my typical snail tempo when learning a piece that I can now play the glissando both ways.

It’s terrific to have inputs from people for whom I have a great deal of respect. Thanks so much!

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

The easiest way to play this type of glissando is to place the thumb and second finger before you start the gliss, then gliss the second finger up, and play the thumb at the end as you form a fist. This works very well in Capriccio Espagnol.

[sherry-lenox]

Thanks Elizabeth- Also an excellent way to practice. Quite naturally I think, slow timed glissing is much harder than just starting somewhere and letting rip, so this gives more structure. My teacher said I was doing fine when she heard the piece at my lesson, but she wanted to be sure that I was observing duration and beat.

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