glissando

American  

[gli-sahn-doh] / glɪˈsɑn doʊ /

adjective

1. performed with a gliding effect by sliding one or more fingers rapidly over the keys of a piano or strings of a harp.

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noun

• glissandi
  plural

1. a glissando passage.

2. (in string playing) a slide.

glissando British  

/ ɡlɪˈsændəʊ /

noun

1. a rapidly executed series of notes on the harp or piano, each note of which is discretely audible

2. a portamento, esp as executed on the violin, viola, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• glissandi
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of glissando

1870–75; < French gliss ( er ) to slide + Italian -ando gerund ending

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Compare meaning

How does glissando compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• portamento vs. glissando

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glissando glissandi

The midtempo “Ridin’ High” starts with a descending harp glissando that pours into a synthesizer seasoned by a vibraslap’s rattlesnake hiss.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

But I might like what comes next even more: a glissando that swings up past the “right” note and sounds, magically, like the piano in its exuberance is singing just a little sharp.

From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023

She likened the sound of this brief passage to a quick, abbreviated glissando on a piano.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 5, 2023

For hours afterward, that skulking clarinet glissando and those thunder bolts of piano rolls rumbled through me.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2021

For example, a wood block corresponds to a hop, a xylophone glissando is a leap, a shaker means to shake.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

That’s reflected, Nally said, in the music, which has an “out-of-focusness” that comes from Gordon’s taste for glissandi and love of canons.

From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2022

If he relies on those glissandi more than he seemingly should, he nevertheless makes them welcome.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2022

The new concerto is a work of considerable beauty, with delicate, feathery glissandi in the two harps, a bewitching double cadenza, and intricate rhythmic patterns.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2021

Playing the jazz standard “Stella by Starlight,” his quick single-note lines blended together like piano glissandi — meanwhile, Brown’s piano solo took the percussive tack.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2018

The piano in it is put to various uses, with a fill of glissandi matching the diabolic mood.

From Franz Liszt by James Huneker

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