Teaching Glissandos

[keyofc]

How do you teach glissandos?

I know you have to be careful that it's done right so a person does
not hurt their cuticle.

[thalberg]

Gosh, isn't a demonstration sufficient?  And then warn them that the cuticle can get hurt.  Tell them not to push too hard or keep things too stiff.  Be relaxed, glide along the surfaces of the keys, and smile.  When the glissando is finished, return immediately to a straight face.

I can teach an octave glissando, you know.  I did it once, and the girl was amazed that now she had an octave glissando.  Obviously you bend your thumb so the nail hits the next key down.  The rest has to do with the position of the arm and distribution of weight.  And while you're getting started, licking your fifth finger helps you play your first glissando or two.  You know, lubrication.

[keyofc]

Thalberg,
thanks,
well it should be simple - but I never learned it until last year and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

[cora]

Use a piece by Mozart called "A Musical Trick". Also, it's a good idea to use two fingers.

[keyofc]

Thanks Cora,
I'll look into that - I always thought that glissandos were for show-offs, so I never learned it.
It looked so easy - that I was always embarrassed to ask someone how they did it too.

So as I'm getting older - I don't care if my questions are silly sounding.
I'm finally getting more answers!

[pianorama]

Hmmm I have learned Octavio Pinto's Run Run and the last bar ended with a big glissando. Made me bleed on my teacher's piano once.... hm and that same song but a different part made me bleed on my piano! Ouch, be wary of Run Run, it bites! LOL!
'

[keyofc]

Pianorama,
So what was the other part of this piece that was tricky?

It does not sound like music therapy!

[pianorama]

well it wasn't so much the piece the second time than myself. I was playing it poorly, with my fingers too curled. It made my second knuckle (you know the tiny one RIGHT next to your fingernail) rub against the black notes which made it bleed eventually. Just a tiny bit though. Real fun song! I've learned how to play it without bleeding  It's basically just alternating sixteenth-note triads of (in left hand) C E G and in the right A C E and they both move together, quite a neat effect if you ask me. Like it's CEG/ACE CEG/ACE CEG/ACE BDF/GBD etc. etc. they move in tandem. Sorry that's confusing even to myself! lol

[alwaystheangel]

"Bread and Butter" attr. Mozart is good for glissando ractice too, I think.

Is there really any concern for the cuticle bleeding?  I though eveyone bled when learning glasses, like a fact of life, like, I dunno,  period or something.

Oh man,  blood was smeared all over the keys when I was learning that aforementioned piece!

[stevehopwood]

Hehe. Blood all over the piano? No chance.

I have given live performances of Brahms and Rachmaninov piano concertos. Guess what? They did not contain glissandi.

I will not play pieces containing glissandi. Why not? 'Cos they hurt. 

I have no intention of bleeding for my art. 

 

[lostinidlewonder]

Sometimes its good to experiment with a unwieghted keyboard  so you don't hurt yourself as you try to get the first stages of the gliss sorted out.