7 Ingredients of a Glorious Glissando - PHH 067

Welcome to Practicing Harp Happiness, the Harp Mastery Podcast. My name is Ann Sullivan and I'm a harpist, teacher, and founder of Harp Mastery. I'm all about creating more harp happiness in the world by helping harp players like you play the music they want the way they want. But as a harpist who nearly flunked out of one of the most prestigious music schools in the world, I, although later not only graduated, but I went on to teach there. I know from personal experience that learning the harp is way harder than it looks. Here, each week on the Practicing Harp Happiness Podcast, I show you how to solve the challenges of practicing and playing the harp. Whether it's about making your fingers behave or learning music faster, or getting your piece's performance ready, or just learning to enjoy your playing every day. Sounds great, doesn't it? Let's get started.

Welcome to the show. Here's a riddle for you. What can go up or down but never side to side, can be like a gale force wind or a whisper of a breeze and is easy to do when you don't know how and much harder to do when you do know how. Well, I'll bet you got it in one guess. It's a glissando. Now, in case you didn't get it, here's why a glissando is the right answer. Well, the first part is obvious, right? Glissandos, or in more correct Italian, glissandi, go up or down the harp. Side to side just wouldn't work, right? So they go up or down the harp. The second part is probably clear, too. A glissando can be powerful with a majestic, sweeping rush of notes, or it can be delicate and tender, just like a whisper. Now, the tricky part of the riddle is the third part. If you're a harpist, though, you likely understand this one, playing a glissando on the harp is the easiest thing in the world. You just take one finger, you brush it over the strings, and in fact, a simple glissando like that was quite likely one of the first things you ever, ever tried when you sat down at a harp for the very first time. It's so simple and it's sublime at the same time. You run a finger across the strings and the harp sings. It's effortless and amazing. But if you're like most of us, that was the last easy glissando you ever played. Once you started learning the harp, you learned that there are special techniques for playing a glissando and that you have to count them and you have to end on the right note, and you have to keep an even tone from the beginning to the end while you're changing the dynamic. Oh, and so much more. Figuring out how to play them from the markings on the page can be difficult, too, not to mention any complications of levers or pedals. It's no wonder some harpists avoid them if at all possible. But avoiding glissandos is not the answer. Harp glissandi are part of the unique voice of the harp. No other instrument can imitate them. No other effect.

Has as much power to set a musical scene or to create the right atmosphere or energy. Glissandi are glorious, and they're so much fun to play.

I know you might not be totally convinced glissandi may not be the thing that you absolutely love to do. But whether you're a veteran glisser or a newbie to the glissando world, I want to share today the seven ingredients of a glorious gliss so that you can make this special kind of heart magic and find your own bliss in the gliss. Now, these seven ingredients, they're not tough, but they're just the basics. I'm going to warn you now, there are a lot of things that we could talk about with a glissando, and many of those we will have to save for another time, because this is just one podcast, and a glissando is a big topic as much as it is a big harp effect. There's a lot that goes into it, and I don't have to tell you that you already know it. So we're going to be covering some very basic things today, but some things that can make a huge difference, not just in the way your glissandos sound, but, but in how you approach them and in how you understand them. And I'm hoping that this will make glissandos not just clear and understandable for you, but will make them even more fun for you to play. So you'll also notice in the course of this podcast that I go back and forth between glissandi and glissandos all the time. And that's partly because I'm not wedded to the to the formal, correct pronunciation of glissandi. You know, either one works. And if you're a little bit hesitant about just springing for that Italian, if that just doesn't sound natural to you to say glissandi, go ahead and say glissandos. Nobody cares. Or say glisses and avoid the whole topic Whatsoever. So that's just a little note about what the terminology that I will be using today. So that's what we're talking about. But I wanted to let you know for sure in case you have missed it. Our coaching registration is open for this session of coaching. We opened registration last week and we've already had quite a number of people pop on and register. So those spots are going quickly. Remember that when we open coaching registration, the people who get to register first, the pre registration happens for the people who are currently in our program. They get the chance to to save their spot with their favorite coach and continue working with them or work with a new coach if they like. So we have many of our coaching students that do that and sign up for the next session. So when we open coaching registration to everybody else, oh, probably half our spots almost are already full. And since we opened it last Monday, we've had quite a number of people jump on. So the spots are going quickly. We have, you know, only so many coaches and so many students that they can teach. So I urge you, if you've been thinking about joining us for coaching, this is the time to register. You can find the link on Heart Mastery, of course, go to heartmastery.com, look for our programs and you'll see the link to coaching right there. 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And if you're struggling with something in your harp playing, if you just want to make progress faster than you have, if you, like me, are coming to the conclusion that there's stuff that you don't know that you don't know and you wish you had those insider secrets and knowledge and the advice and the support that you need to do what you want to do, then I urge you to check out our coaching program. Remember, our coaching is not just lessons. Our coaching is very goal oriented. So Come to your coaching with an idea of what you want to do. I want to improve this. I want to learn this piece. I want to prepare this. This program. I want to have four pieces that I can play in church at Christmas. You know, whatever it is, let's find that goal, and let's direct our efforts to that. You will be amazed not only how much you can accomplish in 12 weeks, but how much you learn about the way you learn. It's a fabulous process, and it's a way that nobody else is teaching at the moment. You can find it only here at Heart Mastery and with our certified coaches. So I urge you, you to go ahead and check out the coaching program. If you have any questions about it, you know, feel free to let us know. You can find that at. At on our website@heartmastery.com or just use the link here in the show notes, and we'll get you there, too. But do it quickly before all those coaching spots for this session are gone. All right, now let's get back to glissandos.

Okay, now, remember that first glissando you ever played, and you just ran your finger over the strings and you said, this is magic. I'm in. Make me a harpist. So that was great, right? And it's still the first thing that I love to do when I'm introducing a new student to the harp. Just play a glissando, and they just run their finger over the strings. Boom. And the magic comes out. Right? But there is a technique, and this is our very first ingredient to a wonderful glissando. It's very simple, but it's something that if you don't know or you don't remember, your glissandos are always going to sound a little bit uneven, and it is this. The glissando isn't about your hand, it's about your arm. So with the glissando, you want to put your finger on the string, whether it's your second finger for going up, which would be the most usual finger, or your thumb for going down. Once again, the most usual finger. Although we have choices about this, but, you know, put your second finger on the string and then put that on the string in regular playing position, just the same way you would if you were going to play an exercise or work on your second finger. Regular playing position. Then, without involving your wrist or changing the angle of your hand, use your elbow. Pull your elbow back, using your arm like a hinge. Keep your arm at the same angle. Keep your hand at the Same angle, Just pull it back. It's your arm that is going to guide you through the glissando. If you turn your hand at all, you'll notice that the part of your finger that you're using changes and the sound of the glissando is going to change. And likely you're going to have that little glitch in the middle of the sound.

Same thing for your thumb going down. Put your thumb on the strings and then just pull your thumb. Using your arm, pull your thumb down the strings. But you must keep the angle of your hand the same. And this is goes for right hand and left hand equally. So there's the first thing to check. If you're not happy with the way your glissando sounds, make sure you're not using your hand or your wrist to do it, but that you're putting your finger on the string and either pulling up with your arm or pushing down with your arm and keeping your hand constant. That's the most important thing and sadly, the most neglected. Okay, so maybe that tip alone is enough to make your glissandos everything they want to be. But the next three ingredients of a perfect glissando all kind of go together. We're going to be talking about beginning your glissando, ending your glissando and turning it around. That's a tricky one, right? The beginning is not hard. Many glissandos, but not all, but many, have a specific beginning note, a note that you want to start from. And if. If your glissando is going up, you're going to take that second finger, put it on the string where you start, and then begin to pull. Same thing if you're going down, put your thumb on the string where you're supposed to start, and then push or pull with your thumb is actually a little bit easier. It's. You can have a little more control when you think about pulling your thumb down the string than when you think about pushing it. So think about pulling it with your arm. Okay, so how do you know if there's a specific beginning note? The music will tell you. If there's a nice big beginning note written in your music, then that's the beat where you need to start your glissando rhythmically. And it's the note on which you should start your glissando as well. Sometimes it's written as a big note, you know, a regular sized note. Sometimes it's written as just a little note, but. But just pay attention to what it is. Put Your finger on that string and then pull. Easy. Beginning's not so hard. Ending is a little bit trickier. And so there are really three ways to end a glissando. Sometimes glissandos have a specific ending note and sometimes they don't. So we're talking about sort of a regular, you know, one direction glissando. Right? So that if your glissando goes up, it may be indicated in the music just to go up or just to go down, in which case there may not be a note indicated at the top or the bottom of that glissando. Right. If your glissando is going up and they just want an effect, then it's not going to have a note written at the top. And it doesn't matter exactly where your glissando ends. But many times there is a specific note. And that's because glissandos usually have a purpose. And we're going to talk about this more in a moment. But if your glissando is taking you from one note to another, then you're going to have a specific beginning note and a specific ending note. And you need to start on the right beat, end on the right beat and get the right notes. We'll talk about the beat part of it in a moment. But for right now, let's just talk about how to get that last note to come out. If the last note of your glissando is supposed to be this one, then we don't. Which is an F. Actually. We. We don't want it to just kind of overrun. We don't want it to just kind of be approximate with the F. We want to play the F specifically like that. Now, there are three ways to do this. You can do it if you have the luxury. You can do it the easy way, which is the two handed way. So that for the glissando I just played for you, I'm going to play it going up with my right hand, but I'm going to play the top note with my left hand, thumb or second finger so that I can place that. I like to use my thumb sometimes because my fingers don't get in the way. And I'll play up with my right hand and then just use my left thumb or second finger, either one, to play the top note. So it's. I don't miss, right? I just play until I get there. Boom. The trick is not to have a hole at the top. You don't want to either stop too soon so that there's a gap in there or to just kind of wait.

Your glissando needs to fill in the whole spot. So.

Just play all the way up and then play that top note with your other hand when there's time. Now that's the easy way. But we don't always have the luxury of being able to use two hands. So method two is just to stop when. When you get to that last note, you're going to stop the glissando, but you're going to play the last note. So I'm going up with my second finger and I'm just going to pluck the last note when I get there.

Just like that makes it a little bit more definite so that it has an arrival point, not just kind of glisting past it.

I just pluck it on the top. Now there's another method that works very well, especially for long glissandos that might go into those upper strings. You can actually just let your finger go one note past the glissando and then stop.

What I did was to just bring my finger up the strings and then the top note, I want to be an F. So when I get to the G, I just quickly put on the brakes.

And stop there. Once I've heard the F, I know it's time to stop. And it is a little bit different in the emphasis, right, because it doesn't have that big accent on the note at the top, it's a little bit smoother and gentler.

And so that's kind of the overrun technique. Right? So you've got the two hand technique, you've got the very definite pluck at the top or you've got the overrun. And all three of those are options for you. Isn't it nice to have options? Okay, so we can start it, we can stop it. But what if you have a glissando with one hand that goes up and then goes down, or the other way around, down and then up? Hmm. How do you make that? Well, there you've probably heard a lot of people talk about this in different ways. And it's because it's hard to describe. It's not because the methods are so supremely different, because there's really not a lot of complication to a glissando. Right? We really are just sliding a finger over the string. So in order to turn around at the top, the trick once again is to not have a hole. Oh, doesn't that sound nice? It's just so much fun to play.

The trick is to start your thumb going down. Before your second finger stops, you don't want to stop your finger and then play your thumb.

Right? Because then you end up with a hole, and we don't want a hole. So.

You just start your thumb going down before your second finger is done. And the same thing on the bottom. The bottom is kind of nice because you can when you're going down, and then you want to come up, reach your second finger out, and just start your second finger coming up, but your thumb is still going down for just that. That instant, while your second finger stops just the same way it happens at the top. You'll just need to try it and just think about having. Think about it being like an interruption where that change of direction is interrupting the other direction. Right. So that I'm not quite done, but I'm already starting the other way. Now, once you think about this as an arm motion, too, instead of just a hand motion, I mean, it's sort of intricate finger work in that we're making sure that our fingers kind of continue, but the big motion is coming from our arm. And once you think of it that way, you'll be able to do this a little bit more easily because it's not about doing very much with your hand at all. It's just about keeping that constant arm motion back and forth. Now, I know these things are hard to describe on a podcast, and you'd like to see them. So what I want to do is to remind you that, or to let you know, either way, that.

In the coming weeks. Weeks. Couple weeks. It'll take me a while to make sure that they're all ready for you. But we'll be releasing videos of these Things on our YouTube channel. So don't forget to hop on over to YouTube and subscribe to our channel, because I will be releasing videos of this so that you don't just have to listen to this, but you get to see it, too. Okay. I know. It helps to see, doesn't it? Okay. Just to let you know. There now. So we've talked about the basic technique using your arm, and we've talked about beginnings and endings and turnarounds. Ingredient number five. I've already alluded to it. It's the counting. Yeah. Most glissandos.

Have to be counted. They're about filling in the beat. They're about going from one place to another, which is going to be the next thing we talk about, and taking an appropriate amount of time to do it. So just think about the hard thing that I just did. Right. These turnaround glissandos you should able to count those. So 1, 2, 3, 4. And that glissando has to take up the right amount of notes in the right time. Now this can be really tricky, but you can practice this quite easily by taking any glissando. Now it doesn't. You know, glissandos come in two kinds and this is a topic for another podcast. But they come in chromatic glissandos. Like what I'm playing now sounds like an arpeggio. Right. There are some notes missing. I'm playing an F glissando, which for us has a sixth and a ninth in it. So it's F, G, A, B sharp, C, D and E sharp. So that's the chromatic glissando that I'm playing. But the other kind of glissando that you can have is just a diatonic glissando or a scale glissando. And that's going to just be this. So now I'm going to play an F diatonic or an F scale glissando. And it's just regular old F major, F, G, A, B flat, C, D, E, F. And I'm going to play just a one octave glissando up with my second finger from F to F.

Okay. And I did the pluck ending, in case you couldn't tell. I'm guessing that you can tell by the sound. Right?

But you could also do this with a two hand. Whoops, I missed with my left hand. There we go. Or you could do it with, with that, that overrun technique. I overran. Overran. Now I have to tell you, I did that on purpose just so that you would hear it, but there you go, there it is. Properly. Right. Okay. So because I'm. I wanted you to be able to hear the difference and also hear what happens when you practice it. Right. You make mistakes. Okay, good. So what I'd like you to do and what I suggest you do to practice is getting your glissando to fill in the time. Because that's what we want it to do. We want it to fill in the time allotted. If the music says it's going to take a half note, it needs to take a half note from bottom to top. If it's supposed to be a quarter note, it needs to be a quarter note from bottom to top. You don't want to get there early and you don't want to still be doing your glissando when the music's trying to go on. So timing is important and so to practice that, what I suggest is that you do those glissandos as a little scale of glissandos. Now I'm in my F diatonic gliss again. And so what I'm going to do is I'm just going to count 1, 2, 1, 2, and I'm going to make my glissando fit. 1, 2, 1, 2. So I'm starting on the A now. 1, 2. Oops. Look at that. That glissando was a little too short. Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Glissandos are tricky and they're not always written properly. But some composers who aren't harpists don't really understand. But I want you, as a harpist and a person who practices to truly understand that a glissando is meant to take up a certain amount of time and a certain number of notes, or at least many glissandos are. Right? If you have one beat to get from this F to this F, then you have one beat for eight notes. If that beat is very slow, the way I was just using the beat 1, 2, 1, 2, it's almost worth playing a scale there instead of a glissando. But if the tempo's faster, 1, 2, 1, 2. It's easier to fit those notes in. Like this. 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, two, 1, two. So glissandos are very tempo dependent. So if you're practicing a piece slowly, your glissando may not fit in properly. It may only fit in within a certain tempo range, and you might not be up to that tempo range yet. So how do you practice it when you can't practice something up to tempo? Well, I generally suggest putting a wait, like W, A, I, T waiting at the bottom of the glissando and then doing the glissando afterward. So if your tempo's too slow, two, one, two. Then one, two, one. Wait here. Then gliss one weight. Bliss. And that's a way to do it when you need to practice something at a slower tempo. And the glissando just is painful at that slow tempo. So that's an important tip. Remember that. But just for practicing fitting glissandos into a tempo, pick something nice and comfy and then do a scale of glissandos, just like what I was doing. Ready? So it's F to F, G to G, A to A, B to B, C to C, D, E, F. And you can do those with any of the endings that you want. You can do it with Your opposite hand ending. You can do it with the pluck ending, you can do it with the overrun ending. You can do them going up, you can do them going down. You can do them two octaves, one octaves, one octave. But whatever you choose to do, do it with the metronome. And practice just counting those glissandos. It's going to be so much easier when you run into them in a piece if you've actually practiced them. Quick word of warning. Practicing glissandi will wear out your finger, right? You can get a sore finger, so just do them lightly. Mezzo piano is all you need. And you don't need to practice them for just do a little bit of them. But it will give you a lot of practice at beginning, ending, timing, and that perfect arm motion that will help you get across the span of the glissando without hesitations or without blurps in the middle. Okay, let's take this to the next level. Let's talk about pacing and dynamics. So I want you to get this point. First of all, every glissando has a purpose. It might be a big transition. Like.

Maybe we're in the middle of a piece and we want to.

Make a big transition, a big swoop up. Or maybe it's just a gentle falling leaf.

Or maybe it's a whispery sort of thing at the top.

Don't ask me what that is. I just made it up. Or maybe it's a big splashy Hollywood ending. Or it could be any number of things. But every glissando has a musical purpose, and you need to play that glissando as musically as you would play it if it were just regular notes.

Most glissandos are about energy. Most melodies are about energy, too. Once again, a topic for another day. But if you think about your glissando as energy, your glissando needs to move that energy. It needs to move things. Whether it's moving them to a state of relaxation.

Or to, you know, to something more glorious, majestic, or anything else.

It might be that beautiful, uplifting sort of energy. So there are two things to consider to make that energy move. One is obviously dynamics. So as you practice a glissando, you want to practice either putting, most likely a crescendo in an upward glissando.

Overran just a little bit there, or maybe a diminuendo in a downward moving glissando.

Now, those aren't the only dynamics. The dynamics could go the other way, right? An upward glissando that tapers to a pianissimo or a downward glissando that comes down to a forte. So you can practice glissandi with both, with all of those, I guess, dynamic plans. So crescendo, diminuendo, either direction, how to practice those, that's what you want. But it's the pacing that I really want to mention here, because glissandi aren't necessarily the same tempo all the way across.

Because then we might as well play a scale. Even scales can be more interesting than that. But when you think about a glissando as energy, then you'll understand what I'm talking about. Because a glissando that goes up.

With something like that might start more slowly and pick up speed toward the top as it gets more energetic. Right.

Whenever it happens, happens to be right. So it's gonna pick up energy as it moves to the top. You should see me trying to play these glissandi and talk to you at the same time. I've got the harp on one side, I've got the microphone on the other side. It's no wonder I'm missing top notes for these things. So it'll be so much nicer to get them for you on video. But here you go. So a crescendo and an encelorando at the same time adds more energy. Now, what if I added a retard to it instead of an accelerando?

Right? I start faster and then get slower. Oh, I got slower and softer. Right. You could start a downward glissando more quickly and then end slowly.

You've heard that at the end of some pieces, right?

Or the other way around. It could be slow and then a big rush of sound. Right? But that pacing, remember that it's not all the same speed from beginning to end. Think about moving that energy. Does it move forward like an accelerando? Does it pull back like a retard? So putting the appropriate pacing and dynamics into a glissando is really key to a beautiful sounding one. And when I'm talking about appropriate, I don't mean something that's necessarily written on the page for you. This is a musical decision you get to make. How much fun is that? Right? Okay, one last ingredient in a perfect glissando here. Don't overthink it. Sure, glissandos can be picky. They've got pacing, they've got dynamics, they've got beginnings and endings and turnarounds. There are picky things to any glissando. And they should be precise too, right? I mean, if there are things that the composer wants you to do with that glissando, you should be doing them. But overall, they should be fun more than anything. They're adding sparkle. They're adding this magic to the piece. They're adding the thing that. That only harps can do to a piece. And they're so special. And I want you to be able to play them. I want you to enjoy them. So if you're not sure if your glissando is happening the right way, that's okay. Don't be quite so picky about it every time. Just play it. Put those glissandos in. Put them in right away, and then fix them later. You can always practice them and fix them. But don't be afraid to play them because they are fun. Now, there's one little bonus thing I want to give you here before we stop our discussion on glissandi. And that is the most fun glissando of all is the one where nothing matters, right? It doesn't matter how we start. It doesn't matter how we end it. It just is what I like to call that Hollywood ending. Gliss. It goes like this.

There is nothing quite as amazing as that. I don't want you to overthink this. I don't want to tell you how to do it, because it doesn't matter how you do it. What it matters is that you just play as many notes as you can start, and your right hand and left hand will both play together. Don't worry about them bumping. This is not about precision. This is about going over the top, right? This is just about all the glitz and glamour you can put in it. So start your right hand from close to the top of the harp. Start by going down, and then have it turn around, down and up. Start with your left hand coming up from lower on your harp. I don't often use the wire strings for glissando because they can make noise. So I'll start from lower on the harp, but not so many wire strings. And your left hand will start up, but it'll do its turnarounds too, and they'll do them at the same time.

There you go. Now, you will have heard people describe a glissando that turns around as going visually in circles or in a figure 8 movement. You use whatever visualization works for you. But the thing is, just down and up is all you need to do. And so I want you to experiment with glissandos all of them this week. But try that Hollywood glissando and then type in the comments. Let me know how that Hollywood glissando goes for you. Because it's fun and just let it be fun. It doesn't matter how you do it, just have fun with it. Now, speaking of fun, next weekend here is Labor Day weekend here in the US and this podcast will come out on Labor Day. And so since that's supposed to be a day to celebrate labor and not do it, we're going to be talking about fun. And we're going to be talking about how to keep the play in your music right. How to make sure that playing is fun. Yeah, it's hard work, but it ought to be fun too. And that's what we're going to be talking about next week for our special Labor Day edition of our podcast. Remember, don't miss your opportunity to sign up for coaching. The registration will close as soon as the spots are full, and that could happen any day.

We don't have that many spots left, so do use the link in the show notes or go over to harpmastery.com you can probably search harpmastery.com coaching and have it come up that way, but you will find it listed under our programs on the harpmastery.com website. Just go ahead and register now so that you don't miss your chance for the fall session of our coaching with our wonderful certified coaches.

And have fun with that with that Hollywood Glissandra this week. I will look forward to talking with you again next week about keeping the play in your music. Until then, remember that every day is a day you can add more harp happiness to the universe, to your world, and to your spirit. And all you have to do is play. See you next time. Thanks for tuning into another episode of the Practicing Harp Happiness podcast. I release a new episode every Monday morning so you can hit your practice week running. Until then, remember to practice your harp happiness every day. See you next time.