Glissando: white notes or black notes?
I have a question about the glissando:
Does a glissando (on piano) have a meaning of playing just white notes regardless of which key we are in? For example, in F# we have a lot of sharps. If I want an upward-sliding glissando effect from C# through G# (where the G# is ~an octave and a half above the C#), is that properly communicated using a glissando? Would a glissando entail playing all black keys from C# to G#, or would it just entail playing the white keys on the piano?
I have a second question that would be related to this question. So after finding the answer to this question, I'll ask my second question in another post (assuming this response doesn't also answer my second question).
Thanks in advance.
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A piano gliss is usually on white notes, with the back of the middle finger. Where it needs a specific 'landing point', and it's a black note, it's easy to turn the first finger onto it.
Sometimes 'black note gliss' is requested in the notation. Sometimes a player decides a black note gliss would be appropriate. It tends to be very recognizably a pentatonic scale. This can be a good sound.
But the default gliss is white notes.
On the piano, a glissando is possible on either the white or black keys. In the latter case, it would be an ascending or descending pentatonic scale. I use the back of my fingers. It never hurt me.
On the harp, it is different. The strings can be set by means of the pedals so that a glissando can be done on any scale, diminished-seventh chord, the two whole-tone scales, some dominant sevenths, and some added-sixths chords. Care must be taken, however, not to use the harp glissando to excess. Some harp parts comprise almost entirely zig-zag lines. The late Sir Charles Villiers Stanford used to complain that some composers seemd to imagine that harpists played with brooms instead of fingers.
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