gliss

Gliss, short for glissando, is a musical technique that produces a smooth, continuous glide from one pitch to another, rather than discrete steps. It creates a sliding sonic effect that can span multiple notes or a single interval.

The term glissando derives from the Italian glissare, meaning to glide. The noun glissando appears in classical music literature dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, and the shortened form gliss is commonly used in notation, instruction, and software contexts.

Notation and performance guidance typically indicate glissando with a line connecting the starting and ending notes, often accompanied by the marking gliss. In practice, how a glissando is realized depends on the instrument. On strings, it is achieved by sliding a finger along the string; on fretted instruments, by sliding across the fretboard. Brass and woodwinds produce a glide through embouchure and air or fingerings that shift pitch, while keyboards can execute a glissando by sweeping the hand across keys or by electronic synthesis, where a glide or portamento effect is applied.

Glissando is an umbrella term for various glide techniques, with portamento describing a continuous, expressive slide between pitches within a melodic line. In many modern contexts, gliss is used to refer to either the technique in general or to a software or hardware control that creates a pitch glide.

Used across genres from classical to jazz and electronic music, glissando remains a fundamental expressive device for altering pitch contour in a fluid, seamless manner.