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Trombone glissando chart


Flint

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  • 5 months later...

I think he's asking for a chart to see if is possible to play some glissandos in the Clarinet.

The Clarinet is certainly not like Trombone, (which has an slide and glissandos are kind of easy)

There are very few intervals in the clarinet where a true glissando can be played...

I’m sure flint-wwrr will explain it better that me.

Some holes in the clarinet are closed by the mechanic keys, others with the fingers, those who has the open-close with the fingers are the only ones that could work for a glissando, (could work I said), the 3 middle fingers of the right hand cover the low G,A,B notes, (D,E,F in the next register), I say that you could possible produce a glissando between the lowest G to the next C and a glissando between the middle-high D to the next G. Those glissandos wouldn’t sound very much linear but is better than a “portamento” (chromatic). Sliding your finger is the way to do it.

Glissando between the lowest E to the next G are impossible (unless some expert tells me how)

If flint-wwrr don’t post you a better explanation, I’ll try to create that chart you want….

Clarinet is not for glissandos I must tell you, but ….you can always try.

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By dropping the jaw and reducing pressure on the reed you can also cause the pitch to drop significantly. This in conjunction with manipulation of the tongue in the oral cavity can effectively mask the transition between individual notes and this produces fairly convincing glissandi, especially in the clarion register - any note between written D4 and D6 I can gliss between this way.

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It would be pointless to write up a glissando chart for the clarinet. It depends on the skill of the player only... Besides, there are differences between a "glissando" and a "smear". A glissando would be done just by changing fingerings up or down a scale. A smear is more akin to the trombone "glissando", where the player uses their fingers and changes lip/air pressure to gradually move up or down (up is easier) from one pitch to another.

That said, it's much easier to perform a "smear" above written B4 on all the clarinets (and much easier at about written F5). Below B4, the effect is poor. Glissandi can be done throughout the range of the instrument.

The famous glissando in Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is normally a mixture of the two types... a glissando from the low G to about C5, then a smear up to the C6. Another famous smear is in Artie Shaw's "Clarinet Concerto", where the clarinetist smears from G5 to G6 over the course of about 5 measures. That was difficult to learn...!

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