Glissando

[Plonk]

Anyone got any really good tips on achieving the Gershwin glissando? I have watched lots of Youtube videos explaining how to do it, but I'm still a long way off!

I can drop my jaw and change the tone a lot -no problem, but the problem is how to go from each tone to the next one. Do you start each note really flat?

[pete]

I've not played Rhapsody, but let me share a technique with you:

The glissando is actually written out, in most orchestrations. That means you know which notes you have to play. Start with the first note. Play it as long as possible, not in any time. When you feel it's long enough, play the next note as short as possible -- again, not in time. Repeat this until you've done all the notes in the gliss. Then reverse the procedure: play the first note as short as possible, the next as long as you'd like, etc.

Then try to play all the notes in time.

This technique is remarkably effective for whenever you have a phrase that has the same beat -- e.g. a bunch of 16ths or 32nds, etc.