User manual

Table Of Contents

Glissando lines indicate a continuous transition between two notes, which can be smooth or in

chromatic steps. They can have straight lines or wiggly lines, and can be shown with a text

indication or as a line without text.

There are different conventions regarding the playing techniques for glissando and portamento.

Some people understand glissando lines to indicate a chromatic scale between the two notes,

either rising or falling in a series of semitones, and portamento lines to indicate a smooth,

continuous glide between the two notes. However, the terms glissando and portamento can be

used interchangeably in other cases.

You can input both glissando lines and portamento lines in Dorico Elements, and you can easily

change their style after they have been input.

An example glissando line with text shown and a

wiggly line

An example portamento line with text shown and a

straight line

RELATED LINKS

Input methods for ornaments, arpeggio signs, glissando lines, and jazz articulations on page 207

General placement conventions for glissando lines

Glissando lines are positioned between noteheads and the steepness of their angle should

reect the interval between the notes: the steeper the angle, the greater the interval. The

endpoints of glissando lines must be directly beside noteheads but not directly touching them.

Glissando lines must not collide with accidentals, and instead must stop short so the accidental

can be clearly read. Dorico Elements automatically positions glissando lines so they do not collide

with accidentals.

Usually, glissando lines join two adjacent noteheads because they indicate a gradual but

constant change in pitch between those two notes, but they can also cross multiple notes.

Glissando lines can cross system breaks and page breaks. If text is shown for glissando lines that

span across a system break or page break, then that text is shown on every part of the glissando

line. By default, the start position and end position of each segment matches the original start

point and end point of the whole glissando line.

In Dorico Elements, you can make detailed adjustments to the default positions of glissando lines

on the Glissando Lines page in Engrave > Engraving Options. You can also adjust the start/end

positions of individual glissando lines in Engrave mode.