User manual

Glissando lines
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 SE, and you can easily change
their style after they have been input.
Glissando lines in Dorico SE automatically follow the notes at each end, meaning if you change
the pitch of either note, the glissando line end positions move accordingly.
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, guitar bends, and jazz
articulations on page 252
Changing the style of glissando lines on page 674
Lines on page 720
Playing technique continuation lines on page 714
Changing the pitch of individual notes on page 191
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 SE 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 system or page breaks, then that text is shown on every glissando line segment. By default,
the start and end positions of each segment matches the original start and end points of the
whole glissando line.
673
Dorico SE 3.1.10