A

David

Darling

glissando

Glissando, from the French glisser ('to slide'), is a quick movement from one pitch to another by a slide, i.e., by not sounding individual intervening pitches. In trombone playing, the effect was first popularized by Arthur Pryor, the virtuoso slide trombonist in John Philip Sousa's band. Sousa's band toured Europe in 1900 and 1901. Coincidentally or not, trombone glissandi began showing up in European orchestral music around 1902. Rapid scales on the piano or harp are also referred to as glissandi.