- published: 15 Sep 2012
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In music, portamento (plural: portamenti, from Italian: portamento, meaning "carriage" or "carrying") is a pitch sliding from one note to another. The term originated from the Italian expression "portamento della voce" (carriage of the voice), denoting from the beginning of the 17th century its use in vocal performances and its emulation by members of the violin family and certain wind instruments, and is sometimes used interchangeably with anticipation. It is also applied to one type of glissando as well as to the "glide" function of synthesizers.
In the first example, Rodolfo's first aria in La Sonnambula (1831), the portamento is indicated by the slur between the third and fourth notes. The second example, Judit's first line in Duke Bluebeard's Castle (1912), employs a short, straight line between the fourth and fifth notes to indicate a steady rise in pitch. If the composer desired the pitches to be, variously, raised and lowered between those two notes, the wavy line would additionally be curvy, conveying an approximation of the pitches intended. Portamento may, of course, also be used for descending intervals.
Before I die I'd like to do something nice
Take my hand and I'll take it for a ride
You hit me yesterday because I made you cry
So before I die let me do something nice
I want to buy you something but I don't have any money
I don't have any money
And if I have a car I would trade in my car
If I had a gun I would trade in my gun
and we ran from the country [?] the city
Well there's something to be done [x4]
I want to buy you something but I don't have any money
I don't have any money