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Portamento – gliding between notes
A fifth up and back, but instead of a jump – a deliberate, smooth glide through every pitch in between. A classical expressive tool that connects notes without smearing them.
A perfect fifth up and back, but not as a jump. You hold the root, glide up through every pitch in between over one beat, hold the fifth, and later glide down the same way. That glide is portamento, a classical expressive tool that carries the voice from one note to the next. Done well it's smooth and brief; done carelessly it smears. The tolerance is wider, 80 cents.
How to do it
- Listen to the piano play the pattern, then sing it back alone on “ah”.
- Hold the root for two beats, then glide up to the fifth in one smooth movement.
- Land on the fifth exactly and hold it for three beats with the same vowel and volume.
- After the short rest, hold the fifth again, then glide down to the root and hold it.
- Follow the sloped blocks on the roll. Each repetition moves two semitones higher, then back down the same way.
Coach's tip: Start the glide near the end of the first note and land exactly on the target – no correcting afterwards. Vowel and volume stay the same.
What to watch out for
The usual mistake is a late or lazy slide: you reach the new note and then correct it. Arrive at the target at the end of the glide, with no adjusting afterward. A slide that's too slow sounds like a siren, and one that's too quick sounds like a jump. Vowel and volume shouldn't change as you move. On the way down, don't let the support collapse below the root.
Who it's for
A level 2 exercise for singers who can hit a perfect fifth cleanly and want smoother connections, such as classical, choir and ballad singers. Use it after Interval: perfect fifth, which has the same notes without the slide. For a pop version of a slide, continue with Pop scoop (slide into the note). It's in no fixed program; the daily training favors it with Classical & choir.
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Related exercises
- Pentatonic run down 8-6-5-3-2-1 The most common run in pop – from the octave quickly down the pentatonic.
- Pentatonic run up A run-up ending on a long octave.
- Turn 5-6-5-3-1 The classic pop “ornament” at the end of a phrase.
- Pop scoop (slide into the note) A short, deliberate slide from below into the target note. It should be an effect, not a habit.
- Five vowels on one note One note and five vowels in a row: mee, eh, ah, oh, oo – with no gaps between them. Trains even vowels and legato: pitch and tone stay, only the shape of your mouth changes.
- Broken thirds 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5... Trains thinking in intervals.