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Trill (music)
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The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare mordent and tremolo). It is sometimes referred to by the German triller or the Italian trillo. In England, the trill was referred to as shake from the 16th till the 19th Century.
In modern musical notation a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr above the trilled note.
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The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare mordent and tremolo). It is sometimes referred to by the German triller or the Italian trillo. In England, the trill was referred to as shake from the 16th till the 19th Century.
In modern musical notation a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes in the past, the wavy line on its own was used. The following two notations are equivalent:
Both the "tr" and the wavy line are necessary for clarity when the trill is expected to be applied to more than one note (or to tied notes). Also, when attached to a single notehead in one part that corresponds to smaller note values in another part, it leaves no room for doubt if both the letters and the line are used.
The usual way of executing a trill is to rapidly alternate between the note indicated and the note directly above it in the given scale (unless the trill indicates an accidental).
Listen to an example of a short passage ending on a trill. The first time, the passage ends in a trill, and the second, the passage does not. (Vorbis)
This is an alternate trill.
These examples are an approximation of how a trill might be executed. In many cases, the rate of the trill will not remain constant as indicated here, but will start slower and become more rapid. Whether a trill is played in this way or not is largely a matter of taste.
The number of alternations between notes can vary according to the length of the note in question. At slower tempos a note will last longer, meaning more notes can be played in the trill, but with a fast tempo and short note a trill might be reduced to nothing more than the indicated note, the note above and the indicated note again.
Trills may also be played beginning on the note above the one indicated (the auxiliary note). Additionally, a trill is often ended by playing the note below the one indicated followed by the note itself.
In specific styles
In the baroque period, a number of signs indicating specific patterns with which a trill should be begun or ended were used. In the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach lists a number of these signs together with the correct way to interpret them. Unless one of these specific signs is indicated, the details of how to play the trill are up to the performer. In general, however, trills in this period are executed beginning on the auxiliary note, before the written note, often producing the effect of a harmonic suspension which resolves to the principal note. But, if the note preceding the ornamented note is itself one scale degree above the principal note, then the dissonant note has already been stated, and the trill typically starts on the principal note.
Beyond the baroque period, specific signs for ornamentation are very rare. Continuing through the time of Mozart, the default expectations for the interpretation of trills continued to be similar to those of the baroque. In music after the time of Mozart, the trill usually begins on the principal note.
All of these are only rules of thumb, and, together with the overall rate of the trill and whether that rate is constant or variable, can only be determined by considering the context in which the trill appears, and is usually to a large degree a matter of opinion with no single "right" way of executing the ornament.
On specific instruments
The trill is frequently found in classical music for all instruments, although it is more easily executed on some than others. It is relatively easy to produce a trill on the piano, but on the brass instruments it is produced by quickly alternating partials. While playing a trill on the piano the pianist may find that it becomes increasingly difficult to execute a trill including the weak fingers of the hand (3, 4 and 5), with a trill consisting of 4 and 5 being the hardest. On the clarinet, trills across the break are very difficult and are often found in virtuoso literature. On the guitar, a trill is a series of hammer-ons and pull-offs (which can be executed using the fingers or even using pick tapping), with the rate at which it can be performed varying greatly. For (Western) flutes and modern oboes, two trill keys are used to rapidly alternate between two adjacent notes. On the bowed instruments, the violin and the viola in particular, the trill is relatively easy to execute, with a straightforward bowing and the trill involving the oscillation of just one finger against the main note which is stopped by the finger behind, or more rarely, the open string.
Audio Examples
Here is an illustration of Joan Sutherland performing a vocal trill before ending on a sustained note in the aria "Caro nome":
Lip trills
Trills may be performed on valveless brass instruments by rapidly slurring between two adjacent notes by means of the embouchure – this is colloquially known as a "lip trill." This was a common practice on the natural trumpets and French horns of the Baroque era. Such trills are also a stylistic feature of jazz music, particularly in trumpet parts.
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