Trill (music)

The trill (or shake, as it was known from the 16th till the 19th century) is a musical ornament

Ornament (music)

In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...

 consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone

Semitone

A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant. The most commonly written form of this interval is the minor second, notated using two adjacent letter names A semitone, also called a...

 or tone

Major second

A major second , also called a whole step or a whole tone, is a musical interval that occurs between the first and second degrees of a major scale, the tonic and the supertonic. The major second is abbreviated as M2; its inversion is the minor seventh...

 apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill. (compare mordent

Mordent

In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played in a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental...

 and tremolo

Tremolo

Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term describing various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...

). It is sometimes referred to by the German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...

 triller, the Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...

 trillo or the French

French language

French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...

 trille.

Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a turn (by sounding the note below rather than the note above the principal note, immediately before the last sounding of the principal note), or some other variation.

The trill (or shake, as it was known from the 16th till the 19th century) is a musical ornament

Ornament (music)

In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...

 consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone

Semitone

A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant. The most commonly written form of this interval is the minor second, notated using two adjacent letter names A semitone, also called a...

 or tone

Major second

A major second , also called a whole step or a whole tone, is a musical interval that occurs between the first and second degrees of a major scale, the tonic and the supertonic. The major second is abbreviated as M2; its inversion is the minor seventh...

 apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill. (compare mordent

Mordent

In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played in a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental...

 and tremolo

Tremolo

Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term describing various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...

). It is sometimes referred to by the German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...

 triller, the Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...

 trillo or the French

French language

French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...

 trille.

Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a turn (by sounding the note below rather than the note above the principal note, immediately before the last sounding of the principal note), or some other variation. Such variations are often marked with a few Appoggiaturas following the note that bears the trill indication.

Notation

In modern musical notation

Musical notation

Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-Western history:...

 a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr (or sometimes simply t) above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes, in the baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era...

 and early classical periods, 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

Accidental (music)

In music, an accidental is a note whose pitch is not a member of a scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the symbols used to mark such notes, sharps , flats , and naturals , may also be called accidentals...

).