Trill (music)

The "trill" (or "shake", as it was known from the 16th till the 19th century) is a ornament (music)musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or Major secondtone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill.Taylor, Eric. "The AB Guide to Music Theory: Part I" pg. 92 (compare mordent and tremolo). It is sometimes referred to by the German LanguageGerman "triller", the Italian LanguageItalian "trillo" or the French LanguageFrench "trille".

Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a Ornament (music)Turnturn (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 Ornament (music)AppoggiaturaAppoggiaturas following the note that bears the trill indication.
Notation
In modern musical notation a trill is generally indicated with the letters 'tr' (or sometimes simply 't')Taylor, Eric. "The AB Guide to Music Theory: Part I" pg. 92 above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes, in the Baroque Musicbaroque and early European classical musicclassical periodsTaylor, Eric. "The AB Guide to Music Theory: Part I" pg. 92, 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 (music)accidental).Media:Trill no-trill.oggListen 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.

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
period (1600-1750).Taylor, Franklin "Bach: Short Preludes & Fugues" pg. 1 Note the similarity between the symbol for trill and that of the mordent.
In baroque music

In the Baroque musicbaroque 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 (music)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. For example, while it is relatively easy to produce a trill on the piano, the proper execution on brass instruments requires higher skill and 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 (generally executed using just the fingers of the fretting hand but can use both hands). 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.
On brass instruments
Trills may be performed on valveless Brass instrumentbrass instruments by rapidly Slur (music)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 natural hornnatural horns of the Baroque MusicBaroque/European classical musicClassical era. However the lip trill is often still used in the modern Horn (instrument)french horn in places where the Harmonic series (music)harmonics are only a Major secondtone apart (though this can be difficult for inexperienced players). Such trills are also a stylistic feature of jazz music, particularly in trumpet parts.

See also
List of ornaments

Footnotes


References
Taylor, Eric. "The AB Guide to Music Theory: Part I", England: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of MusicThe Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (Publishing) Ltd., 1989. ISBN 1-85472-446-0
Taylor, Franklin "Bach: Short Preludes & Fugues", London, England: Augener Ltd., 1913. No. 8020a
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