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Topic: Trills in Invention No.4? (Read 4182 times)

maplecleff1215

Jr. Member
Posts: 35

I'm tackling Bach's Invention No.4, and I'm struggling with the trills. I'm trying to play them two per eighth note as it suggests, but I can't quite seem to get them clean; They sound terrible when I play them haha. If I focus on the trill, the other hand slows down, but if I focus on the hand playing the melody, the trill is way too fast. I have not come across trills until this piece. Does anyone have any tips on how to make them even and in time with the other hand (and just not sound horrible in general)? I've been using fingers one and three for both hands.

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brogers70

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 1756

Re: Trills in Invention No.4?

Reply #1 on: October 01, 2017, 10:16:44 AM

The first thing is, when I was in that situation my teacher told me not to practice trills, that they would improve on their own as my general technique improved and that working on them was likely to increase tension and not make the trills any better. That was specific advice to my particular set of problems, but there it is for whatever it is worth.

Second, if you are going to practice those spots, the best thing, I think is to do the trills measured, as 32nd or 16th notes and to practice them very, very slowly along with the runs in the other hand.

Another suggestion my current teacher has, now that it's safe for me to work on trilling, is to alternate fingers during a trill, something like 132313231323. Sometimes I find that extremely helpful, sometimes not so much, but it's something to play around with.

You could also try this approach from a video by Josh Wright

I find lots of his videos helpful and in line with what my teacher teaches.

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j_tour

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 4161

Re: Trills in Invention No.4?

Reply #2 on: October 04, 2017, 04:47:06 AM

I can't pretend to give any kind of definitive answer, but since I've come back to the fold into legitimate repertoire from jazz and improvised rock music, I had to quickly come to terms with LH trills.

The way I did it is more or less to emulate what my RH does when making beautiful, musical trills (I can't explain it, but that bit never left my abilities). Well, I personally think my RH trills are super, at least for my purposes.

Mainly I just try to take a few minutes a day off the keyboard, maybe sitting at my desk at home, and try to rotate my LH wrist to match my RH's superior ability. That, plus a little trick I heard somewhere of using non-consecutive fingers. Obviously, that last won't always work for places with more complex LH trills with some other stuff in the LH, but it's a good little "cheat," and it should, by my own anecdote, force you to work the wrist while playing/practicing.

I still try to emulate two of the most florid ornamentationalists, András Schiff and Angela Hewitt, without copying them.

I'm curious to know if pretty much everybody has had to struggle a bit with LH trills, whether at age three or four or [mumble mumble] older ages. I imagine so.

Anyway, not trying to cut in on people with better raw technique, just another anecdote, which I am always glad to hear from others.

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