Improving Trills

[andrewjohnd]

I find that my best trills are between 2-3 and 2-4 in the right hand and 1-2 and 1-3 in the left hand. What are some practical ways one can improve the speed and evenness of long trills and shorter trills (like mordents or turns)? Most often, I find myself just trying to choose fingerings which enable me to use my good trill fingers but this is not always possible. 

[stringoverstrung]

Hi,

one of the exercises that I find useful is to play a trill in one hand in triplets while playing the same notes in semiquavers in the other hand. Start slowly and make sure the first note of the triplet is exactly synced with the  'slow'  hand. start slowly.

[dogperson]

Josh wright on trills
https://m.facebook.com/joshwrightpiano/videos/237782653893595/?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com%2F&_rdr

Graham Fitch on trills
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CC6bgBA8en8

[pianoannieq]

Hi Andrewjohnd,

Josh Wright's videos are really good and his advice is very effective. There are some other good ones on YouTube, I would highly recommend Nahre Sol's video.

You're using good fingers with trills. 1-3, 2-5, and 3-5 are fingerings I use for trills. For me, if I want the trill to be "rounder" and serve as a backdrop or harmony, I like to play closer to fall board and lean my upper body closer to the piano to have more control over the notes. If I want the trill to sound more "brittle" and crisper, I keep my arm very light while making small, rapid movements with my wrist. To play trills quicker, keep your fingers close to the keys and your forearm parallel to the ground (I usually have it even lower). Try to keep your hand loose by making small rotations in the wrist.

I hope this response helped! Find what is most comfortable for you :)

[illystraiter]

This is kind of controversial, but Glenn Gould's finger tapping technique works wonderfully for trills. The idea is to gain independence between the fingers and use as little force as necessary to make a sound. A lot of people like to use their wrist when doing trills but I personally do not because I think the trills come out faster and more even when using just the fingers.

[ted]

For years I have practised what amounts to double trills on the silent practice clavier, not excessively, just for a few minutes a day. Double ones force the fingers to do the work. I take any four note combination which lies reasonably within the hand and work it using each of the five possible finger combinations. Within each combination there are three ways of trilling: alternating, inside/outside and top/bottom. I swap hands for each change, the other hand using the mirror image position. I don’t want to hear them and the actual notes chosen don’t matter.

It is purely a gymnastic exercise as I don’t find continuous trills very interesting when playing, but I think I have gained dexterity from the habit. I don’t strain myself or force speed on it though and it might not be any use to anyone else.