TRILL EXERCISES

[SisterCM]

Hi everyone,

What is the best way to learn to play trills?  One of my up coming lessons I will learn to play FUR Elise and I have to work on my trills.  Help?

[betnich]

Dear SisterCM,

     Fur Elise starts out with a trill between D# and E, using th 4th and 5th fingers. Since those fingers are naturally weaker many exercises have been designed to strengthen them.

I have two 'words' for you....

Hanon - in the big 3-book edition, published by Schirmer. Book 2 has scales, runs and trill exercises.

Czerny - lots of his books, easiest one I think is called "The Little Pianist".
Czerny was a concert pianist who was about to go on his grand European tour when war broke out. Never made it as a performer, but succeeded as a teacher - put out tons of books to torture his students. :-)

Having completed the Alfred course, you are ready for them...

[T-Block]

The best way to learn them is to do them. Practice using different finger combinations:

1st and 2nd
1st and 3rd
1st and 4th
1st and 5th
2nd and 3rd
2nd and 4th
2nd and 5th
3rd and 4th
3rd and 5th
4th and 5th

Practice them fowards and backwards. Practice them using white/black note half-steps (D# to E) and white/white note half-steps (E to F).

Start slow then work up speed. Just like anything else in music, it just takes practice to get good at trills. The hardest part will be playing them evenly in time cuz most people tend to want to rush them.

Dear SisterCM,

     Fur Elise starts out with a trill between D# and E, using th 4th and 5th fingers. Since those fingers are naturally weaker many exercises have been designed to strengthen them.

Not to come down on you or anything, but that's a common misconception. Those technically aren't really trills because all the notes are written in time. A real trill would have the trill symbol above one note. It would also give fingering and tell what kind of trill it is. However, those notes do function like a trill. Also, the very first one starts using the 3rd and 4th finger. The 4th finger on E, and the 3rd on D#. It switches to the 4th and 5th on the next one.

[betnich]

The best way to learn them is to do them. Practice using different finger combinations:

1st and 2nd
1st and 3rd
1st and 4th
1st and 5th
2nd and 3rd
2nd and 4th
2nd and 5th
3rd and 4th
3rd and 5th
4th and 5th

Practice them forwards and backwards. Practice them using white/black note half-steps (D# to E) and white/white note half-steps (E to F).

Start slow then work up speed. Just like anything else in music, it just takes practice to get good at trills. The hardest part will be playing them evenly in time cuz most people tend to want to rush them.

This is a good exercise - can even be done with drumming fingers on a tabletop!

Not to come down on you or anything, but that's a common misconception. Those technically aren't really trills because all the notes are written in time. A real trill would have the trill symbol above one note. It would also give fingering and tell what kind of trill it is. However, those notes do function like a trill. Also, the very first one starts using the 3rd and 4th finger. The 4th finger on E, and the 3rd on D#. It switches to the 4th and 5th on the next one.

About Fur Elise - those are measured trills, as well as the turns and appoggituras in the subsequent parts of Beethoven's piece.  Hanon has the same kind of 16th and 32nd-note trills, and one is supposed to practice them slowly, then build up speed...


{PS to SisterCM}

If Hanon looks too intimidating, you can also get simpler "Hanon Prep" or "Jazz Hanon" type of books...

[betnich]

Here's a "Hanon Prep" book that one of my adult students is using - she is almost finished with the first book in the Alfred All-in-One Course...

Hanon Preparatory    $4.95
Jean Bezdek
Willis Pub. no. 8795 - distributed by Hal Leonard Pub.

[SisterCM]

Thanks guys for all of the helpful advice. 

Back to the practice keyboard I go!

[T-Block]

About Fur Elise - those are measured trills, as well as the turns and appoggituras in the subsequent parts of Beethoven's piece.  Hanon has the same kind of 16th and 32nd-note trills, and one is supposed to practice them slowly, then build up speed...

Hanon does have those exercises, but when it comes to actual pieces, a trill will have the trill symbol above it. If the trill symbol isn't there, then measured or not it's technically not a trill. I do understand where you're coming from though. It's no big deal, just semantics I guess.

[betnich]

Yes, semantics...I say trills, you say 32nd-notes...