| How to Polish Up Your Trill |
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| Written by ClaytonHaslop | |
| Wednesday, 11 November 2009 | |
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The best laid plans This morning I was looking forward to getting my daughter off to school, having a nice, full practice session, and then sitting down to write.
The best laid plans This morning I was looking forward to getting my daughter off to school, having a nice, full practice session, and then sitting down to write. The best laid plans Instead, I just finished a penmanship lesson with my daughter, who convinced me that her 'cold' was worthy of a day away from school. No, it doesn't mean we sit around in front of a tv all day. After I get this little note off to you we'll turn our attention to reading. My practice session will have to wait. So here's the deal with trills. I believe that the ultimate speed at which a musician is able to trill, is determined by God. And yet more importantly, the Clarity, and ultimately the effectiveness of our trill, is up to you. There are people who, when you say 'trill', give the impression someone just pressed a doorbell. It's that fast and effortless. Yet these players often have the challenge of getting control or variability to it - a blazingly fast trill can be out of character in some music - a Mozart Andante being one good example. Most of us are faced with the opposite problem, namely how to develop the finger reflex we've been given to convey an impression of something more. Two things enable this - technique and smart planning. On the technical side you have to resist the urge to press the vibrato into service in an attempt to amplify the finger's natural reflex. The result of this will be a muddy, featureless blur. I can guarantee, no one will be fooled or impressed. Ultimately the best approach is to always stay with the finger - keep your finger as light and clean as it can possibly be. The more relaxed you are, the better will be the result. What you CAN do, after you've isolated the finger motion to a high degree, is experiment with the height you take it above the string. In doing so you must remember to keep your hand relaxed, otherwise it will revert back into a knot of frustration. The other side of the coin requires planning. If you focus on a given pre-determined of oscillations for the trill - assuming it's duration is a beat or less, and allow yourself to visualize the entire event each time you arrive to it, you may find yourself 'tricking' your finger into doing more than you thought possible. This requires patience, relaxation and focus, yet I myself am constantly surprised by the results I get from doing just this. There are countless etudes and studies devoted to trills. Yet none are more enjoyable and satisfying than those found in Kreutzer. In volume 2 of 'Kreutzer for Violin Mastery' I take you through all manner of possibilities - measured, unmeasured, prepared, with terminations and without terminations. Invariably, some players believe in practicing trills using various rhythms. I haven't mentioned this here because I don't feel they really produce the results I'm after. Kreutzer does. Though challenging indeed, these Kreutzer etudes can really clean and polish a trill beautifully. About the Author: Clayton Haslop is the Concertmaster on many Hollywood movie soundtracks including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Clayton Haslop's bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide. From the Webmaster: "Having the opportunity to share my hobbies and interests with so many people around the world gives me great satisfaction. As a bonus, I blog and produce websites about topics that interest me and receive ad revenue from the websites and Blogs."
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