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Trill (music)
Encyclopedia
The trill is a musical ornament
consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone
or tone
apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill. (compare mordent
and tremolo
). It is sometimes referred to by the German
triller, the Italian
trillo, the French
trille or the Spanish
trino. A cadential trill is a trill associated with a cadence
.
Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a turn (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 Appoggiaturas following the note that bears the trill indication.
a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr (or sometimes simply t) above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes, in the baroque
and early classical periods, 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
).
Ornament (music)
In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...
consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
or tone
Major second
In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill. (compare mordent
Mordent
In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental...
and tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
). It is sometimes referred to by the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
triller, the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
trillo, the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
trille or the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
trino. A cadential trill is a trill associated with a cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
.
Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a turn (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 Appoggiaturas following the note that bears the trill indication.
Notation
In the most beautiful modern musical notationMusical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr (or sometimes simply t) above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes, in the baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
and early classical periods, 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
Accidental (music)
In music, an accidental is a note whose pitch is not a member of a scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the symbols used to mark such notes, sharps , flats , and naturals , may also be called accidentals...
).