Video #14 How to Play Trills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4nN-Bc9YA&list=PL_KsX1f0Qm3CxJ1I1LxU-0DD-P6A9AMWd&index=6

A wonderful Robert Estrin video on how to play trills. Here are some of his hints:

1. Minimal arm weight. Fingers kind of float above the keys with hardly any weight.

2. Fingers held very close to the keys. Rounded.

3. Not just a bunch of notes--treat a trill as any other passage of notes and must be measured.

4. Start by slowly playing the passage of notes that make up the trill.

5. Once you've mastered the trill slowly, increase speed one notch at a time on the metronome.

6. How fast to play the trill? Play a series of just the upper note (or the bottom). Then add other notes.

7. What note does a trill start on? You usually start on the next note on the scale above the written note of that key.

8. One of the hardest parts of a trill is ending it. Play the trill to the end of the trill and stop. Wait. Then add the ending that you've practiced and mastered. Gradually make that wait a little shorter. Eventually the wait will only be in your head.

9. Metronomes are crucial in working with any fast passaged, including trills.