What Is A Trill?

Posted by Jo Murphy Dec 12, 2007

Think of the way some people roll their "r"s or the way some birds warble in the evening stillness. These sounds are beautiful and interesting. This trilling sound adds interest, depth and a lyrical quality to classical music. The famous Opera singer Dame Nellie Melba was renowned for her ability to hold a trill for a long time without losing the pureness of tone or the timber of her voice.

If you would like to understand the history of the trill Neil Howlett talks about its development, history and includes some examples of the written music on his site. He says that "Contrary to expectation, fast agile voices are not always those which trill easiest. "

Because the technique is so difficult to master it is considered a sign of excellence in Operatic style. According to Howlett common defects of the trill include

• "out of tuneness of all sorts, particularly too narrow an interval
• "too wide an interval (a wild wobbling known in Italian as ‘trillo caprino’ – a goat’s trill)".

The trill was once popular and frequntly used. Nowadays it is not so commonly penned and very rarely do we see singers master it to same excellent standard of singers such as Melba.