Violin trill exercises

In this post, you'll learn what trills are, how to recognize them in musical notation, how to play them, and 5 different violin trill exercises.

What are trills?

Trills are a type of musical ornamentation. Trills are common in all types of music, but most common in Baroque and Classical music (Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, etc.)

How to recognize trills in musical notation

Trills are notated by the letters "tr" above a note.

How to play trills

To perform a trill, you are going to alternate between two notes as many times as you can within the notated note length. You always trill to the note above the note that's written. For example, if there was a trill notated above the note B, you would alternate between B and C or C# depending on the key signature. Additionally, in Baroque and Classical music, there is an important rule to remember when approaching trills: you always start the trill on the note above, unless the note before the trill is that note. Starting from the note above means that you hear the upper note (not written) first, unless the note directly before the trill was that note.

Important points about trills

• Keep the trilling finger as close to the string as possible.

• Make sure your fingers are on the tips or the trill will sound unclear.

• Focus more energy on lifting the fingers up rather than pressing them down.

• Keep the thumb loose.

Trill exercises

In each of these five exercises, you are going to practice gradually speeding up your trills with the metronome-not dissimilar from how you would practice vibrato!

Exercise 1: quarter notes, eighth notes, and 16th notes, lasting for 4 clicks each

Exercise 2: an eighth followed by 14 16th notes.

Exercise 3: dotted eighth 16th, dotted 16th 32nd

Exercise 4: 6 notes per click

Exercise 5: 32nd notes (8 notes per click)

By the time you reach exercise 5, you will have a fast and precise trill! I suggest starting these exercises at 60 BPM and gradually speeding them up with the metronome.

What do you find most difficult about trills?