Learn to Play Recorder

Lesson 27: Ornamentation Basics — Trills

  • Play an even trill between two adjacent diatonic notes.
  • Apply a Baroque-style trill to a cadence and resolve it correctly.

The trill is the Baroque exclamation mark.

A trill is a rapid alternation between the written note and the diatonic note above it. The Baroque convention is that the trill starts on the upper note, not the main note. It ends with a termination at the bottom that leads into the next note — without it the trill sounds amputated.

Practise at this tempo until even, then accelerate.

Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439

The same idea fast.

Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439

Trill at a cadence

The classic Baroque cadence: a trilled penultimate note that resolves into the final. The trill is on the leading tone or its neighbour, and the termination prepares the final.

Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 3 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 3 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439

Play: ornaments in concert

An appoggiatura leans into bar 1 and a trill closes the cadence in bar 4. Play the bare melody first; add the ornaments once the line is steady.

Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 3 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 3 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 2 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 3 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 3 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439 4 Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439

Now play these

Telemann: Six Sonatas, TWV 40:101
Trill the cadences, starting on the upper note.
Telemann: Six Sonatas, TWV 40:102
Another study in cadence ornamentation.
Handel: Sonata in A minor, HWV 362
Add trills at the marked cadences.

When you can place an even, Baroque-correct trill at a cadence without disrupting the underlying tempo, move on to Lesson 28.