Dear Rachel and all at the list. Thank goodness it's appeared again. I've just returned from Great Yarmouth where I have been giving my Rodgers & Hammerstein, and it was very pleasing to return to the computer and find you all still here!
Anyway, trills. Probably (in my humble opinion) the hardest of all ornaments to learn. Indeed, you find the best 'trillers' are the ones who have it more naturally, but I suppose that's obvious! The advice given about the top note of the trill being the important one is very good so take heed of that. Also, I impress on my students that the old word for trill is of course the shake, and that can be quite a useful picture. In order to do a good trill, the larynx has to be in a state of almost complete relaxation as it has to 'bounce' back and forth to do this. It's like a bobbin on two elastic bands if you like. You can take one end of the bands over your fingers and twang them, and the bobbin bounces perfectly in between them until the vibration of the elastic bands has stopped. I hope you got that; it's a bit convoluted!
Taking two notes and singing them slowly and then faster is an old method (Jenny Lind writes about it in her treatise on singing) and can be effective, provided you don't jam your larynx and the sound just turns into a natural vibrato. If, when practising you think of a pulse in the trill which you can activate using your abs with a slight flexing, you can end up with a very pretty trill. Think of one of Dame Joan's they're the best you can get and she often puts a little 'kick' in them.
Anyway, happy trilling. It's one of my favourite things do pop in on a pause (in the right sort of music of course!) but I think that fabulous trillers may well be born, not made!
Best wishes,
Ian Belsey. Vocal technician. Bromley, Kent, England
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