The Oboe BBoard

Re: Mozart Trills

Author: Ken Shaw ★2017 Date:   2004-12-02 14:35 Since you're a southpaw, you should have less trouble than the rest of us trilling with your left ring finger The best solution is to play it on a 2-key Classical oboe, which doesn't have keys to get in your way. Seriously, whatever you do, don't stiffen the finger, tense up the muscles and do a "doorbell" trill. If you make the notes even, they'll sound faster than if they're quick and sloppy. Mozart trills shouldn't be too fast. All the treatises say you should play ornaments "roundly." They're melodic as well as ornamental. Practice them as 16th notes (always starting, of course, on the upper note). The maximum speed should be 16th note triplets. Listen to the better recordings -- Holliger, Bourgue, Piguet (classical oboe). Their trills are a smooth ripple -- part of the melody. I hope you aren't trying to trill with the octave key change. Use only the thumb key. A good exercise to even things out is to play the G as a 128th note, slurred to a quintuple-dotted eighth. Prepare the G, pressing on the keys as gently as possible, and then just barely "click" (but don't jerk) your finger up, keeping it touching the key if possible. Then wait a second, visualize the movement, prepare and do it again. Repeat it perhaps 20 times, until it feels completely familiar. You want to isolate the G-A movement. Keep all tension out of your forearm, wrist, hand and fingers. Then switch notes. Prepare for A (with the thumb key and your finger on or just barely above the key) and click down (not hard -- just quick -- let it fall by gravity) to the G, wait, prepare and do it again, isolating the A-G movement. Alternate these several times so you can switch. Also, bring the repetitions closer together, with less preparation time, as they become familiar. Then, double the movement. That is, G-A-G-A as a 128th note triplet and a quadruple-dotted eighth. Then invert it to A-G-A-G. This isolates and perfects a two-beat trill. By the time you finish, you'll find that a smooth, even continuous trill has magically appeared. The important concepts: -- press on the keys just barely hard enough to keep them closed -- think about and visualize the movement -- play the change perfectly -- no tension Take as much time between repetitions as you need. You want it perfect every time. Otherwise you're just practicing how to make mistakes. Best regards. Ken Shaw

Topics	Author	Date
Mozart Trills  new	TheSouthpaw	2004-12-02 03:03
Re: Mozart Trills  new	Ken Shaw	2004-12-02 14:35
Re: Mozart Trills  new	oboemelli	2004-12-18 21:02
Re: Mozart Trills  new	tweety	2004-12-30 02:17

Avail. Forums  |  Need a Login? Register Here

User Login  User Name:  Password:  Remember my login:

Forgot Your Password? Enter your email address or user name below and a new password will be sent to the email address associated with your profile.