Hi everyone, this is my first post!

I wondered if anyone can advise me regarding trills. I'm a soprano about to do my Grade 8 - in 4 weeks - eek! (adult learner) and am finding it very difficult to master the trill.

I have been practising going up and down a tone slowly and steadily and then speeding up consistently but when have not yet mastered the trill.

I wonder if anyone has any other tips?

Many thanks!

Alli

Hi welcome to the forum!

A useful exercise my teacher gave me is to start on the upper of the two notes you want to trill on and just do a quick 'dip' to the lower one like this:
--------------- _ -----------------
Do it several times:
------ _ -------- _ ------- _ --------- _ --------
gradually getting more frequent
------ _ ----- _ ----- _ --- _ --- _
until you end up
- _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _

Maybe it's what you've already tried, but the key seems to be the starting on the upper rather than the lower of the 2 notes. It's a dip down rather than a leap up.

Hope this helps...and all the best for your Grade 8! What are you singing?

More useful advice from thouston!

The only thing I can add is the more relaxed you are about the trill, the better it is so:

"Oh no it's another ##### trill" is not the way to go. Do exercise and deliberately/conscieously relax at the point you trill sing it confidently with a yawny throat and it will happen.

Make sure you have lots of strong support from your abdo- muscles to divert tension away from your neck and you'll be fine.


Good luck with the exam.

Thanks both of you for your response. Both very helpful. I think it's a great idea to start with the higher note, i have never done that before. I shall keep practising and hopefully it will come soon!

For my Grade 8 I'm doing

Weep you no more sad fountains - Dowland
Du bist die Ruh - Schubert
Silver - Gurney
Green Finch and Linnet Bird - Sondheim

still don't know what trad song to sing!!

Thanks for your good wishes. I hope I do well!

So the trill is in Green Finch and Linnet Bird. You've had some very good advice. Definitely start on the higher note. I can only add to keep it very light - take the weight right off it - and keep it well supported. You might try putting your fingers lightly on your larynx to feel the fast movement there. As the trill is fairly long, do remember to allow it to revert back to a non-trilled note for about the last quaver before moving on to the D quaver at the end of the bar. At that pitch I would not open my mouth too much, but keep it in the float position.
It never worked for me to alternate notes slowly and build up speed because the technique for singing slower notes is quite different from the rapid movement required for a trill, and at some point you have to make the transition. I just listened to some recordings - or my teacher- and went in at the deep end copying the sound!
Good luck with your grade 8 - let us know how you get on!

Would these same techniques work on a general level for coloratura? How would they be modified for colorature. As a light baritone, I am currently battling the tail end of "Bella siccome un angelo", so all help gratefully received.

These are general tips for trilling and work for men and women alike.

I would use this technique when trilling in my lower register too. It is just far easier to trill on higher notes as a soprano. However this does not mean I can't sing trills throughout the voice, and that other voices can not trill.