It’s A Trilling Experience

In ‘early music’ days – pre-baroque – trills were referred to as ‘shakes.’ I find it somewhat ironic, actually, because as a student I was always cautioned against shaking my left hand when trilling.

There is a good reason for this.

The problem with shaking your hand – in effect using vibrato – to produce a trill is that the trill tends to sound wobbly and unsettling. You know, time to take out the Pepto-bismo.

Kreutzer was obviously hip to this. He was also hip to the challenge that many fiddlers have producing clear, facile trills. Trills are made possible by ‘fast twitch’ muscle.

Problem is, we’re not all gifted with the same amount of the stuff.

Some people have too much, actually. I heard one player at the Milstein class whose trills closely resembled an electric doorbell. Imagine the effect of such a device in a Mozart slow movement. You’ve just settled back to enjoy a beautiful aria when BRRRRING…who’s there?

I make fun of that overly endowed person only because I myself suffer from the opposite affliction. You could call it ‘laconic trill syndrome’.

In any case, Kreutzer has provided us with some wonderfully crafted studies to address all levels of ‘fast twitch’ endowment. These 8 caprices, and 2 others dedicated to legato string crossing, will make up vol. II of my Kreutzer quartet.

As I review these studies I am amazed at Kreutzer’s attention to detail. Each etude covers a very specific way of approaching and executing a trill. Some are intended to be measured, some unmeasured.

The finger movements required are delicate, graceful, fleet, and subtle. You can see the experience as an opportunity to connect with your ‘butterfly nature’; quite a cool thing, really.

OK, that’s my tease for Vol. II. Now get back to work mastering ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1”. I don’t want any excuses for not being ready for the next installment, when it comes out.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Sir Thomas Beecham once remarked; ‘Great music contains, at once, the maximum of virility and the ultimate in sensitivity.’ It is remarkable that even the smallest movements of a finger can embody both these qualities.