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Book of Trills & Tremolos – in 48 Exercises

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Introduction

This book contains 48 short exercises designed to help pianists and piano students practise their trill and tremolo playing. There is no prescribed method for studying the exercises in this book. Use them in whichever way is needed or desired.


Part I: Trill Exercises

Exercises 1 to 20 consist of simple trills between two notes. Each exercise focuses on one finger performing a trill with each of the other fingers in either the left or right hand. For example, in exercise No. 1 the thumb of the right hand performs a trill with the 2nd finger in bar 1, then with the 3rd finger in bar 2, the 4th finger in bar 3, and finally with the 5th finger in bar 4. In this exercise the thumb plays the first note of the trill. In exercise No. 2 also, the thumb performs a trill with each of the other fingers in the right hand except that in this exercise the thumb plays the second note of the trill. Exercises No. 3 and No. 4 do the same but in the left hand. Exercises Nos. 5-8 focus on the 2nd finger, Nos. 9-12 on the 3rd finger, Nos. 13-16 on the 4th finger, and No. 17-20 on the 5th finger.

Part II: Trill Exercises with Sustained Notes

Exercises 21 to 36 contain trills between two notes played while holding one note with either the thumb or the 5th finger. As in Part I, each exercise focuses on one finger performing a trill with each of the other fingers - excluding the finger holding the sustained note - in either the left or right hands.

Part III: Tremolo Exercises

The exercises in Part III, Nos. 37 to 48, consist of tremolos performed by either the left or the right hand. The tremolos in these exercises alternate between a single note and a 2 note chord, or between two 2 note chords. Some of the tremolos begin on the lower note (or notes) while others begin on the upper note (or notes). My aim with these exercises has been to treat each finger in each hand as equally as possible, exploring the different finger combinations as systematically as I can. Thus, the fingering for these exercises was decided beforehand and the music was made to fit the fingering. For this reason, I suggest following the given fingering as closely as possible. However, there may be times, particularly at the end of an exercise, where an alternate fingering may be more appropriate.

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