Guitar Trill Exercises

How To Trill

How Do Guitar Trills Work?

Couched in the simple terms that a guitar teacher with no qualifications in exercise science might use, we can say that there are “speed” muscles which benefit from practicing short bursts of high speed followed by a rest, and “endurance” muscles which are better developed by a long, continuous exercise at a slower pace.

In either case, the trill should exist in real measurable time. Even if notated simply, it must be sixteenth, thirty-second or some other note. It cannot exist out of the dimensions of musical time.

Guitar Trill Exercises

Speed-Burst Trill

Practice trills in this melodic manner to practice the burst of speed followed by recovery.

Endurance Trill

Practice this trill to develop the endurance to make use of the fret-hand more fluidly and effortlessly.

Multi-Finger Practice

This combines the speed-burst and the endurance trill. It is a constant series of trills, but the finger responsible for articulating the trill changes once per measure. Fret the note indicated in the tab with the index finger. Trill a diatonic step above that note. Trill half-steps with the middle finger and whole steps with the ring finger.

Key Points

• Practicing trills is a great form of conditioning. Don’t assume it is only a special effect.
• Divide your practice between speed bursts and endurance practice.
• Let every finger have a chance to develop fully and independently.