Quasi trillo

As Printed on a Score

Printed above a written-out rapid alternation, or a two-note fingered tremolo, to say it should sound like a trill; it covers the figure beneath it. In string parts it often appears together with trem.

How Composers Use It

Use it when you have notated something trill-like — a measured alternation, a fingered tremolo at the step — and want it blurred into a trill’s shimmer rather than counted. It keeps you in control of the exact pitches and duration while borrowing the effect. If you simply want a trill, write tr.; quasi trillo tells the player the written notes are the source.

Example

Liszt, “Waldesrauschen” (No. 1 of the 2 Konzertetüden, S. 145), piano, m. 79: “quasi trillo”.

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