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Trill References
 


If the correct way to position a trill is within the lower note's fingerings, a problem arises - what if the upper note is an alternate of that note's normal fingering that you want to display?

For example, in the octave 1 Bb to A trill, the Bb is an alternate that you will want to display with the other Bb alternates. But the fingering for the trill, since it is an A trill, belongs with A, not Bb. In fact, in the case of the Bb to A trill, the A is a standard fingered A, so you might not even want to include the trill (or at least hide it, as I have done in the builtin fingering), since it does not yield an alternate A.

The answer to this problem is a special F record type called a "trill reference." The format can be found in the reference section under F Record - Trill Reference.

A trill reference record is a special F record that refers to the full-specification fingering (see F Record - Full Specification) of another note's trill (always a full-step or half-step lower note).

In the case of the Bb to A trill, the full fingering F record should be created within the A area, as an A trill. Then, in the Bb area, a "reference" is made to it. This tells the program to also display the fingering while displaying Bb alternates. For example:

01) *Note: A, Octave 1 (400) 
02) Nan1 ... 
03) F20h,c-,c-c-c-,c-c2,o-o-o-o-,o-,00 
04) * Referenced by: 500,20 ... 
05) *********************************** 
06) *Note: A#/Bb, Octave 1 (500) 
07) Nbf1 ... 
08) F20dr220 
09) IThe standard Bb(F)to A(E) trill; Bb is sharp

The trill reference record is record 08) above, referring back to A record F20, on line 03). The reference record in this case has the number F20, as does the record it is referring to. This is a coincidence - it is not required. It could just as easily have been created using this: F30dr220, still referring a half step back (the "2" following the "r") to record 20.

A trill reference has its own fingering Number and Display Indicator field, and can have its own Information record (if desired). In the case of Bb to A trill, you would specify an "h" in the Display Indic field in the Full-specification fingering within the A fingerings (so this standard-fingered A would not show up as an A alternate), but in the Bb area the trill reference to it would have a "d" in the Display Indic field, so it would appear as a Bb alternate.

This technique is what makes it possible for the program to display the Trill Position indicators - the "v" and "^" indicators that show on a trill whether the note is obtained with the trill fingers up or down (see Fingerings). When displaying a trill, if the fingering is a trill reference, the indicator points up. If it is a full-specification fingering, the indicator points down.

This is also what allows the program to turn off trill fingerings when the user unchecks the Display Trill Fingers Checkbox.

You may ask - why can't I just establish the same full-specification fingering under both notes - the A and the Bb, instead of using a trill reference? The answer is that you could, but as mentioned above, the Trill Position indicator would then point the wrong way in the Bb display. Since the Bb would have a full-specification fingering, not a trill reference, the program would think that the fingering is a C to Bb (or B to Bb) trill fingering, and would make the indicator point down, which is incorrect.

There is a way around this, however. The special Reverse Trill Position indicator field (see F Record - Full Specification) could be set to a 1 on the Bb fingering spec, and this would make the indicator point up, which would be correct.

In summary, the correct way to handle an alternate that occurs as the upper note of a trill is with a trill reference. Another way of handling it is with a full-specification fingering, with the Reverse Trill Position field set to 1.