[beyond the sea]

I don't see a lot of difference in many cases between shrill and strident.

lol

I'd say about the difference between exquisite and beautiful. Both words quite a similar description, but the former slightly greater than the latter.

[Quix]

Ahhhh.

Thanks for the insight.

[GoLightly]

You used such nice examples. I would have gone with b versus c. B would trigger a strident response, while c would make me downright shrill.