Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described that provide for multiple instances of aperiodic tracking reference signals (TRSs) that use a same set of large-scale channel properties. If two or more aperiodic TRS transmissions are triggered by downlink control information from a base station with a same transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a UE that receives the two or more aperiodic TRS transmissions may measure the multiple instances of the aperiodic TRS transmissions assuming that the same large scale parameters or properties can be inferred from each of the aperiodic TRS transmissions. The UE may then update one or more time tracking parameters, frequency tracking parameters, or combinations thereof, based on the same large scale transmission parameters being used for the multiple instances of the aperiodic TRS transmissions.