tremolo
Americannoun
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a tremulous or vibrating effect produced on certain instruments and in the human voice, as to express emotion.
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a mechanical device in an organ by which such an effect is produced.
noun
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(in playing the violin, cello, etc) the rapid repetition of a single note produced by a quick back-and-forth movement of the bow
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the rapid reiteration of two notes usually a third or greater interval apart ( fingered tremolo ) Compare trill 1
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(in singing) a fluctuation in pitch Compare vibrato
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a vocal ornament of late renaissance music consisting of the increasingly rapid reiteration of a single note
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another word for tremulant
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tremolo
1715–25; < Italian: trembling < Latin tremulus tremulous
Compare meaning
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Explanation
In music, tremolo is the quick repetition of one or two tones, usually for emotional effect. You might use a quavering tremolo when playing sad tunes on your violin. A tremor is an unsteady, involuntary movement, like a shaky hand or a twitch. Similarly, tremolo is an unsteady, continuous repetition in music. Tremolo can involve one tone being quickly repeated or two tones being rapidly alternated. Tremolo often refers to a form of vibrato — when a singer holds and vibrates a tone — that is not controlled very well, and is considered showy and melodramatic. The root word is the Latin tremulus, or "trembling."
Vocabulary lists containing tremolo
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On the title track, she plays her guitar with heavy tremolo as Mr. Benjamin’s simple piano line trails off into the distance, lending the song one of the darker moods on the album.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
You can almost hear the tremolo of injured innocence in his voice.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2023
“She has a remarkable voice that stretches from a high soprano and a gospel tremolo to a rich contralto that can turn into a blood‐curdling growl.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022
He compared the mood created by fluttering flames to the tremolo of a voice singing in a church choir.
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
I'd forgotten that tremolo of expectation produced by a tiny forest of sprouts.
From "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman
Especially when Mr. Taborn’s chords spill into watery tremolos, all this coheres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
His piano erupted with tremolos and glissandos; his voice leaped, curled, soared and whooped.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
The strings alternate between sharply accented tremolos — the scrunching, one imagines, of feet on dry leaves — and more reflective sounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2018
Inspired by Australian Aboriginal creation myths, the 17-minute piece paints in bright, tonal colors and relies on cinematic gestures: brass fanfares, lush textures, suspense-building tremolos and easy-on-the-ears unison writing.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 19, 2017
You cannot say twenty times a month: "I love you!" to the sighing of a flute or the tremolos of a violin, without at last being caught by the emotion of your own voice.
From Artists' Wives by Ensor, Laura
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
