tremolo

American  

[trem-uh-loh] / ˈtrɛm əˌloʊ /

noun

Music.

• tremolos
  plural

1. a tremulous or vibrating effect produced on certain instruments and in the human voice, as to express emotion.

2. a mechanical device in an organ by which such an effect is produced.

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tremolo British  

/ ˈtrɛməˌləʊ /

noun

1. 1. (in playing the violin, cello, etc) the rapid repetition of a single note produced by a quick back-and-forth movement of the bow

   2. the rapid reiteration of two notes usually a third or greater interval apart ( fingered tremolo ) Compare trill 1

2. (in singing) a fluctuation in pitch Compare vibrato

3. a vocal ornament of late renaissance music consisting of the increasingly rapid reiteration of a single note

4. another word for tremulant

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tremolos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tremolo

1715–25; < Italian: trembling < Latin tremulus tremulous

Compare meaning

How does tremolo compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• vibrato vs. tremolo

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tremolo tremolos

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

Matthew noted there was a tremolo to the sound; something about the space made the pitch of the echoes wobble up and down as they repeated.

From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2018

They listened, but beyond the rustle of the leaves there came from the open down outside no sound except the monotonous tremolo of a grasshopper warbler, far off in the grass.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Especially when Mr. Taborn’s chords spill into watery tremolos, all this coheres.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

Instead, as she moves in and out of folky tremolos and full-throated rock yowls, she pushes her writing to the foreground.

From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2019

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 Laura Ensor