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

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Etymology

Origin of tremolo

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

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Compare meaning

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

• vibrato vs. tremolo

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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."

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

Were that we all 15 again, trying to get the finger-tapping runs and dive-bomb tremolo work just right.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2020

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

Suddenly there are low tremolos indicating rumbling thunder, and ominous roiling chromatic riffs in the bass, like the brewing storm music near the end of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2021

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

In “St. Francis of Assisi’s Sermon to the Birds,” the little birds attending the saint are evoked by soft, gossamer trills, arpeggios and tremolos in the piano’s high register.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2016

An exact scenic reproduction of the war would have shocked all those good people; just as this impossible theatrical deformation, this potpourri of songs, dances and orchestral tremolos charmed and delighted their care-saturated souls.

From With Those Who Wait by Frances Wilson Huard

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