Tremolo

What it means

Tremolo means “trembling” and designates the fast repetition of a note or the rapid alternation between two notes. Two forms are to be distinguished.

With the repetition tremolo, the same note is repeated so fast that the individual strokes merge into a single plane of sound. With string players this happens through short bow strokes, with percussion instruments through fast rolls.

With the alternating tremolo, the sound oscillates between two notes lying farther apart than a second. If they lie a semitone or a whole tone apart, one speaks of a trill — that is the decisive distinction.

The tremolo is furthermore to be separated from vibrato: there it is not the note that is repeated, but the pitch that is made to waver slightly while the note keeps sounding.

In the notation

The tremolo is shown by cross-strokes on the stem or between two notes; their number indicates the value of the repetitions — one stroke for eighths, two for sixteenths, three for thirty-seconds. Three strokes mean, with string players, as a rule an unmeasured tremolo, that is, as fast as possible and without a fixed value. The word tremolo or trem. can stand in addition.

Musical use

The tremolo produces tension and fullness of sound. In orchestral music it serves to form planes of sound above which melodies stand out, and to prepare intensifications; in opera it is a means of depicting agitation. On keyboard instruments the alternating tremolo replaces the sustained sound that the instrument cannot hold. On plucked instruments the fast repetition is the only way to produce a long note.

A distinction is made between bow tremolo and finger tremolo. With bow tremolo the string player repeats a note very fast. With finger tremolo two notes alternate.

Performance practice

Keep the movement small and even; an uneven tremolo sounds restless rather than smooth. With string players, play in the upper half of the bow with little bow and a loose wrist. Take care that the volume stays constant and does not fluctuate with the movement. And check the number of strokes: it decides whether to play measured or free.