tremolo

/ˈtrɛmələʊ/US/ˈtrɛməloʊ/

tremolo noun: a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes. It can also be intended to mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration of a note. It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).

Image: Sperry1975, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

tremolo (countable and uncountable, plural tremolos)

A rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes. It can also be intended to mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration of a note. It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).
- It commenced with a slow crescendo, so irresistibly lugubrious that two of our dogs at once raised their heads and swelled their voices into a responsive tremolo, which may have been heard and appreciated by their distant relatives.1880, Felix Leopold Oswald, Summerland Sketches, page 57
A variation in the volume of a note or a chord, evoking a tremor or quiver.
The device in an organ that produces a tremolo effect.

tremolo meaning in Tagalog and Vietnamese

tremolo in Tagalog

rapid repetition of the same note: pakatal

tremolo in Vietnamese

rapid repetition of the same note: trê-mô-lô, rê-mô-lô, sự vê

Forms of tremolo

plural	tremolos

Origin of tremolo

Borrowed from Italian tremolo, first-person present indicative of tremolare (“to shake, to tremble”). Origin: 1715-25.

Words formed from tremolo

tremolist
tremolo picking

Questions about tremolo

What does tremolo mean?: Tremolo means a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes. It can also be intended to mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration of a note. It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).
What is tremolo in Tagalog?: Tremolo in Tagalog is pakatal. See Tremolo meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is tremolo?: Tremolo is a noun.
How do you pronounce tremolo?: Tremolo is pronounced /ˈtrɛmələʊ/ (UK).
What is the plural of tremolo?: The plural of tremolo is tremolos.

Words near tremolo in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: tremolo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tremolo.wav.

Cite this entry: “tremolo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tremolo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.