Tremolo

Tremolo is a musical term with several meanings:

Notation

In music notation, tremolo is indicated by strokes through the stems of the notes (in the case of semibreves or whole notes, which lack stems, the bars are drawn above or below the note, where the stem would be if there were one). Generally, there are three strokes, except on quavers (eighth notes) which take two, and semiquavers (sixteenth notes) which take one:

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Because this is the same notation as would be used to indicate that regular repeated demisemiquavers (thirty-second notes) should be played, the word tremolo or the abbreivation trem., is sometimes added (particularly in slower music, when there is a real chance of confusion). Alternatively, more strokes can be used.

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If the tremolo is between two or more notes, the bars are drawn between them:

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See also: trill, musical terminology

Related Topics:
Trill - Musical terminology

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