Tremolo - Instrumental Techniques

Instrumental Techniques

The term tremolando especially refers to a rapid repetition on a bowed string instrument, one of the most commonly seen uses of the technique. Tremolo on a violin or similar instrument is sometimes combined with playing sul ponticello (bowing near the bridge of the instrument), which gives a thin and reedy effect, often perceived to be "ghostly."

Another common use of the technique on one note, a reiteration, used in the playing of instruments such as the mandolin. It is common in Russian folk music, used in instruments such as the balalaika, domra and gusli. Once a string is plucked, the note decays very rapidly, and by playing the same note many times very rapidly, the illusion of a sustained note can be created. The technique is also common in the playing of the marimba.

Tremolo is also well known classical guitar technique that involves using the thumb to play single bass notes concurrent with, or directly followed by rapid repetition of a higher note played by two (the middle and index) or three (the ring, middle and index) fingers. Francisco Tárrega notably used this technique in his famous composition Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

Tremolo on two or more notes is common on the piano and other keyboard instruments. The composer Franz Liszt often used the technique in his piano pieces. On the piano, tremolo can create a seemingly louder and larger sound that can be sustained indefinitely. Historically, its use on keyboard instruments can be traced back to a time before the invention of the piano when harpsichords and similar instruments such as the spinet were standard. These instruments could not sustain notes for nearly as long as a modern piano, and so tremolo was used to simulate a longer sustain, as well as being used as an independent effect.

Tremolo can also be achieved through the use of amplitude modulation. This type of effect is often used by electronic instruments and takes the form of a multiplication of the sound by a waveform of lower frequency known as an LFO. The result is similar to the effect of rapid bowing on a violin or the rapid keying of a piano. In accordions and related instruments, tremolo by amplitude modulation is accomplished through intermodulation between two or more reeds slightly out of tune with each other. On organ these ondulating ranks are called celeste or onda maris.