I had to look it up...

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trem·o·lo /ˈtrɛməˌloʊ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[trem-uh-loh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -los. Music.
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.
[Origin: 1715–25; < It: trembling < L tremulus tremulous]

But a tremelo effect pedal just pulsates volume. So it is the pedal that is misnamed? What should it be named? What is the difference between tremelo and vibrato? So many questions, so little time on this earth!

Wait a minute...that definition doesn't say anything about it changing the pitch...

And there ya go... I was going to say that, unless you're an acoustic engineer, you may just interchange the terms. There are some minor differences... Though for our purposes, if you get good definitions, they are virtually the same thing and therefore interchangeable...

Tremolo is a musical term with several meanings:

A regular and repetitive variation in amplitude for the duration of a single note; this is the most common meaning.

A regular and rapid repetition of a single note, which is scored as a single note, and particularly used on bowed string instruments, the balalaika, and plectrum instruments such as the mandolin family. On these latter instruments it is more often called a trill, but on electronic organ stops imitating these instruments it is generally called tremolo. In classical and flamenco guitar, tremolo refers to the technique of playing a bass line underneath a treble line consisting of rapidly repeating notes, often over a chord (i.e., with the same treble note over and over), although tremolos can become very complex. The effect is of two separate instruments playing the bass and treble lines, respectively.

A regular and rapid alternation between two notes, which is scored as a trill.

A roll on any tuned or untuned percussion instrument.

A variation in pitch, slow or rapid, during the duration of a note. These techniques are more normally called portamento and vibrato.

Some discussion of the last sense given above can be found at tremolo arm and vibrato, and a detailed discussion of the terminology used by electric guitarists and its history at vibrato unit. The rest of this article is concerned with the more generally accepted meanings.

Tremolo is the rapid repetition of one note in music or a rapid alternation between two or more notes. It is sometimes called tremolando, especially when referring 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."


Vibrato is a musical effect, produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch, and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to instrumental music.

The extent of the variation in pitch in instrumental vibrato is usually decided by the performer, but does not usually exceed a semitone either way from the note itself[citation needed]. Many string players vary the pitch from below, only up to the nominal note and not above it. The effect is intended to add warmth to a note, and in the case of bowed strings, adds a shimmer to the sound, as the sound pattern emitted by a well-made instrument virtually "points" in different directions with slight variations in pitch. This effect interacts with the room acoustics to add interest to the sound, in much the same way as an acoustic guitarist may swing the box around on a final sustain, or the rotating baffle of a Leslie speaker will spin the sound around the room.

Not all instruments can produce vibrato, as some have fixed pitches which can not be varied by sufficiently small degrees. Most percussion instruments are examples of this, such as the piano. Some types of organ however, can produce the effect by altering the pressure of the air passing through the pipes, or by various mechanical devices (see the Hammond or Wurlitzer Organs for example). The clavichord, though technically a fixed-pitch keyboard instrument, is capable of producing a type of vibrato known as Bebung by varying the pressure on the key as the note sounds.

The method of producing vibrato on other instruments varies. On string instruments, for example, the finger used to stop the string can be wobbled on the fingerboard, or actually moved up and down the string for a wider vibrato. To create vibrato on flutes, players usually modulate the air flow through the instrument using the diaphragm. On reed woodwinds such as clarinets and saxophones, players tend to create vibrato by repeatedly moving their jaw up and down slightly. Brass instrument players produce a vibrato by gently shaking the horn which varies the pressure of the mouthpiece against the lip. Alternatively, the embouchure can be rapidly altered, essentially repeatedly "bending" the note.

The guqin, a Chinese bridgeless zither, has documents describing over 25 different types of vibrato that can be executed. Most peculiar is the vibrato ting yin (literally "still vibrato"); ancient manuals state that the finger on the left hand that is pressing the string should only move or rock ever so slightly so as to alter the pitch minutely, and some manuals say that the finger should not move at all but let the pulse of the finger do the vibrato.[citation needed]

Some instruments can only be played with constant, mechanical vibrato (or none at all), notably the vibraphone and the Leslie speaker used by many electric organists. Vibrato on the theremin, which is a continuously variable-pitch instrument with no "stops", can range from delicate to extravagant, and often serves to mask the small pitch adjustments that instrument requires.

In pop music the effect is sometimes heard on the guitar and some, but not all, singers use it (in some pop ballads, the vibrato can be so wide as to be a pronounced wobble). The use of vibrato in some folk music is rare, or at least less pronounced than in other forms of music, although in Eastern European gypsy music, for example, it can be very wide.

Wide vibrato, as wide as a whole-tone, is commonly used among electric guitar players and adds a vocal-like expressiveness to the sound.

Confusingly, vibrato is sometimes referred to as tremolo, notably in the context of a tremolo arm of an electric guitar, which produces variations of pitch although true tremolo is a periodic fluctuation in the amplitude (rather than the frequency) of a sound. Conversely, the so-called vibrato unit built in to many guitar amplifiers produces what is known as tremolo in all other contexts. See vibrato unit for a detailed discussion of this terminology reversal.

Most jazz players through the 20th century and up to the present day have used vibrato more or less continuously. From around the 1950s, however, some players in more avant garde styles, many following the example of Miles Davis, began to use it more selectively, playing without vibrato as a rule. Davis frequently used a mute, which also alters the tone of the instrument.

Vibrato is sometimes thought of as an effect added onto the note itself, but in some cases it is so fully a part of the style of the music that it can be very difficult for some performers to play without it. The jazz tenor sax player Coleman Hawkins found he had this difficulty when requested to play a passage both with and without vibrato by the producer of a children's jazz album to demonstrate the difference between the two. Despite his otherwise exemplary technique, he was unable to play without vibrato. A symphony saxophonist was brought in to play the part.

Many classical musicians, especially singers and string players, have a similar problem. The violinist and teacher Leopold Auer, writing in his book Violin Playing as I Teach It (1920), advised violinists to practice playing completely without vibrato, and to stop playing for a few minutes as soon as they noticed themselves playing with vibrato in order for them to gain complete control over their technique.

So there, take that and from now on just call it a whammy bar.

For some reason, when I call it a "whammy bar", I feel like CC DeVille.
So a tremelo effect pedal is meant to simulate rapid picking? I guess it can unless you set the rate to a really slow one.

On the defintions containing the word, "trill": A trill is, yet again, a rapid change in pitch but, in my opinion, seems less fluid that a vibrato.

or we could all just call it a tremolo bar so we can sound more intelligent haha

OR we could just call it a.....bar
but thats not very creative now is it? hehe

Tremolo effect on my Peavey Duel 212 alters volume. Be handy if the bar on my guitar did that, I guess.. Easier to twiddle than a knob, would be fun to use. No way in hell it could ever work. Who can we blame for this gross error in terminology, anyway?
I just call it a whammy bar now, anyway. 'Vibrato' when i want to sound like I'm an impressive person... Like in guitar stores.

Pitch Alteration Utensil?

I like that..