Re: [Harp-L] vibrato vs. tremolo

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

This debate on harp-l goes back at least as far as 1995.  I had thought 
it was pretty much settled then.  The Harvard Dictionary of Music shows 
the terms vibrato and tremolo being used interchangeably over history. 
Jonathan's thought that a good way to derive the usage is through 
instrumental context is a welcome addition to the debate. My copy of the 
HDM is the same one I used when I typed large portions of their 
definitions into a post in 1995.  So this is reiterative and not 
entirely apropos because the focus has shifted somewhat but I'll go 
ahead and quote my own post from way back when.  fjm

Sunday June 04, 1995

While I know it seems hard to believe I cut most of the
explanations and history for trills and vibrato.  Tremolo is
included in its entirety.  It becomes apparent after reading
these explanations that the terms have been used somewhat
interchangeably for a long time.  Leo Fender was certainly not
the first to muddy the waters.  A seemingly simple subject that
turns out to be vastly more complex than I would have imagined.
The following was excerpted from the HARVard Dictionary of Music.
fjm

Tremolo [It.] Usually, the quick and continuous reiteration of a
single pitch.  On stringed instruments it is produced by a rapid
up-and-down movement of the bow.  This effect is called for in
violin music of the early 17th century, and is a feature of
Monteverdi's ~stile conciato~.  It has remained in continuous
use.  18th century names for the string tremolo are [It.] ~bombo~
and [Ger.] ~Schwarmer~.  The term tremolo also refers, however,
to a succession of repeated notes slightly articulated without a
change of direction in the bow, this being termed a slurred
tremolo and sometimes indicated by a wavy line (in notation), and
to a rapid alternation between two pitches of a chord, this being
termed a fingered tremolo because it is produced by a rapid
movement of the finger on the fingerboard rather than by rapid
movement of the bow.

In violin music of the 18th century a tremolo known as the
undulating tremolo [It. ondeggiando; Fr. ondule'] occurs
frequently.  It is produced by an undulating motion of the bow
arm, resulting in alternate bowing on two strings (or more when
the technique is applied to the playing of arpeggios).  This
bowing can be used to produce either a reiteration of a single
pitch alternately on a stopped string and an open string (in
which case it is called ~bariolage~) or an alteration between two
(or more) pitches.  It is also indicated by a wavy line.  Finally
the term could also mean trill.

In piano music the rapid repetition of a single pitch is a device
used mainly in highly virtuosic compositions such as Liszt's ~La
campanella~, where it also occurs in the form of quickly repeated
octaves.  The tremolo of strings is also imitated on the piano by
the rapid alteration of a pitch and its octave, or of the several
pitches of a chord.  In organ music, the term tremolo is applied
the effect produced by the tremulant stop.  This effect however
more closely approximates the string players vibrato.

In singing, the term now usually refers to excessive vibrato that
leads to deviations in pitch.  The rapid repetition of a single
pitch, however, is called for in liturgical chant by neumes such
as the ~bistropha~ and ~tristropha~.  13th century terms for this
effect include ~repercussio gutturis~ and ~reverberatio~.  Termed
a ~trillo~ the effect was widely used in the 17th century and was
usually written out in small note-values.  During this period
tremolo referred to  various kinds of trill or mordent.  In the
18th century, the rapid repetition of a single pitch in vocal
music fell into disuse and began to be known by such pejorative
terms as [Fr.] chevrotement and [Ger.] Bockstriller (goat's
trill).

Trill an ornament consisting of the more or less rapid
alternation of a note with the one next above in the prevailing
key or harmony.  In current musical notation it is often
indicated by the abbreviation ~tr~, but the signs used have
varied in the course of its history, as have such conventions of
its execution as whether it begins on the main note or the
ornamenting note, whether it is preceded by an auxiliary
ornamenting note, and whether any preceding note is to be played
on the beat or before it.

Vibrato {It., from Lat. ~vibrare~, to shake]. A slight
fluctuation of pitch used by performers to enrich or intensify
the sound.  In modern string playing, vibrato is produced by
rocking the left hand, usually from the wrist, as a note is
played; in modern wind playing, it is effected by regulating the
air flow into the instrument or by varying the tension of the
lips or the pressure of the mouth on the reed or mouthpiece.
Since the early years of the 20th century, vibrato, particularly
on bowed string instruments, has become essentially an organic
feature of tone production, a means of adding continuous
intensity to the sound; vibrato has become a standard feature of
the unchanging legato sound most often taught at present.

Until the 20th century, vibrato, or tremolo, as it was generally
termed, was produced in a number of ways and was considered to be
an ornament, an expressive device that, like many others
available to the performer, was used sparingly.