Tremolo and rolls

Updated 1 month ago

    Types of tremolo and rolls

    A Tremolo is the rapid repetition of one note or chord, or a rapid alternation between two notes or chords. The placement of tremolos is handled automatically by the program.

    Single note tremolo

    For stemmed notes, the rhythmic value of the tremolo is indicated by the number of diagonal strokes through the stem. One stroke indicates that the original note is divided into eighth notes. e.g.

    tremolo_1.png

    Two strokes divides the note into sixteenth notes, and three strokes into thirty-second notes. On whole notes the tremolo symbol is placed above the note.

    Tremolo between notes

    In traditional two-note or two-chord tremolos, incomplete beams are drawn between the notes to indicate the rhythmic value of the tremolo (to change the style see below). One beam indicates eight notes, two beams sixteenth notes, and three beams thirty-second notes. e.g.

    tremolo_two_note.png

    Buzz roll

    A buzz roll symbol is also available from the Tremolos palette. However, it is notational only and currently has no playback properties.

    Adding a tremolo to a single note

    1. Click on a notehead in the score.
    2. Click on the desired tremolo symbol in the Tremolos palette.

    Adding a tremolo between notes/chords

    1. Enter the notes at half the desired final duration of the tremolo.
    2. Select a note in the first chord.
    3. Click on the desired tremolo symbol in the Tremolos palette (it has to be one of the tremolo symbols without a stem).

    Tremolo beams appear between the notes/chords and the appearance of the noteheads is adjusted accordingly.

    Example: To enter a two-note tremolo with the duration of a half note (minim), enter two normal quarter notes (crotchets). After applying a tremolo symbol to the first note, the note values automatically double to half notes.

    Changing appearance of tremolos

    Three styles of tremolos between notes/chords are supported in MuseScore. To change the style:

    1. Click on the (between notes) tremolo symbol.
    2. In the Tremolos section of the Properties panel, click on the desired style icon under “Style (between notes)”.