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Music Appreciation

Subjects : performing-arts, music
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Country music style involving polished arrangements and a sophisticated approach to vocal presentation. The recordings of Patsy Cline were among the most important manifestations of the Nashville sound.






2. Began his performing career as a member of the Jackson Five. He achieved unprecedented success with his 1982 album Thriller - and his elaborately produced music videos helped boost the new medium of music videos. Jackson became the first African Amer






3. African American musical style rooted in R&B and gospel that became popular during the 1960s.






4. Music played by San Francisco bands that encompassed a variety of styles and musical influences - including folk rock - blues - 'hard rock -' Latin music - and Indian classical music.






5. Co-founded in 1984 by the hip-hop promoter Russell Simmons and the musician-producer Rick Rubin. During the 1980s - Def Jam cross-promoted a new generation of artists - expanding and diversifying the national audience for hip-hop - and in 1986 became






6. Emerged during the 1970s as one part of the cultural complex of hip-hop. It consisted of rhymed speech accompanied by funk-derived rhythmic grooves.






7. A digital recording process wherein a sound source is recorded with a microphone - converted to a digital stream of binary numbers - and stored in a computer. The sampled sounds may be retrieved in a number of ways.






8. Rock style that emerged in the late 1970s. It was a 'back to basics' rebellion against the perceived artifice and pretension of corporate rock music—a stripped-down and often purposefully 'nonmusical' version of rock music.






9. The most original - inventive - and influential guitarist of the rock era - and the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s.






10. The most original - inventive - and influential guitarist of the rock era - and the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s.






11. Internet-based software program that enabled computer users to share and swap files - specifically music - through a centralized file server. A federal court injunction forced Napster to shut down operations in February 2001.






12. Heterogeneous category that includes artists from Africa - the Near East - and Asia—the ultimate margins of the American music industry.






13. Hip-hop artist whose work is a self-conscious alternative to the violence and sexism in the work of rap stars such as Dr. Dre - the Notorious B.I.G. - and 2Pac Shakur. Her commitment to female empowerment builds on the ground-breaking example of Quee






14. Sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music; a fusion of 'country' and 'cosmopolitan.'






15. 'The Queen of Soul -' she began singing gospel music at an early age and had several hit records with Atlantic - including 'Respect' in 1967 and 'Think' in 1968.






16. From the late 1980s through the 1990s - Madonna's popularity was second only to Michael Jackson's. She created controversial songs and music videos - including 'Papa Don't Preach' (1986) - 'Express Yourself' (1989) - and 'Like a Prayer' (1989).






17. Rock style that emerged in the late 1970s. It was a 'back to basics' rebellion against the perceived artifice and pretension of corporate rock music—a stripped-down and often purposefully 'nonmusical' version of rock music.






18. Slick variety of rhythm & blues - often with lush orchestral accompaniment: the O'Jays - the Spinners - Al Green - Barry White.






19. Style modeled on that of the early acoustic string bands; probably the original 'alternative country' music.






20. Born in the impoverished shantytowns of Kingston - Jamaica - reggae first became popular in the United States in 1973 - after the release of the Jamaican film The Harder They Come and its soundtrack album. The heart of reggae music consists of 'riddi






21. Variant of MPEG; MP3 enables sound files to be compressed to as little as one-twelfth of their original size.






22. Got his start in the 1960s as a member of the famous folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel. His album Graceland (1986) was a global collaboration recorded in South Africa - England - and the United States. It is the album responsible - more than any othe






23. Gangsta rapper born in Long Beach - CA - He was a protaga of Andre 'Dr. Dre' Young and collaborated on Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic. Snoop's soft drawl and laid-back-but-lethal gangster persona were featured on Doggystyle - which debuted at the t






24. Marketing category that emerged around 1990; it is most often used to describe bands like are.E.M. - Sonic Youth - the Dead Kennedys - and Nirvana.






25. Tragic victim of conflicts between East and West Coast factions within the hip-hop business. He was an up-and-coming star with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records when He was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996.






26. Device that standardized digital technologies - enabling devices produced by different manufacturers to 'communicate' with one another.






27. The most successful white blues singer of the 1960s. Born in Port Arthur - Texas - Joplin came to San Francisco in the mid-1960s and joined a band called Big Brother and the Holding Company.






28. One of the main venues for techno. Semipublic event modeled partly on the be-ins of the 1960s counterculture.






29. Genre that developed out of hard rock in the 1970s and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s.






30. The most influential and economically successful member of N.W.A. He founded an independent record label (Death Row/Interscope) - cultivated a number of younger rappers - and continued to develop a distinctive hip-hop production style - christened 'G






31. The most successful white blues singer of the 1960s. Born in Port Arthur - Texas - Joplin came to San Francisco in the mid-1960s and joined a band called Big Brother and the Holding Company.






32. Regional style of alternative rock from Seattle that blended heavy metal guitar textures with hardcore punk. Bands from Seattle included Green River - Mudhoney - Pearl Jam - Nirvana - and Soundgarden.






33. Regional style of alternative rock from Seattle that blended heavy metal guitar textures with hardcore punk. Bands from Seattle included Green River - Mudhoney - Pearl Jam - Nirvana - and Soundgarden.






34. In progressive country - performers wrote songs that were more intellectual and liberal in outlook than their contemporaries and were more concerned with testing the limits of the country music tradition than with scoring hits. The key artists includ






35. In progressive country - performers wrote songs that were more intellectual and liberal in outlook than their contemporaries and were more concerned with testing the limits of the country music tradition than with scoring hits. The key artists includ






36. Variant of MPEG; MP3 enables sound files to be compressed to as little as one-twelfth of their original size.






37. Born in Mexico - he began his musical career playing guitar in Tijuana. He formed his band in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Their 1971 album Abraxas established a Latin American substream within rock.






38. -one of the forerunners of the Grunge genre - originally part of the 'no wave' scene in NY -Many alternative bands such as Nirvana looked up to them -album 'Daydream Nation' was well-received by critics - and then they were signed to Geffen Records -






39. From the late 1980s through the 1990s - Madonna's popularity was second only to Michael Jackson's. She created controversial songs and music videos - including 'Papa Don't Preach' (1986) - 'Express Yourself' (1989) - and 'Like a Prayer' (1989).






40. Rapper from Oakland - California; hit the charts in 1990 with Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em - which held the Number One position for twenty-one weeks and sold over ten million copies - becoming the bestselling rap album of all time.






41. Trio consisting of the MCs Run (Joseph Simmons - b. 1964) and D.M.C. (Darryl McDaniels - b. 1964) - and the DJ Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell - b. 1965). Perhaps the most influential act in the history of rap music - they established a hard-edged - roc






42. Singer and guitarist who founded the alternative rock band Nirvana. His recordings broke through to the commercial mainstream and popularized grunge rock. He shot himself in Seattle in 1994.






43. Achieved celebrity as a member of the art rock group Genesis before embarking on a solo career. Gabriel's best-selling single 'Sledgehammer' became Number One pop and Number Sixty-one R&B in 1986. The award-winning video version of 'Sledgehammer' was






44. Got his start in the 1960s as a member of the famous folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel. His album Graceland (1986) was a global collaboration recorded in South Africa - England - and the United States. It is the album responsible - more than any othe






45. Form of rock music that blended elements of rock and European classical music. It included bands such as King Crimson; Emerson - Lake - and Palmer; and Pink Floyd.






46. Springsteen's music and personal image evoked the rebellious rock 'n' rollers of the 1950s and the socially conscious folk rockers of the 1960s. His songs reflected his working-class origins and sympathies.






47. Style modeled on that of the early acoustic string bands; probably the original 'alternative country' music.






48. Device that records musical data rather than musical sound and enables the creation of repeated sound sequences (loops) - the manipulation of rhythmic grooves - and the transmission of recorded data from one program or device to another.






49. Veteran of folk pop groups such as the New Christy Minstrels and the First Edition - star of made-for-TV movies. One of the main beneficiaries of country pop's increasing mainstream appeal.






50. Born in the impoverished shantytowns of Kingston - Jamaica - reggae first became popular in the United States in 1973 - after the release of the Jamaican film The Harder They Come and its soundtrack album. The heart of reggae music consists of 'riddi






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