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Test your basic knowledge |
Music Appreciation
Start Test
Study First
Subjects
:
performing-arts
,
music
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
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. 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.
punk rock
The Ramones
James Brown
Beastie Boys
2. Trade association whose member companies—Universal - Sony - Warner Brothers - Arista - Atlantic - BMG - RCA - Capitol - Elektra - Interscope - and Sire Records—control the sale and distribution of approximately 90 percent of the offline music in the
Janis Joplin
Patsy Cline
RIAA
Carole King
3. British hard rock band that formed in London in 1968. Zeppelin's sledgehammer style of guitar-focused rock music drew on various influences - including urban blues - San Francisco psychedelia - and the virtuoso guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix.
Led Zeppelin
house music
Run-D.M.C.
N.W.A.
4. Known as the 'Genius of Soul'; songwriter - arranger - keyboard player - and vocalist fluent in R&B - jazz - and mainstream pop.
Prince
alternative rock
Ray Charles
Willie Nelson
5. 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
Prince
Peter Gabriel
Lauryn Hill
Kurt Cobain
6. 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
Public Enemy
breakdancing
Queen Latifah
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
7. The norm since the introduction of recording in the nineteenth century. Transforms the energy of sound waves into physical imprints (as in pre-1925 acoustic recordings) or into electronic waveforms that closely follow (and can be used to reproduce) t
Madonna
progressive country
analog recording
world music
8. 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.
alternative music
sampling
nashville sound
Kenny Rogers
9. Publicly traded corporation that owns more than 1 -200 radio stations - 39 television stations - 100000 advertising billboards - and 100 live performance venues - ranging from huge amphitheaters to dance clubs - enabling them to present more than 70
Nirvana
M.C. Hammer
Clear channel
Aretha Franklin
10. 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.
funk music
gangsta rap
Bruce Springsteen
bluegrass
11. 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.
Kurt Cobain
funk music
disco
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
12. A style of soft rock - lightly tinged with country music influences: John Denver - Olivia Newton-John - Kenny Rogers.
Carole King
sequencer
Dolly Parton
country pop
13. 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
progressive country
N.W.A.
Run-D.M.C.
hardcore
14. 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.
Grandmaster Flash
Bruce Springsteen
soul music
disco
15. Style modeled on that of the early acoustic string bands; probably the original 'alternative country' music.
Napster
Def Jam
bluegrass
Nirvana
16. 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.
disco
analog recording
alternative music
Janis Joplin
17. Parton was born in the hill country of Tennessee and began her recording career at age eleven. She moved to Nashville in 1964 and built her career with regular appearances on country music radio and television.
hardcore
Dolly Parton
Clear channel
Napster
18. 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.
Nirvana
nashville sound
Run-D.M.C.
The Ramones
19. Singer-songwriter Who wrote many hits in the 1960s with Gerry Goffin. In 1971 - the success of her album Tapestry made her a major recording star.
Carole King
Kenny Rogers
Aretha Franklin
David Bowie
20. Sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music; a fusion of 'country' and 'cosmopolitan.'
grunge rock
Nirvana
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
countrypolitan
21. 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.
Clear channel
countrypolitan
N.W.A.
alternative rock
22. Ice's first album - To the Extreme (1990) - monopolized the Number One position for sixteen weeks in early 1991 - selling seven million copies. When it was discovered that Van Winkle - raised in reasonably comfortable circumstances in a middle-class
Queen Latifah
disco
Vanilla Ice
Willie Nelson
23. Device that standardized digital technologies - enabling devices produced by different manufacturers to 'communicate' with one another.
MIDI
sequencer
David Bowie
country pop
24. Slick variety of rhythm & blues - often with lush orchestral accompaniment: the O'Jays - the Spinners - Al Green - Barry White.
urban folk
rap
soft soul
Kurt Cobain
25. One of the main venues for techno. Semipublic event modeled partly on the be-ins of the 1960s counterculture.
Michael Jackson
reggae
rave
Ray Charles
26. 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.
The Sex Pistols
Willie Nelson
Kenny Rogers
Patsy Cline
27. 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).
alternative rock
Vanilla Ice
Madonna
MIDI
28. Country vocalist who scored crossover hits with songs such as 'I Fall to Pieces -' and 'Crazy -' both recorded in 1961.
Kenny Rogers
Patsy Cline
alternative music
N.W.A.
29. African American musical style rooted in R&B and gospel that became popular during the 1960s.
Tupac Shakur
Janis Joplin
MP3
soul music
30. The most outrageous—and therefore famous—punk band - formed in 1975 in London. They were the creation of Malcolm McAllen - owner of a London boutique called Sex - which specialized in leather and rubber clothing.
M.C. Hammer
The Sex Pistols
Grateful Dead
progressive country
31. Form of dance music popular in the late 1970s - characterized by elaborate studio production and an insistent beat: Donna Summer - Chic - the Village People - the Bee Gees.
countrypolitan
Willie Nelson
disco
house music
32. Slick variety of rhythm & blues - often with lush orchestral accompaniment: the O'Jays - the Spinners - Al Green - Barry White.
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
Beastie Boys
N.W.A.
soft soul
33. Device that enables musicians to create or 'synthesize' musical sounds. Began to appear on rock records during the early 1970s.
art rock
Kenny Rogers
Carlos Santana
synthesizer
34. The 'Godfather of Soul.' He was known for his acrobatic physicality and remarkable charisma on stage. No other single musician has proven to be as influential on the sound and style of black music as James Brown.
Beastie Boys
heavy metal
James Brown
hardcore
35. Kurt KObain's band - Nevermind album
Grateful Dead
Nirvana
funk music
Sean 'Puffy' Combs
36. 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.
art rock
Bruce Springsteen
sampling
breakdancing
37. Variant of hip-hop music; its emergence was heralded nationwide by the release of the album Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A. (Niggaz with Attitude). It included artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg - 2Pac Shakur - and the Notorious B.I.G.
progressive country
David Bowie
gangsta rap
pop rock
38. 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
Vanilla Ice
Paul Simon
Grateful Dead
Sonic Youth
39. Country vocalist who scored crossover hits with songs such as 'I Fall to Pieces -' and 'Crazy -' both recorded in 1961.
pop rock
Patsy Cline
Lauryn Hill
analog recording
40. 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.
Willie Nelson
Napster
country pop
Michael Jackson
41. Pioneered West Coast gangsta rap with the release of the album Straight Outta Compton. Their recordings expressed the gangsta lifestyle - saturated with images of sex and violence. The nucleus of the group was formed in 1986 - when O'Shea ;Ice C
funk music
N.W.A.
MIDI
Peter Gabriel
42. Device that enables musicians to create or 'synthesize' musical sounds. Began to appear on rock records during the early 1970s.
techno
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
synthesizer
Tupac Shakur
43. Publicly traded corporation that owns more than 1 -200 radio stations - 39 television stations - 100000 advertising billboards - and 100 live performance venues - ranging from huge amphitheaters to dance clubs - enabling them to present more than 70
Nirvana
analog recording
sequencer
Clear channel
44. Style of folk music that grew in popularity in the burgeoning New York folk scene during the 1960s. It included artists such as Bob Dylan.
hardcore
urban folk
The Ramones
house music
45. Extreme variation of punk - pioneered during the early 1980s by bands in San Francisco (the Dead Kennedys) and Los Angeles (the Germs - Black Flag - X - and the Circle Jerks).
progressive country
James Brown
Lauryn Hill
hardcore
46. Sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music; a fusion of 'country' and 'cosmopolitan.'
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
countrypolitan
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
The Ramones
47. The most important woman in the history of hip-hop - in terms of both her commercial success and her effectiveness in establishing a feminist beachhead on the male-dominated field of rap music.
Willie Nelson
Queen Latifah
James Brown
Willie Nelson
48. The leader of the Wailers and a national hero in his native Jamaica - Marley was reggae's most effective international ambassador. His songs of determination - rebellion - and faith - rooted in the Rastafarian belief system - found a worldwide audien
Bob Marley
pop rock
sampling
Jimi Hendrix
49. Hip-hop culture - forged by African American and Caribbean American youth in New York City - included distinctive styles of visual art (graffiti) - dance (an acrobatic solo style called breakdancing and an energetic couple dance called the freak) - m
countrypolitan
hip-hop
Kurt Cobain
Donna Summer
50. Extreme variation of punk - pioneered during the early 1980s by bands in San Francisco (the Dead Kennedys) and Los Angeles (the Germs - Black Flag - X - and the Circle Jerks).
country pop
Bruce Springsteen
Janis Joplin
hardcore