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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. 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.






2. The first commercially successful white act in hip-hop. Their early recordings represent a fusion of the youth-oriented rebelliousness of hardcore punk rock—the style they began playing in 1981—with the sensibility and techniques of hip-hop.






3. 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






4. 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.






5. Band that originated in the 1960s San Francisco rock scene. Their career spanned more than three decades.






6. 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.






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






8. Kurt KObain's band - Nevermind album






9. 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).






10. 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.






11. 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






12. 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.






13. Centered on the creation of a strong rhythmic momentum or groove - with the electric bass and bass drum often playing on all four main beats of the measure - the snare drum and other instruments playing equally strongly on the second and fourth beats






14. 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






15. 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.






16. Device that enables musicians to create or 'synthesize' musical sounds. Began to appear on rock records during the early 1970s.






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






18. 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.






19. Known as the 'Genius of Soul'; songwriter - arranger - keyboard player - and vocalist fluent in R&B - jazz - and mainstream pop.






20. 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






21. Founded in 1982 - Public Enemy was organized around a core set of members who met as college students - drawn together by their interest in hip-hop culture and political activism. The group included the standard hip-hop configuration of two MCs—Chuck






22. 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.






23. 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






24. The first commercially successful white act in hip-hop. Their early recordings represent a fusion of the youth-oriented rebelliousness of hardcore punk rock—the style they began playing in 1981—with the sensibility and techniques of hip-hop.






25. 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.






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






27. One of the biggest stars to emerge from disco in the 1970s. She sang on several disco classics - including 'Love to Love You Baby' (1976) and 'Good Times' (1979).






28. '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.






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






30. 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.






31. 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






32. Band that originated in the 1960s San Francisco rock scene. Their career spanned more than three decades.






33. 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






34. 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.






35. DJ and leader of the furious five - he developed many of the turntable techniques that characterized early hip-hop music.






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






37. Prince is one of the most talented musicians ever to achieve mass commercial success in the field of popular music. He has sold almost forty million recordings. Between 1982 and 1992 - he placed nine albums in the Top 10 - reaching the top of the cha






38. 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






39. Centered on the creation of a strong rhythmic momentum or groove - with the electric bass and bass drum often playing on all four main beats of the measure - the snare drum and other instruments playing equally strongly on the second and fourth beats






40. Founded in 1982 - Public Enemy was organized around a core set of members who met as college students - drawn together by their interest in hip-hop culture and political activism. The group included the standard hip-hop configuration of two MCs—Chuck






41. 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






42. -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 -






43. CEO of the New York independent label Bad Boy Records.

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44. 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.






45. Known as the 'Genius of Soul'; songwriter - arranger - keyboard player - and vocalist fluent in R&B - jazz - and mainstream pop.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. One of the biggest stars to emerge from disco in the 1970s. She sang on several disco classics - including 'Love to Love You Baby' (1976) and 'Good Times' (1979).






49. 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.






50. 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.