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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. 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.
urban folk
sampling
Ray Charles
Grandmaster Flash
2. 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.
M.C. Hammer
Bruce Springsteen
disco
Lauryn Hill
3. 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
soul music
funk music
Queen Latifah
sampling
4. 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.
countrypolitan
progressive country
Run-D.M.C.
M.C. Hammer
5. 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.
psychedelic rock
urban folk
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
bluegrass
6. Device that enables musicians to create or 'synthesize' musical sounds. Began to appear on rock records during the early 1970s.
art rock
synthesizer
world music
Queen Latifah
7. Named after the Warehouse - a popular gay dance club in Chicago - it was a style of techno dance music. Many house recordings were purely instrumental - with elements of European synth-pop - Latin soul - reggae - rap - and jazz grafted over an insist
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
Michael Jackson
pop rock
house music
8. 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
disco
Jimi Hendrix
rap
Prince
9. 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.
Carole King
Carlos Santana
sequencer
urban folk
10. 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.
MP3
Sonic Youth
Beastie Boys
Lauryn Hill
11. 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.
Kurt Cobain
Dolly Parton
Beastie Boys
punk rock
12. 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.
N.W.A.
Kenny Rogers
RIAA
Patsy Cline
13. 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
Def Jam
sampling
disco
Clear channel
14. DJ and leader of the furious five - he developed many of the turntable techniques that characterized early hip-hop music.
alternative music
Sonic Youth
hip-hop
Grandmaster Flash
15. 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
hardcore
Aretha Franklin
Clear channel
Public Enemy
16. Born in Texas - Nelson was one of the most influential figures in the progressive country movement. Nelson's rise to national fame came in the mid-1970s - through his association with a group of musicians collectively known as 'the Outlaws.'
Willie Nelson
heavy metal
Kurt Cobain
Nirvana
17. Heterogeneous category that includes artists from Africa - the Near East - and Asia—the ultimate margins of the American music industry.
world music
Donna Summer
grunge rock
Beastie Boys
18. 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
soft soul
RIAA
alternative music
The Sex Pistols
19. -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 -
hip-hop
David Bowie
Sonic Youth
Donna Summer
20. 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.
MIDI
disco
Carole King
Vanilla Ice
21. Style of electronic dance music that originated in the Detroit area during the 1980s.
techno
world music
Jimi Hendrix
Sonic Youth
22. 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.
Tupac Shakur
Bruce Springsteen
countrypolitan
Kenny Rogers
23. 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
Willie Nelson
Sonic Youth
Run-D.M.C.
funk music
24. 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.
Paul Simon
The Sex Pistols
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
Michael Jackson
25. 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
nashville sound
Def Jam
funk music
soul music
26. Upbeat variety of rock music represented by artists such as Elton John - Paul McCartney - Rod Stewart - Chicago - and Peter Frampton.
James Brown
Nirvana
rap
pop rock
27. 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
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
Def Jam
art rock
punk rock
28. The most original - inventive - and influential guitarist of the rock era - and the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s.
Napster
synthesizer
Jimi Hendrix
psychedelic rock
29. Acrobatic solo dancing improvised by the young 'B-boys' who attended hip-hop dances.
RIAA
breakdancing
countrypolitan
Janis Joplin
30. 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
RIAA
Led Zeppelin
MIDI
analog recording
31. 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
RIAA
nashville sound
Def Jam
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
32. 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
Carole King
MP3
progressive country
rave
33. '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.
Aretha Franklin
nashville sound
gangsta rap
Ray Charles
34. Sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music; a fusion of 'country' and 'cosmopolitan.'
Janis Joplin
art rock
N.W.A.
countrypolitan
35. 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.
M.C. Hammer
Beastie Boys
breakdancing
Carole King
36. 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.
analog recording
nashville sound
Nirvana
Def Jam
37. 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).
punk rock
Madonna
Bob Marley
Paul Simon
38. 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).
Madonna
rave
house music
world music
39. Sophisticated approach to the vocal presentation and instrumental arrangement of country music; a fusion of 'country' and 'cosmopolitan.'
house music
Led Zeppelin
Prince
countrypolitan
40. 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
Willie Nelson
sampling
Def Jam
Peter Gabriel
41. 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.
soft soul
grunge rock
Madonna
Clear channel
42. 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.
Janis Joplin
The Ramones
grunge rock
reggae
43. 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
Vanilla Ice
N.W.A.
art rock
soul music
44. 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).
hardcore
Janis Joplin
synthesizer
Sonic Youth
45. Band that originated in the 1960s San Francisco rock scene. Their career spanned more than three decades.
Willie Nelson
Jimi Hendrix
Grateful Dead
The Ramones
46. 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.
Napster
Kurt Cobain
Dolly Parton
reggae
47. 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.
sequencer
Ray Charles
Kurt Cobain
techno
48. 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
Michael Jackson
M.C. Hammer
analog recording
MIDI
49. Variant of MPEG; MP3 enables sound files to be compressed to as little as one-twelfth of their original size.
Clear channel
Napster
MP3
Paul Simon
50. 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.
Patsy Cline
funk music
Carole King
Grandmaster Flash