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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. 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.
Prince
Queen Latifah
Paul Simon
James Brown
2. 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.
M.C. Hammer
Def Jam
rap
Paul Simon
3. 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
Carlos Santana
Peter Gabriel
bluegrass
James Brown
4. 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
Peter Gabriel
Willie Nelson
The Sex Pistols
Patsy Cline
5. 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.
Peter Gabriel
Led Zeppelin
Sonic Youth
rap
6. Acrobatic solo dancing improvised by the young 'B-boys' who attended hip-hop dances.
breakdancing
Madonna
Run-D.M.C.
Ray Charles
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
punk rock
analog recording
rave
punk rock
8. Device that enables musicians to create or 'synthesize' musical sounds. Began to appear on rock records during the early 1970s.
synthesizer
punk rock
soft soul
Clear channel
9. Known as the 'Genius of Soul'; songwriter - arranger - keyboard player - and vocalist fluent in R&B - jazz - and mainstream pop.
Ray Charles
hardcore
psychedelic rock
analog recording
10. '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.
Prince
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
progressive country
Aretha Franklin
11. 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
Kenny Rogers
Michael Jackson
Queen Latifah
progressive country
12. Style modeled on that of the early acoustic string bands; probably the original 'alternative country' music.
bluegrass
Led Zeppelin
Grateful Dead
Sonic Youth
13. 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).
Vanilla Ice
world music
RIAA
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.
Bruce Springsteen
rave
Kurt Cobain
Janis Joplin
15. 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
N.W.A.
MP3
sampling
funk music
16. Upbeat variety of rock music represented by artists such as Elton John - Paul McCartney - Rod Stewart - Chicago - and Peter Frampton.
rave
gangsta rap
James Brown
pop rock
17. Heterogeneous category that includes artists from Africa - the Near East - and Asia—the ultimate margins of the American music industry.
sequencer
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
world music
Vanilla Ice
18. 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.
Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus)
Run-D.M.C.
gangsta rap
RIAA
19. 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.
sampling
art rock
Tupac Shakur
Vanilla Ice
20. 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.
pop rock
Public Enemy
punk rock
James Brown
21. The term 'alternative'—like the broadly equivalent terms 'underground' and 'independent'—is used across a wide range of popular genres - including rock - rap - adult contemporary - dance - folk - and country music. It is used to describe music that c
alternative rock
alternative music
disco
soft soul
22. 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
Lauryn Hill
N.W.A.
Michael Jackson
hip-hop
23. DJ and leader of the furious five - he developed many of the turntable techniques that characterized early hip-hop music.
James Brown
sequencer
alternative rock
Grandmaster Flash
24. African American musical style rooted in R&B and gospel that became popular during the 1960s.
soul music
house music
world music
Carole King
25. 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
Paul Simon
MP3
Carlos Santana
synthesizer
26. 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
Kenny Rogers
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
Public Enemy
world music
27. Genre that developed out of hard rock in the 1970s and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s.
heavy metal
reggae
analog recording
Beastie Boys
28. 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.
RIAA
grunge rock
Kurt Cobain
Carlos Santana
29. 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
Carole King
Aretha Franklin
Public Enemy
reggae
30. 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.
Peter Gabriel
The Ramones
sampling
Bob Marley
31. 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.
art rock
country pop
The Ramones
Def Jam
32. 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.
Bob Marley
synthesizer
Lauryn Hill
psychedelic rock
33. 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
Vanilla Ice
Carlos Santana
David Bowie
34. 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
soul music
Grateful Dead
Lauryn Hill
Dolly Parton
35. 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
alternative rock
MP3
hip-hop
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
36. 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
psychedelic rock
Grandmaster Flash
funk music
analog recording
37. Acrobatic solo dancing improvised by the young 'B-boys' who attended hip-hop dances.
breakdancing
Napster
sampling
soul music
38. 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.
Aretha Franklin
gangsta rap
Bruce Springsteen
urban folk
39. 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
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
world music
M.C. Hammer
40. 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
Def Jam
Carlos Santana
art rock
hardcore
41. 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.
Grateful Dead
Queen Latifah
heavy metal
Napster
42. 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
Sean 'Puffy' Combs
analog recording
house music
Vanilla Ice
43. 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
house music
Andre (Dr. Dre) Young
analog recording
Vanilla Ice
44. Kurt KObain's band - Nevermind album
Beastie Boys
Public Enemy
Nirvana
rave
45. The most original - inventive - and influential guitarist of the rock era - and the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s.
Beastie Boys
urban folk
soul music
Jimi Hendrix
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.
Sonic Youth
Clear channel
rave
Kurt Cobain
47. 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
Beastie Boys
soul music
urban folk
48. 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.
MP3
progressive country
Tupac Shakur
progressive country
49. 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).
Grandmaster Flash
Clear channel
Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Madonna
50. 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.
synthesizer
Janis Joplin
Beastie Boys
MIDI