Test your basic knowledge |

Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
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 set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






2. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






3. Dull - monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.






4. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






5. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






6. A direction to play lively and fast.






7. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






8. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






9. A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.






10. Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.






11. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






12. A group singing in unison.






13. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






14. The highest female voice.






15. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.






16. Suite of Baroque dances.






17. A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional - expressive - and imaginative style.






18. A complex piece of music. Usually the first movement of the piece serving as the exposition - a development - or recapitulation.






19. A curve over notes to indicate that a phrase is to be played legato.






20. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






21. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






22. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






23. A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes.






24. A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.






25. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






26. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






27. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






28. Group of singers in a chorus.






29. A symbol in sheet music a direction to play energetically.






30. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.






31. Tone color - quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.






32. Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.






33. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






34. A group of 4 instruments - two violins - a viola - and cello.






35. A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.






36. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






37. A composition written for nine instruments.






38. Repetition of a single tone.






39. A composition written for eight instruments.






40. Unmusical - without tone.






41. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.






42. The structure of a piece of music.






43. A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations.






44. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






45. Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written.






46. Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends.






47. The unit of musical rhythm.






48. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






49. The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two - three - four beats to a measure.






50. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.