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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. Where the musical themes and melodies are developed - written in sonata form.






2. A set of four musicians who perform a composition written for four parts.






3. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






4. One of two or more parts in polyphonic music. Voice refers to instrumental parts as well as the singing voice.






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






6. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






7. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






8. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






9. When several strings are tuned to harmonically related pitches - all strings vibrate when only one of the strings is struck.






10. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






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






12. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






13. A group singing in unison.






14. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






15. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






16. Suite of Baroque dances.






17. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






18. A system of notation for stringed instruments. The notes are indicated by the finger positions.






19. The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.






20. The first section of a movement written in sonata form - introducing the melodies and themes.






21. An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.






22. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






23. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.






24. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






25. Often used in overtures - a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.






26. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






27. Quick repetition of the same note or the rapid alternation between two notes.






28. Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.






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






30. A separate section of a larger composition.






31. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






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






33. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






34. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






35. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






36. The movement of chords in succession.






37. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






38. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.






39. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






40. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






41. The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.






42. A musical style characterized as excessive - ornamental - and trivial.






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






44. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.






45. A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast.






46. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






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






48. Passage for the entire ensemble or orchestra without a soloist.






49. Three to four movement orchestral piece - generally in sonata form.






50. Group of singers in a chorus.