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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. A short piano piece - often improvisational and intimate in character.






2. Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.






3. A sequence of songs - perhaps on a single theme - or with texts by one poet - or having continuos narrative.






4. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






5. Repetition of a single tone.






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






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






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






9. 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.






10. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






11. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






12. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






13. Three note chords consisting of a root - third - and fifth.






14. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






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






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






17. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






18. 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.






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






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






21. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






22. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






23. To shift to another key.






24. Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.






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






26. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.






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






28. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






29. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






30. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.






31. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






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






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






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






35. A short or brief sonata.






36. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.






37. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






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






39. A reprise.






40. A composition written for eight instruments.






41. A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.






42. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.






43. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






44. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






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






46. Suite of Baroque dances.






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






48. A lighthearted piece - written in several movements - usually as background music for a social function.






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






50. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.