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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 piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.






2. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






3. In sheet music - a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.






4. A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.






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






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






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






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






9. A reprise.






10. Arranging a piece of music for an orchestra. Also - the study of music.






11. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






12. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






13. A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions.






14. The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.






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






16. The first violin in an orchestra.






17. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






18. A repeated phrase.






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






20. The distance in pitch between two notes.






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






22. Lowest female singing voice.






23. Unmusical - without tone.






24. System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.






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






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






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






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






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






30. A group singing in unison.






31. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






32. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






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






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






35. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






36. 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.






37. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






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






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






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






41. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






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






43. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






44. A symbol indicating to play loud.






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






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






47. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






48. Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.






49. An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a 'p'.






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