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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. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






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






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






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






5. A repeated phrase.






6. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






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






8. Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes.






9. In sheet music - an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.






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






11. A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.






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






13. A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone.






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






15. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.






16. A short light musical drama.






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






18. The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.






19. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






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






21. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






22. Singing in unison - texts in a free rhythm. Similar to the rhythm of speech.






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






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






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






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






27. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






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






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






30. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






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






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






33. The highest female voice.






34. 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.






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






36. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






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






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






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






40. Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.






41. The highest female voice.






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






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






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






45. The movement of chords in succession.






46. The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.






47. A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composer's own time - and the characters are modeled after every day life.






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






49. Unmusical - without tone.






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