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






2. 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.






3. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






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






5. A period in history dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. This period signified the rebirth of music - art - and literature.






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






7. A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.






8. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






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






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






11. Repetition of a single tone.






12. A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three people






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






14. A whole note is equal to 2 half notes - 4 quarter notes - 8 eighth notes - etc.






15. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






16. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






17. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






18. The unit of musical rhythm.






19. Indicating speed.






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






21. A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.






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






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






24. 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.






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






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






27. A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.






28. The principal note of a triad.






29. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






30. 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.






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






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






33. A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.






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






35. Sliding between two notes.






36. A reprise.






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






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






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






40. A composition written for eight instruments.






41. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






42. Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts - usually without instrumental accompaniment.






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






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






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






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






47. A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.






48. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.






49. 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.






50. Lowest female singing voice.







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