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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 repeated phrase.






2. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






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






4. 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.






5. 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.






6. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






7. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






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






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






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






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






12. To shift to another key.






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






14. The movement of chords in succession.






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






16. A direction to play expressively.






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






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






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






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






21. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






22. The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






23. A string of chords played in succession.






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






25. Suite of Baroque dances.






26. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.






27. A group singing in unison.






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






29. A direction to play expressively.






30. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






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






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






33. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






34. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






35. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's. The music was spare and emotionally reserved - especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.






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






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






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






39. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






40. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






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






42. The structure of a piece of music.






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






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






45. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






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






47. A short light musical drama.






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






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






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