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






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






3. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






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






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






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






7. A repeated phrase.






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






9. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.






10. Suite of Baroque dances.






11. A chord comprised of three whole tones resulting in an augmented fourth or diminished fifth.






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






13. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






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






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






16. A separate section of a larger composition.






17. Repetition of a single tone.






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






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






20. A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords - the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.






21. Combination of two or more keys being played at the same time.






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






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






24. A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.






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






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






27. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






28. A direction to play lively and fast.






29. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






30. Unmusical - without tone.






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






32. A symbol indicating to play loud.






33. The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key.For example: A minor shares the same note as C major.






34. 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.






35. Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.






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






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






38. Direction to performer to play a composition in a brisk - lively - and spirited manner.






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






40. The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.






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






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






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






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






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






46. The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key.For example: A minor shares the same note as C major.






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






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






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






50. The first violin in an orchestra.