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






2. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.






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






4. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






5. Music of a particular form consisting of four movements. Each of the movements differ in tempo - rhythm - and melody; but are held together by subject and style.






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






7. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






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






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






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






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






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






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






14. A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical sonata form works.






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






16. A symbol indicating to play loud.






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






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






19. A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.






20. The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.






21. A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds - backwards - or inverted.






22. A sequence of songs - perhaps on a single theme - or with texts by one poet - or having continuos narrative.






23. A short or brief sonata.






24. The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.






25. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






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






27. Introduction to an opera or other large musical work.






28. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






29. A composition written for eight instruments.






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






31. Repetition of a single tone.






32. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






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






34. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






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 tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.






37. Unmusical - without tone.






38. A short light musical drama.






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






40. 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.






41. Lowest female singing voice.






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






43. The principal note of a triad.






44. A quick - improvisational - spirited piece of music.






45. An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.






46. The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.






47. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.






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






49. A composition written for eight instruments.






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