Test your basic knowledge |

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. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






2. 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.






3. A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not.






4. A reprise.






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






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






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






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






9. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






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






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






12. A dirge - hymn - or musical service for the repose of the dead.






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






14. 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.






15. The first section of a movement written in sonata form - introducing the melodies and themes.






16. A set of four musicians who perform a composition written for four parts.






17. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






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






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






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






21. A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.






22. Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.






23. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






24. The principal note of a triad.






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






26. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






27. Pertaining to the sonata form - a fast movement in triple time.






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






29. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






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






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






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






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






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






36. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






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






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






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






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






41. To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.






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






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






44. 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.






45. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






46. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






47. The unit of musical rhythm.






48. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






49. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






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