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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. To shift to another key.






2. A direction to play lively and fast.






3. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






4. A symbol indicating to play loud.






5. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






6. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.






7. 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.






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






9. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






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






11. A repeated phrase.






12. 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.






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






14. The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.






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






16. A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.






17. First developed in the 8th century - methods of writing music.






18. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






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






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






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






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






23. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






24. The highest female voice.






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






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






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






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






29. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






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






31. The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.






32. The movement of chords in succession.






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






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






35. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






36. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.






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






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






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






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






41. Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written.






42. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






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






44. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






45. 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.






46. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






47. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






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






49. 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.






50. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.