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






2. 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.






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






4. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.






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






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






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






8. A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast.






9. In sheet music - an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.






10. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






11. A group singing in unison.






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






13. Sliding between two notes.






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






15. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






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






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






18. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






19. 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.






20. Arranging a piece of music for an orchestra. Also - the study of music.






21. The structure of a piece of music.






22. A short or brief sonata.






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






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






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






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






27. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






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






29. 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.






30. Closing section of a movement.






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






32. A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.






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






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






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






36. Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.






37. A symbol indicating to play loud.






38. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






39. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






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






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






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






43. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






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






45. A separate section of a larger composition.






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






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






48. A direction to play expressively.






49. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.






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






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



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