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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. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






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






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






4. Time signature with three beats to the measure.






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






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






7. The intonation - pitch - and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning - feeling - or attitude of the music.






8. A reprise.






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






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






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






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






13. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






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






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






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






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






19. A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.






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






21. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






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






23. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.






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






25. To shift to another key.






26. The movement of chords in succession.






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






28. Suite of Baroque dances.






29. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






30. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






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






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






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






34. A group singing in unison.






35. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






36. 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.






37. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






38. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






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






40. A separate section of a larger composition.






41. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






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






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






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






45. 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.






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






47. A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional - expressive - and imaginative style.






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






49. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






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