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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. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






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






3. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






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






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






6. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






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






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






9. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






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






11. 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.






12. A repeated phrase.






13. The movement of chords in succession.






14. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






15. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






16. Lowest female singing voice.






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






18. Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.






19. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






20. A group of 4 instruments - two violins - a viola - and cello.






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






22. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






23. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






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






25. Sliding between two notes.






26. 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.






27. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






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






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






30. A separate section of a larger composition.






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






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






33. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






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






35. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






36. Suite of Baroque dances.






37. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






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






39. 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.






40. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






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






42. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






43. The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






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






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






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






47. A book of text containing the words of an opera.






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






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






50. Primary theme or subject that is developed.







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