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






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






3. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






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






5. Group of singers in a chorus.






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






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






8. A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three people






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






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






11. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






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






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






14. A short light musical drama.






15. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






16. 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.






17. 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.






18. A short or brief sonata.






19. Lowest female singing voice.






20. A separate section of a larger composition.






21. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






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






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






24. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






25. A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.






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






27. 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.






28. A separate section of a larger composition.






29. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






30. 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.






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






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






33. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






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






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






36. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






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






38. A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations.






39. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






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






41. The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two - three - four beats to a measure.






42. A musical style characterized as excessive - ornamental - and trivial.






43. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






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






50. 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.