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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 book of text containing the words of an opera.






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






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






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






5. The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.






6. Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.






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






8. The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.






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






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






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






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






13. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






14. Group of singers in a chorus.






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






16. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






17. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






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






19. Closing section of a movement.






20. A symbol indicating to play loud.






21. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






22. The first section of a movement written in sonata form - introducing the melodies and themes.






23. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






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






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






26. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






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






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






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






30. Sliding between two notes.






31. The movement of chords in succession.






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






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






34. In sheet music - a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.






35. To shift to another key.






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






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






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






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






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






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






42. A separate section of a larger composition.






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






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






45. 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.






46. A reprise.






47. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






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. 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.






50. The principal note of a triad.







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