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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. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






2. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.






3. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






4. A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical sonata form works.






5. Lowest female singing voice.






6. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






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






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






9. The highest female voice.






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






11. A direction to play lively and fast.






12. A repeated phrase.






13. A short or brief sonata.






14. A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.






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






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






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






18. 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.






19. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






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






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






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






23. Sliding between two notes.






24. 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.






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






26. 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.






27. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






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






29. 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.






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






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






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






33. 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.






34. Group of singers in a chorus.






35. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






36. The distance in pitch between two notes.






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






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






39. A chord comprised of three whole tones resulting in an augmented fourth or diminished fifth.






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






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






42. 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.






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






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






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






46. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






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






48. Introduction to an opera or other large musical work.






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






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