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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 short or brief sonata.






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






3. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






4. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






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






6. The principal note of a triad.






7. 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.






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






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






10. 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.






11. A sequence of songs - perhaps on a single theme - or with texts by one poet - or having continuos narrative.






12. One of two or more parts in polyphonic music. Voice refers to instrumental parts as well as the singing voice.






13. A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.






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






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






16. Suite of Baroque dances.






17. 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.






18. A dance written in triple time - where the accent falls on the first beat of each measure.






19. A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.






20. Repetition of a single tone.






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






22. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






23. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






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






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






26. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






27. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






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






29. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.






30. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






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






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






33. An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a 'p'.






34. A separate section of a larger composition.






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






36. 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.






37. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






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






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






40. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






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






42. A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes.






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






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






45. Sliding between two notes.






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






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






48. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






49. Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.






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