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






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






4. Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.






5. A period in history dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. This period signified the rebirth of music - art - and literature.






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






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






8. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






9. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






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






11. A separate section of a larger composition.






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






13. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






14. To shift to another key.






15. 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.






16. 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.






17. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






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






19. A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.






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






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






22. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.






23. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






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






25. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






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






27. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






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






29. Group of singers in a chorus.






30. 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.






31. To shift to another key.






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






33. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






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






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






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






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






38. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






39. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.






40. 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.






41. String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.






42. Group of singers in a chorus.






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






44. A composition written for eight instruments.






45. A direction to play lively and fast.






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






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






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






49. The distance in pitch between two notes.






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