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






2. A composition written for eight instruments.






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






4. Time signature with three beats to the measure.






5. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






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






7. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






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






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






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






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






12. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






13. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






14. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






15. When several strings are tuned to harmonically related pitches - all strings vibrate when only one of the strings is struck.






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






17. Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written.






18. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






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






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






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






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






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






24. To repeat a previous part of a composition generally after other music has been played.






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






26. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






27. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






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






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






30. 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.






31. A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions.






32. 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.






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






34. A composition written for nine instruments.






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






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






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






38. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






39. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






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






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






42. To shift to another key.






43. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






44. Closing section of a movement.






45. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






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






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






48. The principal note of a triad.






49. A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.






50. 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.