Test your basic knowledge |

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






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






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






4. A short or brief sonata.






5. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






6. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






7. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






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






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






10. The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.






11. A composition written for eight instruments.






12. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






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






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






15. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






23. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






24. The first violin in an orchestra.






25. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






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






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






28. A group singing in unison.






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






30. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.






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






32. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






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






34. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






35. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






36. To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.






37. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






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






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






40. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






41. A symbol in sheet music a direction to play energetically.






42. Unmusical - without tone.






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






44. Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.






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






46. A separate section of a larger composition.






47. Repetition of a single tone.






48. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






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