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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 song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






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






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






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






5. The first section of a movement written in sonata form - introducing the melodies and themes.






6. The principal note of a triad.






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






8. A short piano piece - often improvisational and intimate in character.






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






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






11. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






12. A large group of instrumentalists playing together.






13. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






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






15. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.






16. A short or brief sonata.






17. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






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






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






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






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






22. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






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






24. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






25. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






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






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






28. 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.






29. Tone color - quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.






30. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






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






32. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






33. Unmusical - without tone.






34. The highest female voice.






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






36. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






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






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






39. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






40. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






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






42. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's. The music was spare and emotionally reserved - especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.






43. A form of writing for vocals that is close to the manner of speech and is rhythmically free.






44. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






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






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






47. 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.






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






49. A short piano piece - often improvisational and intimate in character.






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