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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 quick 20th century dance written in double time.






2. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






3. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






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






5. Short detached notes - as opposed to legato.






6. The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.






7. 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.






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






9. A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three people






10. Indicating speed.






11. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






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






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






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






15. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






16. A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.






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






18. 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.






19. 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.






20. Unmusical - without tone.






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






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






23. The distance in pitch between two notes.






24. A reprise.






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






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






27. An extended cantata on a sacred subject.






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






29. Where the musical themes and melodies are developed - written in sonata form.






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






31. Group of singers in a chorus.






32. Quick repetition of the same note or the rapid alternation between two notes.






33. Unmusical - without tone.






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






35. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.






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






37. 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.






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






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






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






41. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.






42. The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.






43. A symbol indicating to play loud.






44. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






45. 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.






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






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






48. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






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






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