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Music Quiz | Notation, Form and Instruments, Basic Set 1

1 / 100.0s

Problem 1

The score is marked Allegro at the top.

How should the tempo basically be understood?

View explanation

Allegro generally indicates a fast tempo. It is not a dynamic marking, and how fast exactly varies with the character of the piece and the performer's reading.

Problem 2

A phrase is marked crescendo.

Which change in the sound is correct?

View explanation

Crescendo is an instruction to increase the volume gradually. It is not an instruction to speed up, so a performance that changes only the dynamics without altering the tempo is perfectly valid.

Problem 3

Pressing a key moved a hammer inside the instrument, which struck a stretched string to produce the sound.

Which instrument has this sound-producing mechanism?

View explanation

The piano sounds when hammers linked to the keys strike the strings. The harpsichord also uses keys and strings, but it differs in that the strings are basically plucked.

Problem 4

A first and a second theme are stated, then altered and developed, and the themes return toward the end.

Which form is built on this exposition, development and recapitulation?

View explanation

Stating themes in an exposition, working them in a development and bringing them back in a recapitulation is basic sonata form. Actual works vary widely, with introductions, codas and the like.

Problem 5

You are planning a work in which a solo violin and an orchestra pass the melody between them, by turns contrasting and combining.

Which type of work fits best?

View explanation

Placing the contrast and cooperation of a solo instrument and orchestra at the center is characteristic of the concerto. A symphony does not normally take dialogue with a designated soloist as its defining condition.

Problem 6

A metal flute and a wooden violin are to be classified among the sections of the orchestra.

Which pairing is correct?

View explanation

The flute is a woodwind even though most are now made of metal, and the violin is a string instrument. The classification of wind instruments is not settled by the material alone.

Problem 7

A performer holds an instrument with a neck and three strings, striking the strings with a plectrum.

Which instrument is this?

View explanation

An instrument with three strings and a neck, played by plucking or striking with a plectrum, is the shamisen. The shakuhachi and hichiriki are wind instruments and the kotsuzumi a drum, all sounding differently.

Problem 8

Movable bridges are set between the strings and the body, and their positions adjusted to tune each string.

Which Japanese instrument has this feature?

View explanation

The koto has bridges standing between the strings and the body, moved to adjust the pitch. That is a different system of tuning and playing from the shamisen, where strings are stopped against the neck.

Problem 9

You hear the sound of wind instruments centered on the shō, hichiriki and ryūteki.

Which traditional music is most closely associated with this combination?

View explanation

The shō, hichiriki and ryūteki are the representative wind instruments of gagaku. Gagaku also includes string and percussion instruments, and the ensemble varies by genre.

Problem 10

A listening note reads: "Sounded by striking a membrane, yet producing definite pitches matched to the piece and carrying the bass line as well."

Which orchestral instrument fits best?

View explanation

The timpani is a membrane percussion instrument that can nonetheless be tuned to produce definite pitches. It is not sound to conclude that all percussion instruments are without pitch.