FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

Aunt Mavis' Musical Basics Trivia Quiz

Hi, I'm Aunt Mavis, here to test you on your theory of music knowledge. We'll start with some of the basics - are you ready?

A multiple-choice quiz by Sandstar12. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Sandstar12

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
311,870

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
1540

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. First things first, you need to know some of the basic facts about musical scores. So do you know the name of the lines that all musical notes are written on and how many lines there are? Hint

A safe consisting of seven lines

A stave consisting of seven lines

A stave consisting of five lines

A stove consisting of five lines

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. So you thought that first one was easy, right? Can you tell me the names of the notes on the five lines in the treble clef? Hint

B, D, G, H, C

F, A, C, E, G

E, G, B, D, F

A, B, C, D, E

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. How are you getting on so far? I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours! Providing, that is, that you know the name of the note the Americans call an eighth note. Hint

Crotchet

Quaver

Minim

Semibrieve

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Isn't this fun? I hope you know the difference between your major and your minor. Which of these would best describe a piece of music with minor tonality? Hint

Sad, melancholy

Clashing, loud

Bright, cheery

Soft, quiet

5. Halfway there now; do you think you're doing well? Now onto time signatures. If you saw 3/4 written one number underneath the other in a piece of music (most probably at the beginning) what would you assume it meant? Hint

I wouldn't know what it meant... I'd ignore it!

3 quaver beats in every bar

3 crochet beats in every bar

3 out of four notes should be played (skip the rest!)

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Everyone needs to know about intervals, and no I don't mean half-time at the theatre. If I went from a 'D' up to a 'B' in the key of C major how big an interval would this be? Hint

sixth

fourth

fifth

second

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Perhaps you're good at singing? Have you ever sung in a choir? I did when I was just a girl. If so, this'll be an easy one. Put these voices in order of pitch from lowest to highest... Alto, Tenor, Soprano, Bass. Hint

Bass, Alto, Tenor, Soprano

Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano

Soprano, Tenor, Alto, Bass

Tenor, Bass, Soprano, Alto

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. On to keys. In written music the key signature is written on the score at the beginning of a section of music. It is made up of either sharps or flats. Which major key has 3 sharps? Hint

G major

C major

A major

F major

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Here is a piece of music in F major. The piece becomes minor but the key signature remains the same. That's because it's the relative minor of F major and has the same key signature. What is the relative minor of F major? Hint

D minor

C minor

E flat minor

A minor

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. We've just time for one more question though I think. Let's take a look at tempo. If at the top of my music I saw a crochet (quarter note) with '= 180' written after it, what would this mean? Hint

180 crochets in the whole piece

180 crochet beats per second

180 crochet beats per minute

each crochet lasts 180 seconds

(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

Select a User ID:

Choose a Password:

Your Email:

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. First things first, you need to know some of the basic facts about musical scores. So do you know the name of the lines that all musical notes are written on and how many lines there are?

Answer: A stave consisting of five lines

That's right! Music is most often written on a stave which is made up of five horizontal lines stretching across the page. A piece of music manuscript paper is covered in staves instead of normal ruled lines and can be used for writing music down.

2. So you thought that first one was easy, right? Can you tell me the names of the notes on the five lines in the treble clef?

Answer: E, G, B, D, F

There are seven letter names used in music referring to the pitch of a note. These are: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. When you look at the stave in the treble clef the notes that should be written on the lines are: E, G, B, D and F in that order from bottom to top. There are many ways to remember this, the most common being a mnemonic such as 'Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit'.

3. How are you getting on so far? I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours! Providing, that is, that you know the name of the note the Americans call an eighth note.

Answer: Quaver

From longer to shorter, the more common note values are: semibreve (which Americans call a whole note) usually worth four beats, a minim (Americans call this a half note) worth two beats, a crotchet (quarter note) worth a beat and a quaver (eighth note) worth half a beat. There are shorter note values as well; semiquaver, demisemiquaver, and hemidemisemiquaver.

4. Isn't this fun? I hope you know the difference between your major and your minor. Which of these would best describe a piece of music with minor tonality?

Answer: Sad, melancholy

Sometimes I think minor music can be the most beautiful... A minor key sounds sad and often slightly depressing but it can also sound hauntingly beautiful. It's easy to tell a minor piece as it often has a dark mood in contrast to a major key's merry brightness.

Answer: 3 crochet beats in every bar

Time signatures dictate the number of beats per bar and the note length of each beat. 3/4 says that there are three crochets (quarter notes) per bar. 3/8 says that there are three quavers (eighth notes) per bar. There are two types of time signatures: simple and compound. Simple time is grouped in twos where as compound time splits the beats into groupings of three.

But you knew that, of course!

6. Everyone needs to know about intervals, and no I don't mean half-time at the theatre. If I went from a 'D' up to a 'B' in the key of C major how big an interval would this be?

Answer: sixth

D, E, F, G, A, B: six notes so the interval is a sixth. Of course it gets a lot more complicated than that. Intervals can be major or minor, diminished or augmented, or even perfect; it all depends on the notes and the key they're played in.

Answer: Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano

A lot of choral music is written for SATB (Soprano, alto, tenor, bass). All the parts are of equal importance and the melodies and harmonies weave together to create a piece of choral music.

8. On to keys. In written music the key signature is written on the score at the beginning of a section of music. It is made up of either sharps or flats. Which major key has 3 sharps?

Answer: A major

A major has three sharps. I was taught an easy way to remember this. For sharps use the rhyme: 'Go Down And Enter By Force Charlie' with G major therefore having 1 sharp, D major 2 etc. For flats the rhyme is: 'Five Boys Eating A Duck Going Cold' used in the same way.

Answer: D minor

It's D minor. An easy way to work this out is to count down 4 semitones including the starting keynote: F, E, Eb, D. The same process is used for finding a relative major, only in reverse. eg. C minor's relative major: C, C#, D, D# or Eb so it's Eb major! Quite simple really isn't it?

10. We've just time for one more question though I think. Let's take a look at tempo. If at the top of my music I saw a crochet (quarter note) with '= 180' written after it, what would this mean?

Answer: 180 crochet beats per minute

Tempo is a measure of the time each beat takes. It can be described in words such as 'Andante' or 'Presto', or in beats per minute. The crochet refers to the length of each beat and 180 is the number of beats per minute therefore it means 180 crochet beats per minute.

Source: Author Sandstar12

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ertrum before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.