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Keyboards Trivia

Keyboards Trivia Quizzes

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10 Keyboards quizzes and 120 Keyboards trivia questions.
1.
A Wallet Of Piano Chords
  A Wallet Of Piano Chords    
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
Instead of a regular wallet with money, this wallet contains different piano chords that are useful in both songwriting and performing. Can you identify them? Knowledge of basic music theory may be helpful, but not required! Good luck!
Average, 10 Qns, Lpez, Jun 07 22
Average
Lpez gold member
Jun 07 22
185 plays
2.
  Easy Piano Quiz for Dummies    
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
I'm hoping this will be easy for everyone who has ever played the piano, and not too hard for those who haven't played. Good luck!
Average, 20 Qns, cannedcorn, Jan 10 23
Average
cannedcorn
Jan 10 23
5797 plays
3.
  Basic Piano    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I have been playing piano for 6 years and I want to share my knowledge of the piano with you.
Easier, 10 Qns, Ilovedr, Feb 22 16
Easier
Ilovedr
4832 plays
4.
  Piano Pop Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
"Piano Pop Quiz" contains questions about the construction of a piano, piano music, piano history, etc.
Average, 20 Qns, hot_pink, Jun 21 19
Average
hot_pink
Jun 21 19
2176 plays
5.
  Electronic Organs: Tonewheel to Wave Synthesis   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Ever since 1897, the idea of making the organ more portable and available for home use by replacing the pipes with electronic components has inspired engineers. Follow me across a century of fascinating instruments!
Average, 10 Qns, WesleyCrusher, Sep 03 22
Average
WesleyCrusher editor
Sep 03 22
1015 plays
6.
  Piano Basics and Theory    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Music theory and piano trivia reasonably simple.
Average, 10 Qns, sweet_cake, Feb 05 17
Average
sweet_cake
2155 plays
7.
  The Piano    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about how well you know this famous and amazing instrument.
Average, 10 Qns, SirMusic98, Feb 11 14
Average
SirMusic98
473 plays
8.
  Piano (bits and) Pieces    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about random trivia related to the piano. Have fun.
Tough, 10 Qns, Noleen, Feb 05 17
Tough
Noleen
833 plays
9.
  Theatre Organs    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Radio City Music hall, Fabulous Fox Theatre, Ohio Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, Emery Theatre, these are all noted for having famous organs, and this is what this quiz is about.
Average, 10 Qns, phantomguy, Sep 03 22
Average
phantomguy
Sep 03 22
298 plays
10.
  Piano, the Instrument    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Do you think you know how to work a piano? Do you not only know that, or also its history? Well then, you should put your knowledge to a test and take this quiz.
Average, 10 Qns, bloogy, Sep 27 11
Average
bloogy
478 plays
trivia question Quick Question
How does the pedal furthest to the right change the music?

From Quiz "Piano Pop Quiz"





Keyboards Trivia Questions

1. What is the first and most common note that music books begin a new piano-learner on, when they are just starting to learn the instrument?

From Quiz
The Piano

Answer: C

"Middle C" is the note that most piano players are first taught. When they are beginning to learn the instrument, it helps the player to master the notes of the different scales before moving onto more complicated pieces higher up and lower down the piano.

2. The very first electric organ was the Telharmonium, a behemoth of an instrument installed in New York City in 1897. What did it do that no live performing instrument before it had done?

From Quiz Electronic Organs: Tonewheel to Wave Synthesis

Answer: It transmitted to multiple locations

The first Telharmonium weighed seven tons and its later incarnations were much heavier still, but its sound was portable: The instrument generated its tones in electrical form and fed the resulting currents to telephone wires so that all a subscriber needed to do was to connect a simple loudspeaker to the line output and they would hear live performances, a full nine years before the first experimental radio broadcast.

3. How many keys are on the common grand piano?

From Quiz Piano, the Instrument

Answer: 88

Inside a grand piano, there are strings which are hit by small objects called hammers when you press the keys on the keyboard. The string then vibrates, creating the sound that you hear from the piano.

4. How many keys does a standard piano keyboard have?

From Quiz Piano Pop Quiz

Answer: 88

The piano has 32 black keys and 56 white keys.

5. How many keys does a standard piano have?

From Quiz Basic Piano

Answer: 88

There are 36 black keys and 52 white keys. Some pianos, known as a high performance grand pianos, actually have 92 keys.

6. What is the organ word for how many keyboards an organ has?

From Quiz Theatre Organs

Answer: manuals

The organ at the Radio City Music Hall has 5 manuals, where a theatre in Sandusky, Ohio has 3 manuals.

7. The Telharmonium and the earliest Hammond organs used an electromechanical device called the tonewheel to generate the needed frequencies. What was used to pick up sounds from the early tonewheels?

From Quiz Electronic Organs: Tonewheel to Wave Synthesis

Answer: Magnets and coils

A tonewheel was a simple and ingenious construction: A simple lightweight wheel had teeth fit to it at regular intervals similar to a gear. By spinning this wheel next to a pickup coil containing a permanent magnet, it induced an alternating current. Rotating wheels at different speeds and using different numbers of teeth per wheel allowed for various frequencies to be generated. Mixing these single frequencies created a surprisingly wide variance of sounds, many of them emulating natural instruments from the brass, woodwind and string family.

8. What minor key signature has no accidentals (sharps or flats)?

From Quiz Piano (bits and) Pieces

Answer: A minor

If you drop a piano down a mine shaft you may well land up with A flat miner. Sorry, I know that's cringe-worthy but couldn't resist. A minor is relative to C major and therefore has the same key signature. B minor is relative to D major and therefore has 2 sharps (F & C). C minor is relative to E flat major and therefore has 3 flats (B, E & A). D minor is relative to F major and therefore has just one flat (B).

9. Usually about how long is a concert grand?

From Quiz Piano Basics and Theory

Answer: 9 feet

Concert grands are longer than the standard grands which are usually around 6 feet. The concert grands produce a much better tone as the soundboards and strings are longer.

10. What is the lowest note on a standard piano keyboard?

From Quiz Piano Pop Quiz

Answer: A

The lowest note on the piano is A, which is the farthest key to your left. A is a white key. On some rare pianos there several additional bass keys ending with a C that is subsonic.

11. The black keys are used to play:

From Quiz Easy Piano Quiz for Dummies

Answer: sharps and flats

The key signature will determine how many sharps or flats you will encounter in a piece.

12. What is the word for how many sounds there are on an organ?

From Quiz Theatre Organs

Answer: ranks

The organ that used to be at the Springdale Music Palace and is now at the Sharonville Music Palace has 33 ranks.

13. What device is used to hit the strings when you press down a key?

From Quiz The Piano

Answer: Hammer

Special hammers are used to hit the string using a simple mechanism so that when a key is depressed, the hammer strikes the corresponding string. The hammer then returns to its original position for the next time its note is needed. A plectrum is used to strum guitars, a bow is used on string instruments (e.g. the violin) and reeds are used on woodwind instruments (e.g. clarinets).

14. How many black keys are on the common grand piano?

From Quiz Piano, the Instrument

Answer: 36

There are 36 black keys on the piano.

15. Who is believed to have invented the modern piano?

From Quiz Piano (bits and) Pieces

Answer: Bartolomeo Cristofori

Cristofori was born in Padua, Italy and worked for Prince Ferdinando de Medici as caretaker of the prince's large collection of instruments. The job required him to have technical knowledge of the instruments and the ability to carry out repairs when necessary. He built several different types of harpsichords, two of which he actually invented before building his first piano in about 1700. Baldwin, Bechstein and Steinweg (Steinway) are all famous piano makers.

16. What is the highest note on the piano?

From Quiz Piano Pop Quiz

Answer: C

C is the highest note, and is a white key. It is the farthest key to your right.

17. What instrument family is the piano part of?

From Quiz Basic Piano

Answer: percussion

The piano is usually considered a part of the percussion family because it uses a hammer to hit the strings which makes the noise you hear. Brass instruments include the trumpet and trombone. The woodwinds include the clarinet, saxophone, and flute. String instruments include the violin and guitar.

18. Where is the largest pipe organ in the world located?

From Quiz Theatre Organs

Answer: Atlantic City Convention Hall

The organ has over a hundred ranks, and has 6 manuals.

19. How many black keys are there on a standard grand piano?

From Quiz The Piano

Answer: 36

There are 36 black keys and 52 white keys altogether making a total of 88. The black notes are: A#, C#, D#, F# and G# (or Bb, Db, Eb, Gb and Ab respectively); and the white notes are: A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

20. What is the first pedal, to the left, called?

From Quiz Piano, the Instrument

Answer: soft pedal

When the soft pedal is pressed down, it pushes down all of the keys, so that the hammers are closer to the strings inside the piano. When you press the keys, the hammers are closer to the strings, so they will make a softer vibration. The pedal is also called "una corda."

21. What is another name for the sustain pedal?

From Quiz Piano (bits and) Pieces

Answer: Damper

The sustain or damper pedal raises all the dampers from the strings at the same time so that the played notes are sustained. The Una Corda and Soft pedal are one and the same thing. This pedal literally shifts the inner workings of the piano so that the hammer only hits one string. The Sostenuto pedal is generally only found on grand pianos while some upright pianos have a middle pedal called a practice pedal, which causes the sound to be muted.

22. The key of A-flat Major has how many flats?

From Quiz Piano Basics and Theory

Answer: four

The four flats are B-flat, E-Flat, A-flat, and D-flat.

23. This famous composer wrote songs including "Fur Elise" and "Moonlight Sonata".

From Quiz Piano Pop Quiz

Answer: Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a famous composer born in Bonn. Beethoven later moved to Vienna, where he died. He was deaf, and had a terrible temper. The piece "Fur Elise" is also known as "Bagatelle in A Minor". "Moonlight Sonata" is more formally called "Sonata Op.27 No.2". Beethoven's piano music consists of 32 sonatas, along with many other small pieces, and is commonly found in classical music books.

24. This famous Hungarian composer was a very showy piano player, and is known for being the first to play a concert by memory. Roger Daltry played him in a movie loosely based on his life.

From Quiz Easy Piano Quiz for Dummies

Answer: Liszt

Born in 1811, he has long been considered the greatest piano player of all time. He was somewhat of an idol among the aristocracy. Towards the end of his life, Liszt became an abbe, devoting his life to the church. The Roger Daltry film is called "Lisztomania," and is a very odd film indeed.

25. What is the real name of a piano?

From Quiz Basic Piano

Answer: Pianoforte

It is called the pianoforte because it can be both loud and soft. Piano being soft and forte being loud.

26. The word piano comes from a shortened version of the word 'pianoforte', so what is the literal Italian translation of 'pianoforte'?

From Quiz The Piano

Answer: Quiet-loud

'Piano' is the Italian word for 'soft' or 'quiet' and 'forte' is Italian for 'strong' or 'loud'. The instrument was called this because it could create a range of dynamics when being played.

27. Beginning in the 1950s, electronic organ manufacturers added playing aids to their products, allowing even a relative beginner to deliver a decent performance. Borrowing from the accordion, which feature was the first common playing aid?

From Quiz Electronic Organs: Tonewheel to Wave Synthesis

Answer: A single-keypress chord panel

After the frequency divider architecture made it possible to sound many notes at a time, the next step was to use this capability to make playing chords easier: A rectangular button panel similar to the bass system of an accordion contained all important chords for each of the twelve base notes. Complex models had not only minor, major and seventh chords but also more complex ones such as chords with sixths, augmented and diminished chords. Chord organs were usually low-end to midrange home instruments designed for beginners. The original design survived all the way into the 1980s in the form of a reduced panel allowing only between eight and twenty chords overall, usually those you would most often need in the keys of C major and a minor.

28. In the commontime (C) time signature, how many beats are in a measure?

From Quiz Piano Basics and Theory

Answer: four

Commontime is another form of 4-4 time. This means that each beat is worth one quarter note and each measure has four beats. Cut-time is another form of 2-2 time.

29. What is it called when you have each hand play two keys and you play the keys (one key from each hand at a time) repeatedly at a fast pace?

From Quiz Piano Pop Quiz

Answer: Tremolo

In a tremolo you usually play an octave with each hand. They are written above the notes as a 'Z' looking figure, but with more lines. Tremoli are usually played at the end of a song. The definition for the word is "a tremulous effect produced by rapid repetition of a single tone or rapid alternation of two tones".(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) The word "tremolo" is Italian, coming from the Latin word tremulus.

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Last Updated Mar 23 2024 5:46 AM
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