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Musical Terms 1 Trivia Quiz

There are so many musical signs and words associated with music. Let's see how many of them you know.

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

Author
Cardys

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
113,712

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
2882

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. While playing you see a "p" under your music. What do you do? This sign is usually used to add beauty and grace to the musical piece. Hint

Play slow

Play loudly

Play softly

Play fast

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. On a sheet of music, what does p stand for? Hint

Pianissimo

Piano

Picante

Presto

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. What is the sign called which looks like a greater sign >? It is placed above the note which is to be played. When you encounter this symbol the note should be played very loud.

Answer: (One Word)

4. Now if you see another greater than sign, but below the staff and elongated, what should you call it? When you see this sign you should gradually get quieter over the notes that the sign spans. Hint

Crescendo

Decrescendo

Staccato

Pianissimo

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Yes or No: While playing a piece of music will you ever see "fff"?

Yes

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Typically, when playing jazz music in a swing style, how should you play eighth notes? Hint

Long-short, Long-short

All short

Play as usual

Short-long, Short-long

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. In your time signature if you see a "C" with a line through it, what is the time signature? Hint

4/4

2/2

5/4

2/4

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. When you see an "m" in front of an f or p when playing what does it stand for? Hint

Madly

Mezzo

Modero

Maetzo

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Here's an odd one. Which one of the following acronyms would in the correct order for the SHARP circle of fifths? NOTE: The letters of the notes will be capitalized. Hint

BE A Dad, Go Catch Fish

Fat Cats Get Better At Disiplinary Establishments

Fat Cats Get Every Bit of Dung

Fat Cats Go Down At E-Bay

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Last one, which one of the following instruments, when playing scales, does not need to transpose its scales? For example-When playing a Bb concert scale, which one starts on a Bb? Hint

Bb Trumpet

Bb Tenor Saxophone

Bass Trombone

Eb Alto Saxophone

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. While playing you see a "p" under your music. What do you do? This sign is usually used to add beauty and grace to the musical piece.

Answer: Play softly

The p stands for "piano".

2. On a sheet of music, what does p stand for?

Answer: Piano

When you see a piano sign below your music you should play softly.

3. What is the sign called which looks like a greater sign >? It is placed above the note which is to be played. When you encounter this symbol the note should be played very loud.

Answer: Accent

This is used in most faster, uptempo songs. It is also usually found at the end of a phrase of music. It is NOT a staccato; a staccato can be played at any volume, and is symbolized by a dot.

Answer: Decrescendo

This symbol is usually seen at the climax part of the song, or towards the end.

5. Yes or No: While playing a piece of music will you ever see "fff"?

Answer: Yes

This stands for "forte fortissimo", or "fortississimo" or, in other words, play really, really loud. You will usually see this sign at the climax of the chart or at other parts. It helps to give the music a lot of feeling.

6. Typically, when playing jazz music in a swing style, how should you play eighth notes?

Answer: Long-short, Long-short

When playing jazz music you should say to yourself do-da-do-da, or long, short, long, short.

7. In your time signature if you see a "C" with a line through it, what is the time signature?

Answer: 2/2

When just a C is seen it stands for standard time (4/4), so with a line through it, it means to cut everything in half so it is then 2/2 time. It is not 2/4 because there are only 2 beats in a measure, and when you play a whole note it only gets 2 beats.

8. When you see an "m" in front of an f or p when playing what does it stand for?

Answer: Mezzo

If you were to see an mf while playing it would mean "mezzoforte". You should play this slightly below forte, but above mezzopiano.

9. Here's an odd one. Which one of the following acronyms would in the correct order for the SHARP circle of fifths? NOTE: The letters of the notes will be capitalized.

Answer: Fat Cats Go Down At E-Bay

As any musician should know, the order of sharps is FCGDAEB. The opposite of this, BEADGCF, is the order of flats.

10. Last one, which one of the following instruments, when playing scales, does not need to transpose its scales? For example-When playing a Bb concert scale, which one starts on a Bb?

Answer: Bass Trombone

The tenor saxophone must start up one note from what the scale is; for a Bb scale it would start on a C. The alto sax would start on a G. A trumpet has the same tranposition as the tenor sax, so it would also start on C. Thanks for playing.

Source: Author Cardys

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