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Thematic Musical Instruments Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Thematic Musical Instruments Quizzes, Trivia

Thematic Musical Instruments Trivia

Thematic Musical Instruments Trivia Quizzes

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14 quizzes and 142 trivia questions.
1.
Horn of Plenty
  "Horn" of Plenty   best quiz  
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
Horns can be used for blowing, defending, or blasting at unsuspecting drivers in the middle of a traffic jam. See if you can answer these ten questions that include the word "horn."
Easier, 10 Qns, trident, Feb 25 24
Easier
trident editor
Feb 25 24
410 plays
2.
  I've Got a Lute   best quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Match these words containing 'lute' with the correct descriptions.
Very Easy, 10 Qns, zorba_scank, Feb 10 24
Very Easy
zorba_scank gold member
Feb 10 24
481 plays
3.
  Brassed Off   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
As an aspiring tuba player, I've decided to create a quiz themed around brass instruments, but with a twist - it's NOT a Music quiz. All these questions have something to do with the brass family, but in other categories.
Average, 10 Qns, Kankurette, Feb 12 24
Average
Kankurette gold member
Feb 12 24
201 plays
4.
  Classifying Musical Instruments   top quiz  
Classification Quiz
 12 Qns
Directly or Indirectly
I'll give you some clues which should lead you to musical instruments which fit into the brass, percussion or strings categories. Once you've worked out the right answer, move the clue to the relevant box. Sort them all into the right categories.
Easier, 12 Qns, rossian, Feb 10 24
Easier
rossian editor
Feb 10 24
223 plays
5.
  Guitar, Banjo or Ukulele   top quiz  
Classification Quiz
 10 Qns
Guitars and their relatives turn up in lots of places, not just folk groups or around campfires. Sort the people and things to the instrument with which they are associated. Some connections might be in name only.
Average, 10 Qns, spanishliz, Feb 09 24
Average
spanishliz editor
Feb 09 24
185 plays
6.
  Piano Man   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I'm not very good at playing the piano but I hope I am better at piano-themed quiz writing.
Average, 10 Qns, Joepetz, Feb 14 24
Average
Joepetz gold member
Feb 14 24
286 plays
7.
  I've Got a Horn   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Match these ten words containing 'horn' with the correct description.
Very Easy, 10 Qns, zorba_scank, Apr 22 21
Very Easy
zorba_scank gold member
Apr 22 21
1233 plays
8.
  I've Got a Harp   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
All these words contain the word 'harp'. Can you match them with the correct definitions?
Very Easy, 10 Qns, zorba_scank, Apr 22 21
Very Easy
zorba_scank gold member
Apr 22 21
1211 plays
9.
  I've Got a Drum   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Ten different words containing 'drum'. Can you pair them with the correct description?
Easier, 10 Qns, zorba_scank, Apr 22 21
Easier
zorba_scank gold member
Apr 22 21
1094 plays
10.
  Different Drums   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The drum has a global cultural significance that far surpasses its use as a mere musical instrument. This quiz explores ten different drums and drummers culled from our universal cultural heritage.
Difficult, 10 Qns, socalmiguel, Apr 22 21
Difficult
socalmiguel
Apr 22 21
632 plays
trivia question Quick Question
The Southern Fiddler Ray, also known as the Banjo Ray and Banjo Shark amongst other names, is native to which country?

From Quiz "With A Banjo On My Knee"




11.
  The 'Horn' Quiz    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
All questions and/or answers in this quiz will contain the word 'horn'. Best of luck!
Tough, 10 Qns, Triviaballer, Apr 22 21
Tough
Triviaballer gold member
Apr 22 21
889 plays
12.
  One to Beat the Band    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about all the uses for the English word "band." Good luck!
Average, 10 Qns, PootyPootwell, Apr 22 21
Average
PootyPootwell gold member
Apr 22 21
309 plays
13.
  What's That Instrument?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Kids, see if you can recognize certain instruments from television or popular music.
Average, 10 Qns, GoodVibe, Apr 22 21
Average
GoodVibe gold member
Apr 22 21
663 plays
14.
  With A Banjo On My Knee    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
What do you know about the banjo - not only the musical instrument, but anything entertaining or related to a banjo?
Average, 10 Qns, abecedarian, Apr 22 21
Average
abecedarian
Apr 22 21
381 plays
Related Topics
  Instrumental Hits [Music] (42 quizzes)

  Musical Instruments [Music] (209 quizzes)

  Musical Instruments in Songs [Music] (14 quizzes)


Thematic Musical Instruments Trivia Questions

1. The word "piano", that English speakers call the musical instrument, is actually shortened from the Italian word for the instrument, which is what?

From Quiz
Piano Man

Answer: Pianoforte

The full Italian name for a piano is actually "clavicembalo col piano e forte" which means a harpsicord capable of playing both loud and soft, so "pianoforte" means "softloud".

2. MUSIC: in 1999, a Tuba appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel, but it wasn't an instrument - it was the name of a singer. Which country did Tuba Önal and Grup Mistik represent with the song 'Dön Artık'?

From Quiz Brassed Off

Answer: Turkey

Tuba is a common girls' name in Turkey and means 'blessedness'. Following the 1998 victory of Israel's Dana International, Eurovision's first transgender winner, the 1999 contest was hosted in Jerusalem. Turkey's entry was 'Dön Artık' ('Come Back Now') by Tuba (also spelled Tuğba) Önal and Grup Mistik, but it sadly only came 16th. Önal released her only album, 'Onun Adı Aşk' ('Its Name is Love'), the same year. After Eurovision, she did film and voice acting work.

3. What instrument does Squidward Tentacles play?

From Quiz What's That Instrument?

Answer: Clarinet

Squidward from "Spongebob Squarepants" thinks he can play the clarinet, but no one likes his playing. You may hear the clarinet in swing and jazz or on "Arthur" when Binky plays.

4. A banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a circular frame. How many strings does a banjo usually have?

From Quiz With A Banjo On My Knee

Answer: Four or five

Banjos usually have four or five strings. Six string banjos are tuned and played similar to guitars. Banjos with seven strings and up to ten strings have been developed. Banjos come in a variety of forms!

5. Cape Horn is one of the most southerly points of South America. What body of water is Cape Horn the northern boundary of?

From Quiz The 'Horn' Quiz

Answer: Drake Passage

The Drake Passage is the waterway located between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The passage is named in honor of Sir Francis Drake who led an expedition in 1578 that discovered that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans connected south of South America.

6. Which American author wrote: "If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away"?

From Quiz Different Drums

Answer: Henry David Thoreau

Often paraphrased as "marching to the beat of a different drummer", the admonition comes from the concluding paragraphs of Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" (1854). Ralph Waldo Emerson roundly criticized Thoreau's writings and philosophy, fearing it would lead to social disorder, though he deeply admired Thoreau's ability to write. Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and Elizabeth Alexander are all poets who have written for United States presidential inaugurations.

7. Which Austrian composer was known for transporting his own piano across Europe rather than play on the piano provided by a theater?

From Quiz Piano Man

Answer: Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart preferred his own personal piano and brought it with him wherever he performed. His last piano is on display in the Mozarteum in Salzburg and is much smaller and lighter than a typical piano to making moving easier. Mozart Moving is a common name for companies who move pianos and other large musical instruments.

8. ANIMALS: which beautiful but bad-tempered aquatic bird has a large variant known as the trumpeter?

From Quiz Brassed Off

Answer: Swan

The trumpeter swan is North America's largest and heaviest waterfowl species, and the most common species of swan there. Unlike the mute swan, the trumpeter has an entirely black beak. It gets its name from its honking cry. Although populations in the wild had dropped to below 70 in 1933, a population of trumpeters was found around the Copper River in Alaska in the 1950s, and reintroduction and breeding programmes have helped to increase wild populations greatly. There is a large population around the Great Lakes, although they are forced to compete for territory with mute swans. In winter, they have migrated as far south as North Carolina.

9. Another use of "band" appears when it's paired with "width." In which sentence is "bandwidth" used INCORRECTLY?

From Quiz One to Beat the Band

Answer: "The bandwidths around my cat's paws are white."

In signal processing, bandwidth refers to the measure of width between a range of frequencies, calculated in hertz. In computing, the word is used to refer to the rate of transfer of data. Sometime around the early 1990s, it began appearing to describe people's lack of ability to process information. An early documented use is from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who would reportedly say "he doesn't have the bandwidth for that" to indicate the employee is not mentally capable of grasping a concept. Currently, it is used as a measure of time or mental space, such as bandwidth is required to complete tasks.

10. What instrument does Arthur Read play?

From Quiz What's That Instrument?

Answer: Piano

The title character from "Arthur" is Arthur Read. He plays an instrument often heard in classical music.

11. What were the Australian poet A. B. "Banjo" Paterson's given names?

From Quiz With A Banjo On My Knee

Answer: Andrew Barton

He was the eldest of seven children born to Andrew Bogle Paterson and his wife Rose. The pen-name "The Banjo" was taken from the name of a station racehorse owned by his family.

12. What symbol of food and abundance dates back to the 5th century BCE and is commonly called the horn of plenty or the Horn of Amalthea?

From Quiz The 'Horn' Quiz

Answer: Cornucopia & a cornucopia & the cornucopia

The cornucopia is often associated with the holiday of Thanksgiving in North America and it is typically depicted as a horn-shaped basket filled with fruits and vegetables. In Greek mythology, Zeus accidentally broke off the horn of the goat Almathea. Legend has it that whoever was in possession of this horn would have all of their wishes granted to them.

13. The Drum Major of the 3rd U. S. Infantry Regiment "Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps" does not carry the traditional mace of a drum major. Which does he or she carry?

From Quiz Different Drums

Answer: espontoon

The drum major of the "Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps" is the only member of the corps who wears the light-infantry cap and carries an espontoon instead of a traditional mace. With the movement of his espontoon, the drum major issues silent commands to the Corps. The espontoon is about six feet long, made of wood, with a double-edged blade at one end, and an iron tip at the other. During the Revolutionary War the espontoon was carried by infantry officers as a symbol of rank and as a signaling device for directing troop movements. For Lewis and Clark it also served as a walking cane. Lewis killed a rattlesnake with his (May 26, 1805), and Clark killed a wolf (May 29, 1805). A musket is a shoulder gun carried by infantry soldiers; a baton is a slender rod which a band or orchestra leader uses to direct his musicians: a truncheon is a shattered spear.

14. The Mad Piano is a rare Mario enemy that debuted in "Super Mario 64" (N64) on which spooky level?

From Quiz Piano Man

Answer: Big Boo's Haunt

Big Boo's Haunt takes place in the manor and grounds of a haunted house. Boos, ghost-like creatures, are the main enemy but one of the most famous enemies here is the Mad Piano. The Mad Piano is a haunted piano with sharp teeth that will attack Mario and do serious damage. It guards a red coin.

15. SCI/TECH: brass is an alloy made of two metals. One is copper, but what is the other one?

From Quiz Brassed Off

Answer: Zinc

Brass has been used since prehistoric times. The proportions of copper and zinc vary, and can create different hardnesses, colours and so on, but copper usually predominates. It is used to make wind instruments because it has high corrosion resistance (handy when spit gets into them), is malleable and easy to shape, and amplifies sound well. Brass is also used to make doorknobs, locks, hinges and plugs, due to its low friction, and in the past, it was used to make statues in Europe and Africa, coins in the Roman Empire and objects such as fonts and candlesticks in the Low Countries. It also has antimicrobial properties.

16. What is a lap band?

From Quiz One to Beat the Band

Answer: A silicone device placed around top of stomach to treat obesity

The more formal term for lap band is laparoscopic adjustable gastric band. By the end of the 1970s, surgeons were working on a way to treat obesity by putting a band around the entry area of the stomach. By the mid-1980s, the procedure had been fine-tuned and included an adjustable band that creates a reservoir at the top of the stomach that holds approximately half a cup of food; typically a whole stomach can hold six cups of food. When the reservoir is full, the stomach sends the message to the brain that the stomach is full and the person is supposed to feel sated.

17. What instrument is most recognizably associated with polka and Steve Urkel?

From Quiz What's That Instrument?

Answer: Accordion

Steve Urkel was a nerdy character on the 1990s sitcom "Family Matters". At times, he would pop in and play the accordion while wearing German clothing. Polka is most associated with Germany, but variations exist across Europe. The accordion is also the main instrument in the Italian dance called the tarantella.

18. In the song "Oh! Susanna", from where do I come "with a banjo on my knee"?

From Quiz With A Banjo On My Knee

Answer: Alabama

"Oh! Susanna" written by Stephen Foster, sold over 100,000 copies. Before that, no song had sold more than 5,000 copies in America.

19. Which was the name of a type of drum likely used by a medieval drummer?

From Quiz Different Drums

Answer: Tabor

A tabor was a small drum held close to the body with a strap or thong either around the waist or the arm. This allowed the player to simultaneously play the drum and a pipe. The pipe had a ridge along its bottom to assist in support while the player struck the tabor. The player was able to accompany himself, making the tabor and pipe an ideal combination for producing music for dance. A "rebec' was (generally) a three-stringed instrument resembling a fiddle; a "dulcian" was the forerunner of the modern bassoon; a "dulcimer" was a stringed trapezoidal lap instrument played by hitting hammers on the strings.

20. What classic sitcom's theme song is sung by the main characters as they play the piano?

From Quiz Piano Man

Answer: All in the Family

"All in the Family" has the theme song "Those Were the Days" sung by Archie and Edith Bunker (Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton). The song features the couple reminiscing about past years when they were younger. The show debuted in 1971 and ended in 1979.

21. HUMANITIES: how many trombones 'led the big parade' in a song from the musical 'The Music Man'?

From Quiz Brassed Off

Answer: 76

'The Music Man' is a musical about Harold Hill, a conman who travels to a midwestern town in Iowa on the pretext of starting a boys' marching band and selling uniforms and instruments, before skipping town with the money. However, he falls in love with Marian Paroo, the town's librarian, and ends up leading a band for real. 'Seventy-Six Trombones' is Hill's pitch for the marching band, in which he claims to have seen a parade with an exaggerated number of instruments, and even fifty-odd cannons! Several real-life marching bands have added it to their repertoire and in Mason City, Iowa, writer Meredith Willson's home town, one room in the Music Man Square building has 76 donated trombones hanging from the ceiling. 'Family Guy' fans might remember Peter Griffin celebrating a touchdown by getting cheerleaders, players and referees to join in with a rendition of 'Shipoopi', another song from the musical, in 'Patriot Games'.

22. What instrument is most commonly heard in just about every rock song known to man?

From Quiz What's That Instrument?

Answer: Guitar

Many rock icons play the guitar, including Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, and George Harrison. Variations include the acoustic and electric guitars.

23. "Banjo on My Knee" is a 1936 American musical comedy-drama film. Who starred as Pearl Elliott Holley? (Joel McCrea played her husband Ernie.)

From Quiz With A Banjo On My Knee

Answer: Barbara Stanwyck

During a career spanning 59 years, Barbara Stanwyck made 93 movies and made many television appearances.

24. Which was the original title of the classic Christmas carol "The Little Drummer Boy"?

From Quiz Different Drums

Answer: Carol of the Drum

The words of "The Little Drummer Boy" were written by Katherine Davis in 1941. Following the original recording by the Jack Halloran Singers, musical producer Harry Simeone recorded a second version in 1958 under the 20th Century Fox label. The recording became such a success that Simeone wanted another carol written in a similar vein - a carol describing a young child's remembrance of the original Christmas. In 1962 he recorded "Do You Hear What I Hear, the carol of a shepherd boy's experiences of the first Christmas.

25. What is the name of the titular pianist played by Adrien Brody in the 2002 film "The Pianist"?

From Quiz Piano Man

Answer: Wladyslaw Szpilman

Władysław Szpilman was a real-life Polish-Jewish pianist and survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Holocaust. Adrien Brody portrayed Szpilman in the film "The Pianist" for which he earned a Best Actor Academy Award. The film is based on Szpilman's memoir "The Pianist" which covered his life during World War II.

26. CELEBRITIES: which British TV presenter, born in Ashton-under-Lyne and formerly of 'The Big Breakfast', plays the baritone horn?

From Quiz Brassed Off

Answer: Melanie Sykes

Melanie Sykes got her big break when she appeared in adverts for Boddington's Bitter, a Manchester-based bitter. She started out as a reporter on 'The Big Breakfast', an early morning light entertainment show, before moving on to presenting 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!', and 'Today with Des and Mel' with Des O'Connor. As a child, she played the baritone horn in a brass band along with her parents and sisters; she demonstrated her baritone skills as a guest on 'TFI Friday'. She still plays occasionally, according to an interview with Brass Bands England, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, while in lockdown, she started practising the baritone again. (Davina McCall mimes playing a tuba in McFly's 'It's All About You', but that's as far as it goes.)

27. What is not a type of band that performed during the 20th century?

From Quiz One to Beat the Band

Answer: Acnestis band

A jug band generally includes traditional instruments as well as homemade ones, with at least one jug player. It's a cheap and portable instrument that creates a hoarse sound that complements the higher pitched instruments like the fiddle or a kazoo. Marching bands have been around since ancient times; you're most likely to catch one at college sporting events. Tribute bands are those who specialize in playing the songs of another specific band; they started appearing when the Beatles became popular. I made up the term Acnestis band. Acnestis is a word used to describe an area of your body that you cannot reach yourself, like a spot between your shoulder blades. May not apply to people who are double-jointed.

28. Some songs during the 1960s featured an instrument called the sitar. What country is the sitar from?

From Quiz What's That Instrument?

Answer: India

The sitar is plucked similar to a guitar and can have many as 20 strings. Songs from the Beatles and Rolling Stones feature the instrument. Two of the most famous sitar players include Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka.

29. This banjo player was a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, a singer in the "Humblebums", and an actor and presenter, but he is best known as a stand-up comedian. Who is he?

From Quiz With A Banjo On My Knee

Answer: Billy Connolly

Billy Connolly bought his first banjo at the Barrowland market in Glasgow.

30. What item was carried by Boromir in 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and was cut in two by a group of Orcs after Boromir had been killed?

From Quiz The 'Horn' Quiz

Answer: The Horn of Gondor

The Horn of Gondor was created by Vorondil the Hunter during the Third Age. If the Horn of Gondor was sounded, the city of Gondor would come to the aid of the one in possession of it. Faramir, Boromir's brother, discovered the broken horn and knew that his brother had been killed.

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Last Updated Mar 23 2024 5:50 AM
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