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Seven days of questions and answers

Music Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 11 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Which cylindrical woodwind uses a single reed against a mouthpiece?

    Answer: Clarinet

    Clarinet is the cylindrical woodwind with a flared bell.

  2. What naming feature do octave-separated pitches share?

    Answer: the same note name

    The pitches share the same note name.

  3. How many different pitch classes form a basic triad?

    Answer: three

    A basic triad contains three different pitch classes.

  4. Which practice device produces evenly spaced beats?

    Answer: Metronome

    Metronome is the device that produces evenly spaced beats.

  5. Who coordinates an orchestra or choir through visible gestures?

    Answer: Conductor

    Conductor is the musician who coordinates an ensemble’s performance.

Daily round

  1. What alternate name does the treble clef take from its reference note?

    Answer: G clef

    The treble clef is also called the G clef because its curl identifies the staff’s G line.

  2. Which related word also means gradually softer?

    Answer: decrescendo

    Decrescendo is a closely related term.

  3. Which clef normally appears in xylophone music?

    Answer: treble clef

    Its written music commonly uses treble clef.

  4. Which pitched percussion instrument has tuned wooden bars?

    Answer: Xylophone

    Xylophone is the instrument with tuned wooden bars.

  5. Which clef is normally used for higher-pitched staff notation?

    Answer: Treble clef

    Treble clef is the clef commonly used for higher-pitched notation.

Daily round

  1. At which interval does a clarinet naturally overblow?

    Answer: a twelfth

    Because of its cylindrical bore, a clarinet naturally overblows at the interval of a twelfth.

  2. Which material normally forms a saxophone’s body?

    Answer: brass

    A saxophone is classed as a woodwind because of its reed, although its body is normally brass.

  3. Does allegro prescribe one universal metronome number?

    Answer: No; style and context shape its actual speed

    Allegro signals a generally quick, lively tempo, but period, style, and context determine its practical speed.

  4. What do a conductor’s gestures communicate?

    Answer: beat and expression

    A conductor’s gestures communicate beat and expression.

  5. What is the traditional literal sense of the Italian word adagio?

    Answer: at ease

    The Italian expression adagio traditionally conveys the sense of being at ease.

Daily round

  1. Which common clarinet is a transposing instrument?

    Answer: the B-flat clarinet

    The common B-flat model transposes.

  2. What produces all harmony in a cappella performance?

    Answer: voices

    Voices produce all of the harmony in a cappella music.

  3. What mechanism commonly adjusts a timpano’s head tension?

    Answer: a pedal

    A pedal commonly adjusts timpani head tension.

  4. Does an orchestral flute use a reed?

    Answer: No

    An orchestral flute makes sound when air crosses its embouchure hole, without a reed.

  5. How does allegro’s typical tempo compare with adagio?

    Answer: faster

    It is faster than adagio in ordinary usage.

Daily round

  1. Which bowed instrument is held upright between the knees?

    Answer: Cello

    Cello is the large bowed instrument held upright between the knees.

  2. What does a performer do when arpeggiating a chord?

    Answer: plays its notes in sequence

    Arpeggiation presents a chord’s notes in sequence instead of attacking them simultaneously.

  3. What handheld tool may make those gestures easier to see?

    Answer: a baton

    A baton may make hand movements easier to see.

  4. What is unaccompanied vocal music called?

    Answer: A cappella

    A cappella is the vocal performance without instrumental accompaniment.

  5. What opening does the player blow across?

    Answer: an embouchure hole

    A flutist blows across an embouchure hole.

Daily round

  1. Which instrument family was patented by Adolphe Sax?

    Answer: Saxophone

    Saxophone is the conical instrument patented by Adolphe Sax.

  2. Which brass instrument is played by buzzing into a cup-shaped mouthpiece?

    Answer: Trumpet

    Trumpet is the instrument sounded by buzzing into a cup-shaped mouthpiece.

  3. What harmonic role does bass often provide?

    Answer: the harmonic foundation

    The bass voice often supports the harmonic foundation.

  4. Which tempo marking generally asks for a slow pace?

    Answer: Adagio

    Adagio is the marking generally calling for a slow pace.

  5. What do musicians call notes sounded together as a harmonic unit?

    Answer: Chord

    Chord is the group of notes sounded as a harmonic unit.

Daily round

  1. Which marking is louder than forte?

    Answer: fortissimo

    Fortissimo is louder.

  2. Which musical element organizes sounds and silences over time?

    Answer: Rhythm

    Rhythm arranges durations, beats, accents, and rests through time.

  3. What skill does metronome practice develop?

    Answer: steady timing

    Musicians use it to develop steady timing.

  4. What kind of lines does soprano commonly carry?

    Answer: high melodic lines

    Sopranos commonly carry high melodic lines.

  5. How should piano be interpreted as a dynamic instruction?

    Answer: as a context-relative soft level

    The dynamic piano asks for a soft level judged in relation to the surrounding music.