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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 3 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. What organizes durations, rests, and accents in music?

    Answer: Rhythm

    Rhythm is the organization of note lengths, rests, and accents.

  2. What happens to a metronome’s click spacing when its BPM setting increases?

    Answer: the clicks move closer together

    A higher beats-per-minute setting places the metronome’s clicks closer together in time.

  3. Which interval joins pitches whose frequencies have a two-to-one relationship?

    Answer: Octave

    Octave is the interval between one pitch and another at double its frequency.

  4. Which interval is the smallest standard step in the chromatic scale?

    Answer: Semitone

    Semitone is the smallest standard step in the Western chromatic scale.

  5. 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.

Daily round

  1. What produces all harmony in a cappella performance?

    Answer: voices

    Voices produce all of the harmony in a cappella music.

  2. How many cents make one equal-tempered semitone?

    Answer: 100 cents

    Pitch measurement divides an equal-tempered semitone into 100 cents.

  3. Which clef normally notates a modern bass choral part?

    Answer: bass clef

    Modern bass choral parts are normally written in bass clef.

  4. What does melody organize in music?

    Answer: A sequence of pitched notes

    A melody is a perceivable sequence of pitched notes heard as a musical line.

  5. What do a trumpet’s valves change when pressed?

    Answer: the effective length of its tubing

    Pressing trumpet valves reroutes air through extra tubing and changes the instrument’s sounding pitch.

Daily round

  1. Which metal traditionally forms an orchestral timpano’s bowl?

    Answer: copper

    Orchestral timpani traditionally use bowl-shaped copper kettles.

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

    Answer: Cello

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

  3. What skill does metronome practice develop?

    Answer: steady timing

    Musicians use it to develop steady timing.

  4. What do a conductor’s gestures communicate?

    Answer: beat and expression

    A conductor’s gestures communicate beat and expression.

  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.

Daily round

  1. Which two chord qualities are especially common?

    Answer: major and minor

    Major and minor are common qualities.

  2. Which tempo marking generally asks for a fast, lively pace?

    Answer: Allegro

    Allegro is the marking generally calling for a fast, lively pace.

  3. Which voice part sits immediately below soprano?

    Answer: alto

    It sits above alto in a typical SATB choir.

  4. How many valves does a common modern trumpet have?

    Answer: three valves

    A common modern trumpet has three valves.

  5. Does forte prescribe one exact sound-pressure level?

    Answer: No; it is relative to the instrument and context

    Forte is a relative dynamic instruction, so its actual loudness depends on the instrument, ensemble, and passage.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. Where does the clarinet reed vibrate?

    Answer: against its mouthpiece

    A clarinet reed vibrates against its mouthpiece.

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

    Answer: the same note name

    The pitches share the same note name.

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

    Answer: a pedal

    A pedal commonly adjusts timpani head tension.

  5. Which clef normally appears in xylophone music?

    Answer: treble clef

    Its written music commonly uses treble clef.

Daily round

  1. What does syncopation create against a regular pulse?

    Answer: rhythmic tension

    It creates tension against the regular pulse.

  2. From which language does adagio come?

    Answer: the Italian language

    The tempo word adagio comes from Italian.

  3. Which adjustable cello part supports the instrument on the floor?

    Answer: the endpin

    A cello’s adjustable endpin carries the instrument’s weight on the floor.

  4. What kind of lines does soprano commonly carry?

    Answer: high melodic lines

    Sopranos commonly carry high melodic lines.

  5. What does the sustain pedal do?

    Answer: lets notes continue sounding

    Its sustain pedal lets notes continue sounding.

Daily round

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

    Answer: three

    A basic triad contains three different pitch classes.

  2. What abbreviation commonly stands for crescendo?

    Answer: cresc.

    Its abbreviation is often cresc..

  3. Which note does the bass clef’s reference line represent?

    Answer: F below middle C

    That line represents F below middle C.

  4. How many semitones make a whole tone?

    Answer: two

    A whole tone contains two semitones.

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

    Answer: faster

    It is faster than adagio in ordinary usage.