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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 5 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

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

    Answer: three valves

    A common modern trumpet has three valves.

  2. Which dynamic marking means soft?

    Answer: Piano dynamic

    Piano dynamic is the instruction to play softly.

  3. What other woodwind does its mouthpiece resemble?

    Answer: a clarinet-like mouthpiece

    A saxophone uses a clarinet-like mouthpiece.

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

    Answer: the same note name

    The pitches share the same note name.

  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. 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.

  2. What opening does the player blow across?

    Answer: an embouchure hole

    A flutist blows across an embouchure hole.

  3. Which tuning note does an orchestra often take from the oboe?

    Answer: A

    The orchestra often tunes to an oboe A.

  4. What kind of lines does soprano commonly carry?

    Answer: high melodic lines

    Sopranos commonly carry high melodic lines.

  5. Which fretted instrument is normally fitted with six strings?

    Answer: Standard guitar

    Standard guitar is the fretted instrument played by plucking or strumming.

Daily round

  1. Which hairpin shape can represent a diminuendo?

    Answer: a closing hairpin

    A closing hairpin represents a diminuendo.

  2. Which note does the treble clef’s reference line represent?

    Answer: G above middle C

    That line represents G above middle C.

  3. How many strings does a violin normally have?

    Answer: four

    A violin normally has four strings.

  4. How does a melody unfold through time?

    Answer: one note after another

    A melody unfolds one note after another.

  5. What produces all harmony in a cappella performance?

    Answer: voices

    Voices produce all of the harmony in a cappella music.

Daily round

  1. Which main flute section contains the embouchure hole?

    Answer: the headjoint

    The embouchure hole is cut into the flute’s headjoint.

  2. Which marking is softer than piano?

    Answer: pianissimo

    Pianissimo is softer.

  3. How many strings does a standard guitar normally have?

    Answer: six

    A standard guitar normally has six strings.

  4. Which orchestral drums have bowl-shaped bodies and adjustable pitch?

    Answer: Timpani

    Timpani is the large bowl-shaped drums with adjustable pitch.

  5. What rhythmic technique accents normally weak beats or offbeats?

    Answer: Syncopation

    Syncopation is the accenting notes where emphasis is not normally expected.

Daily round

  1. What material is named by the Greek root xylon in xylophone?

    Answer: wood

    The name xylophone combines Greek roots referring to wood and sound.

  2. What unit appears on a metronome setting?

    Answer: beats per minute

    Metronome speed is measured in beats per minute.

  3. What regular framework supports rhythmic patterns?

    Answer: a pulse or beat

    Rhythm operates within a pulse or beat.

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

    Answer: F below middle C

    That line represents F below middle C.

  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. What interval separates adjacent piano keys?

    Answer: a semitone

    Adjacent piano keys are a semitone apart.

  2. Which orchestral bowed instrument is smaller than a viola?

    Answer: Violin

    Violin is the smallest standard member of the orchestral bowed-string family.

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

    Answer: Semitone

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

  4. 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.

  5. What does a crescendo require without fixing a final volume?

    Answer: an increase from the current dynamic

    A crescendo requires the sound to grow from its current level; it does not prescribe one fixed endpoint.

Daily round

  1. What is standard guitar tuning from lowest to highest?

    Answer: E, A, D, G, B, E

    Standard tuning begins E, A, D, G, B, E.

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

    Answer: Rhythm

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

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

    Answer: 100 cents

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

  4. From which language does adagio come?

    Answer: the Italian language

    The tempo word adagio comes from Italian.

  5. Where does the clarinet reed vibrate?

    Answer: against its mouthpiece

    A clarinet reed vibrates against its mouthpiece.