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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 8 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Which clef normally notates a modern soprano choral part?

    Answer: treble clef

    Modern soprano choral parts are normally written in treble clef.

  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. 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. 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.

  5. Which voice part is lowest in a standard SATB choir?

    Answer: Bass voice

    Bass voice is the lowest standard choral voice part.

Daily round

  1. Which side-blown woodwind makes sound as air crosses an embouchure hole?

    Answer: Flute

    Flute is the side-blown instrument whose modern orchestral form is usually metal.

  2. What is the violin’s usual tuning from lowest to highest?

    Answer: G, D, A, and E

    Its strings are commonly tuned G, D, A, and E.

  3. Which clef normally appears in xylophone music?

    Answer: treble clef

    Its written music commonly uses treble clef.

  4. Which instrument family was patented by Adolphe Sax?

    Answer: Saxophone

    Saxophone is the conical instrument patented by Adolphe Sax.

  5. What skill does metronome practice develop?

    Answer: steady timing

    Musicians use it to develop steady timing.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. What opening does the player blow across?

    Answer: an embouchure hole

    A flutist blows across an embouchure hole.

  3. 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.

  4. Around which staff line does the treble clef curl?

    Answer: the second staff line

    The treble clef curls around the second staff line.

  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 tempo marking generally asks for a fast, lively pace?

    Answer: Allegro

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

  2. Which staff line sits between the bass clef’s two dots?

    Answer: the fourth staff line

    The bass clef dots surround the fourth staff line.

  3. How does notation show different durations?

    Answer: different note values

    Notation shows duration with different note values.

  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. Which action can create syncopation without adding a new note attack?

    Answer: tying a note across a beat boundary

    Tying a note across a beat boundary can shift emphasis away from the expected strong beat and create syncopation.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. What kind of lines does soprano commonly carry?

    Answer: high melodic lines

    Sopranos commonly carry high melodic lines.

  5. Where does a violinist normally support the instrument while playing?

    Answer: between the chin and shoulder

    A violin normally rests between the player’s chin and shoulder.

Daily round

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

    Answer: Violin

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

  2. 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.

  3. What produces all harmony in a cappella performance?

    Answer: voices

    Voices produce all of the harmony in a cappella music.

  4. What vocal technique can supply percussion?

    Answer: beatboxing

    Beatboxing may provide vocal percussion.

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

    Answer: Adagio

    Adagio is the marking generally calling for a slow pace.

Daily round

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

    Answer: Standard guitar

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

  2. What alternate name does the bass clef take from its reference note?

    Answer: F clef

    The bass clef is also called the F clef because its dots surround the staff’s F line.

  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. How many valves does a common modern trumpet have?

    Answer: three valves

    A common modern trumpet has three valves.