Music Theory and Composition: Key Signatures, Scales, and Forms

What kind of note has a solid black oval note head and a stem?

quarter note

From the bottom up, what kinds of thirds make up a minor triad?

minor, major

Which composer sought to redefine music by categorizing noises?

Russolo

What is the key signature for C minor?

3 flats

The texture that includes a melody and an accompaniment at the same time is

homophony

Sachs and Hornbostel categorized instruments into the following groups EXCEPT

Metallophone

What is the term associated with the chord built on the 2nd degree of a scale?

supertonic

What is the interval from C up to F# called?

an augmented 4th

Which major key has five flats in its key signature?

Db

Composition and performance that happens simultaneously is called

improvisation

The collection of all possible pitches an instrument or voice can produce is called it

range

What is the term used when two conflicting rhythmic patterns (such as 2 against 3) are present simultaneously?

polyrhythm

The broadest definition of music is

Sound organized in time

What kind of contour is a melody with proportionately more leaps than steps?

disjunct

All of the following are ways to make harmony more complex EXCEPT

using circle of 5th progressions

What is the order of the sharps in the key of C# major?

F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

On a piano keyboard there exists a semitone between E and F and between

B and C

Which key is C Major MOST closely related to?

G Major

The term for a slowing tempo is

ritardando

The term for a scholar that studies the music of other cultures is a(n)

ethnomusicologist

The theremin is a member of what Sachs/Hornbostel classification?

electrophone

The distance between any two pitches is called a(n)

interval

When an interval is played simultaneously it is called a(n)

harmonic interval

In a blues scale, what scale degrees may be lowered?

3 and 7

Another name for the G clef is the

treble clef

Which of the following is the quality of a pitch, interval, or chord that makes it seem "unstable" or tense?

dissonance

Common practice harmony was codified in about what year?

1750

Throughout the common practice period, what is the driving force behind harmony?

resolution of dissonance

How many sharps are there in the key of E Major?

4

What scale degrees are contained in the dominant 7th chord?

5, 7, 2, 4

What is the name of the IV chord?

sub-dominant

Of the following tempo indications, Moderato, Adagio, Lento, Allegro, and Andante, which is the fastest?

Allegro

Around what year was Schoenberg's "Emancipation of the Dissonance"?

1910

A note that falls before the first downbeat is called a pickup or a(n)

anacrusis

What is the term used for moving a melody from one key into another key?

transposition

What is the C clef called when it is centered on the middle line of the staff?

Alto clef

"A" above middle C is 440 Hz. What would the Hz be of "A" two octaves lower than middle C?

110 Hz

Which instrument has a strong fundamental, first and third partial, resulting in a pitch that sounds very much like a pure sine wave?

clarinet

Music with groups of beats arranged as STRONG-weak-weak is what kind of meter?

triple

Which dynamic is the loudest?

forte

Exposition, Development and Recapitulation are associated with which form?

Sonata form

ABACABA is an example of which kind of form?

Rondo

Which of the following best describes a scale with blues inflections?

a scale that blends both major and minor scale elements

Around what year did the system of equal temperament become dominant?

1750

You are in the key of C major but you hear a c minor triad) This is an example of

modal mixture

Which clef is movable?

C clef

The type of minor scale with a raised 6th and 7th is called what type of minor scale?

melodic

The term alla breve stands for what time signature?

2/2 time

In a fugue, what is a companion theme to the subject called?

countersubject

All of the following are types of texture in western music EXCEPT

duophony

What is the most common multi-movement composition found in longer instrumental works from about 1730 to 1950?

sonata cycle

Which scale degree is referred to as the dominant?

fifth

The smallest unit of form is called

motive

When the 3rd of a triad is on the bottom, the chord is in what inversion?

first inversion

Twelve-tone method was invented in 1925 by what composer?

Schoenberg

What is the term that refers to two different notes that are identical in pitch?

enharmonic

What does "amplitude" measure?

volume

What is the term for using familiar chords form the common practice tradition but not resolving them?

non-functional harmony

The simultaneous use of two or more different meters within a piece, where each part maintains its distinct rhythmic structure while sharing a common pulse or tempo, is called

polymeter

Counterpoint and imitative are two types of what kind of texture?

polyphony

A younger cousin to the country-blues style was an approach known by all of the following nicknames EXCEPT

cast-iron blues

Which record label did the Hot Five primarily record for?

Okeh

Because of the closure of "Storyville" in 1917, many unemployed musicians traveled north to welcoming cities, especially _____________ .

Chicago

African singing often incorporates which special vocal device to embellish a word or pitch by setting one syllable to many pitches?

melisma

Lillian Hardin stood out from the others in the New Orleans Creole Band for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

besides piano, she also played saxophone

From which Original Dixieland Band piece did Lillian Hardin borrow the "changes" in "Hotter Than That?"

"Tiger Rag"

"Dippermouth" was a teasing reference to _____________ whose mouth was claimed to be "as big as a dipper."

Louis Armstrong

What is a vamp in jazz music?

a short, repeated motif used as an interlude

The three band leaders who were most influential in shaping various features of "pre-swing" music during the 1920s were_____________________.

Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie

In 1924 Lillian Hardin became the second wife of ___________.

Louis Armstrong

Many of the classic blues vocalists were women supported by fuller accompaniments of either piano or a small ensemble called a __________________.

combo

What musician is playing the piano in "Lost Your Head Blues"?

Fletcher Henderson

Which of the nine choruses in "Dippermouth Blues" are more characteristic of the Chicago Jazz than of the New Orleans approach?

3, 4, 6 and 7

Why was Storyville closed in 1917?

because the U.S. Secretary of War wanted to prevent prostitution near army camps during World War I

The Original Dixieland Band consisted of how many players?

five

In "Lost Your Head Blues," the piano and cornet were able to lay out a steady supporting foundation in the key of __________.

E flat

The first known "jazz" recording, _____________________, was made by the Original Dixieland Band.

"Livery Stable Blues"

Singlehandedly, the sale of Bessie Smith's records put what struggling record company back on solid financial footing?

Columbia

Which of the following is the earliest musical tradition in the United States?

country blues

The word "blues" has all of the following meanings EXCEPT

a string instrument polish

Where was the Gennett studio, where King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band recorded?

Richmond, Indiana

What extremely popular Louis Armstrong piece introduced scat-singing to many listeners?

"Heebie Jeebies"

Posterity has dubbed which singer the "Empress of the Blues"?

Bessie Smith

The diagram of the poetic pattern of blues lyrics is ________________.

aab

In the recording of "Dippermouth Blues," which musician played the clarinet?

Johnny Dodds

Whose lively improvisations led to his or her nickname as the "Jazz Wonder Child"?

Lillian Hardin

In blues lyrics, the third phrase is described by some scholars as the ________________.

punch line

In what city did Louis Armstrong acquire a trumpet (instead of a cornet) and also began building a reputation as a singer?

New York

Who was responsible for drafting the legislation that created the red-light district known as Storyville?

Sidney Story

The oldest format for blues-singing goes by all of the following nicknames EXCEPT

vaudeville blues

"____________" was a nickname assigned to the lead cornet player in many New Orleans combos.

King

Who was a crucial ally in developing the block voicing approach in the Fletcher Henderson band?

Don Redman

A jazz playing technique in which the ensemble plays a single note on the first beat and stops until the next measure is called ________________. It is used to accompany a soloist.

stop-time

The rock singer ___________________ helped pay for a headstone for Bessie Smith's grave. It read, "The greatest blues singer in the world will never stop singing,"

Janis Joplin

What instrument did Johnny Dodds play in the Hot Five Quintet?

clarinet

Which of the following band leaders became one of the best-known musicians of the twentieth century, composing approximately two thousand pieces?

Duke Ellington

The musical, Starlight Express, that spoofed the poetic pattern of blues lyrics was written by

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Joe "King" Oliver played which instrument?

cornet

Which of the following is known as a jazz vocal technique in which the performer sings short, often bouncy nonsense syllables?

scat

Joe Oliver employs a wah-wah mute in choruses ______________ of "Dippermouth Blues".

6 and 7