Music Appreciation Midterm Study Guide

Chapter 1 Quiz: Of all animals, human beings have the largest brains in relation to the size of their bodies.

True

The structures responsible for language production and comprehension (Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas) are unique to humans

True

Human beings are the only animals on the planet that employ “music” and “language,” and it is this characteristic that separates us from all other species.

True

Persons with damage to _________ area understand heard language and know what they wish to say, but are unable to speak.

Broca’s

The area that controls the physical production of speech is

Broca’s area

Persons with damage to _________ area are unable to comprehend language or to construct meaningful sentences, even though they do not experience difficulty producing articulate words.

Werniecke’s

The language processing centers of the brain are activated when a person listens to and processes music, even when the music contains no words.

True

Both language and music have ________, an orderly system of arrangement of sounds.

syntax

The ________ is the part of the brain that gives it a wrinkled appearance.

cerebrum

Basic functions that don’t involve voluntary thought, such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature, digestion, swallowing, coughing, and vomiting, are controlled by the ________.

brain stem

Higher functions, such as receiving and analyzing sensory input (touch, sight, and sound) and the handling of reasoning, emotion, memory and fine motor control, are processed by the ________.

cerebrum

There are two hemispheres of the brain and each has _______ lobes.

four

Music processing is more isolated than language processing (that is to say, fewer brain regions are involved).

false

When someone engages with music, there is activity all over the brain: in both hemispheres, in all four lobes, in the cerebellum, and in the brain stem.

true

Music processing is interwoven with memory, but you won’t remember a poem, a story, or any other information the way you remember music.

true

Learning disconnected information through music has little impact on memory and retention.

false

The clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship is known as

music therapy

A certified music teacher can practice music therapy in the classroom.

false

Music therapy may be used for ________ rehabilitation.

physical, cognitive, emotional, psychological

There is no correlation (relationship) between studying music and earning higher grades in other subject areas.

false

We know that humans were creating music long before history began to be recorded because of prehistoric _______ found across the world

bone flutes

Music and language acquisition skills are learned _______ by humans.

innately

All humans are born with some level of music _______, which is the ease and speed with which your brain processes certain kinds of information.

aptitude

Both music and language aptitude are developmentally stable by about age

eight or nine

If music and language aptitude is not developed during the elementary years, the adult human will be functioning within a limited aptitude.

true

Music and language engage all areas of the brain at once.

false

Chapter 2 Quiz: The element of music that constitutes the temporal aspect of sound is:

rhythm

A pulse is the most complex form of rhythm.

false

The word that refers to how fast or how slow a pulse occurs is

tempo

When pulses are organized into groups containing strong and weak beats, we refer to this as

meter

The ________ is the first strong pulse in each meter.

downbeat

The term that refers to the relative highness or lowness of sound is

pitch

The word _________ refers to the distance between to pitches.

interval

The chromatic pitch set includes most of the pitches used in Western music, but not all of them.

false

A set of only seven pitches that forms the basis for most music is called a

scale

The part of a musical work that you typically sing along with or that might get stuck in your head is called the

melody

The element of music that has to do with loudness or softness is

volume

Volume in music is indicated by numbers that represent the amplitude of the sound wave.

false

The Italian terms crescendo, decrescendo, forte, mezzo forte, and mezzo piano all refer to _________ in music.

dynamics

The element of music that has to do with how pitches are begun, sustained and released is

articulation

The ability to recognize differences between voices (like your mother versus your sister) and between instruments even if they are playing the same pitch (like a flute versus a trombone) is due to variances in

timbre

One of the characteristics of music is _________, which concerns the contents of and interactions between various layers or voices in a musical work.

texture

Monophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic, and homophonic are all terms that refer to a musical work’s

texture

The way a musical work unfolds over time, or its ________, typically relies upon repetition, variation, and contrast.

form

A way of making connections between closely-related works and musical artists that share stylistic, formal, and cultural elements is to categorize the works by

genre

The term “fixed composition” refers to works in which the pitches and rhythms are identical between performances.

true

During _________, the musical performers vary material by creating music in the moment, rather than relying upon fixed pitches and rhythms

improvisation

Emotional expression in music is not subjective, because every listener will perceive the same emotional content.

false

Chapter 3 Quiz: The composer who wrote the scores for the original Star Wars trilogy (among the best-known musical works created for the big screen) is

John Williams

A session musician is a musician who:

participates in recording sessions for television and film

The composer of the music for Star Wars was a session musician, so he:

already had a deep understanding of how music can shape the viewer’s experience of drama

In Star Wars, the musical themes are effective because they:

represent specific characters or ideas

Some of the musical characteristics of the “Main Theme” that tell us Luke Skywalker is a hero are:

the use of brass instruments, duple meter, steady tempo, major mode, and leaps to the upper tonic

Luke Skywalker’s Theme (the “Main Theme”) has more emotional depth than Darth Vader’s theme because it is in a three-part form and features a string section.

True

The theme that represents Darth Vader (the “Imperial March”) shares many of the same characteristics as the main theme, but it is in the major mode and uses simple harmonies.

False

In the European tradition, opera is a staged work of music theater that features:

costumes, sets, dramatic plots, props

The technique of assigning a unique theme to each character, object, place, and idea in a drama is the use of ______.

leitmotif

It is possible that Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) has had a greater impact on the development of Western art music than any other composer.

True

Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) was a world-famous performer by the time he was 17 years old.

False

Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungs derives from ______ mythology.

norse

Wagner shrunk the size of the orchestra for The Ring of the Nibelungs in order to highlight characters with single instruments.

False

Similarly to Star Wars, Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungs
makes heavy use of themes that represent specific characters or ideas.

True

Wagner used leitmotifs to communicate information to an audience that is not included in the libretto or onstage action.

True

The final scene (Act III, Scene 3) of The Valkyrie contains

the appearance of Logo, the demigod of fire, Wotan’s spear, a ring of fire, Brunnhilde’s sleep

Like the composer of the musical scores for Star Wars, Wagner randomly paired themes with objects and ideas.

false

The theme that represents “Loge as fire” uses the following to represent fire:

Rising and falling dynamic levels and pitches to represent the unpredictable nature of fire spreading across the ground

“Wotan’s Farewell” features one of the most significant powers of the leitmotif:

The ability to foreshadow events yet to come

Some critics of Wagner’s operas argue that we should no longer produce or listen to his operas because the composer’s ideology is so repugnant that his art should be erased.

true

Even Adolph Hitler believed that Wagner’s operas should not be produced.

false

In Star Wars: A New Hope, when the droids R2D2 and C3PO land on Tatooine, Williams utilized the following elements popularized by Igor Stravinsky:

high sustained notes in the strings and chromatic interjections from the bassoon and clarinet, oscillating melodies in the winds, no conclusive musical gestures (cadences), music that is neither the major nor minor mode

The Rite of Spring was:

a ballet

The Rite of Spring does not tell a coherent story.

True

The Rite of Spring depicted pagan rituals and caused consternation among members of its Parisian audience at the premier.

true

The Rite of Spring debuted as the sole ballet on the program and audience members at the premier loved the dancing and costumes

False

Stravinsky’s introduction to The Rite of Spring made heavy use of

major tonality, duple meter, conjunct melody lines, predictable dynamic changes - none of the above

The “Sacrificial Dance” is in rondo form, best represented by

A B A’ C A’’ C A’’’

John Williams was only influenced by specific historical compositions, rather than by style more generally.

False

In a musical technique called underscoring

The characters can hear the music, The music is played by musicians in the scene, The characters understand that the music is meant to warn them, The music is there to change the scene - NONE OF THE ABOVE

In film, music that the characters can hear is called source music
because the source of the sound is usually visible on screen.

true

Ragtime was a style of music popularized by pianists and featuring steady rhythm with the left hand and ______ with the right.

syncopated rhythms

Black and White Rag was a work that manipulated repetition and contrast by giving listeners familiar music each time the A section returned but preventing them from being bored by including contrasting material.

True

The barroom music in Star Wars relies heavily upon the unstable and irregular rhythms characteristic of ragtime music.

False

Just as ragtime was becoming passé, a new style called _____ burst onto the scene.

Dixieland jazz

In polyphonic jazz all of the musicians play the same melody at the same time.

False

In Dixieland style, it is difficult to tell which instrument has the “main” melody, because all seem of equal importance.

true

12-bar blues provides the structure for most blues compositions.

true

Chapter 4 Quiz: The composer of Hamilton wrote music and created a visual presentation intended to represent America in the current age.

True

The composer of Hamilton found that ______ music was very useful because he could fit more words into a shorter span of time.

rap

Lin-Manuel Miranda employed a technique that uses musical sounds to signify hidden meanings in a musical work. That technique is called

allegory

Some of the happiest and most tuneful music in the show Hamilton is sung by the British King George. This fact is noteworthy because

The text is sometimes disturbing and does not match the “happy” music

As an example of allegory, Lin-Manuel Miranda uses the harpsichord in the musical score of Hamilton to represent:

british rule before the revolution

Miranda’s use of ______ may be likened to Wagner’s use of leitmotifs because he uses musical ideas that harken back to earlier points in the work.

the Ring Cycle, cycled motives, cyclical dynamics, cycled form - NONE OF THE ABOVE

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote comic operas intended only for the aristocracy

False

Mozart was an excellent court musician because he did not mind being subservient to an employer.

False

Mozart composed and premiered his first opera at the age of:

13

Opera buffa (comic opera) portrayed members of various social classes in humorous situations.

True

Of the three genres of opera popular in Mozart’s day, ______ was the least respectable and sophisticated.

Singspiel

Mozart’s The Magic Flute does not embody Enlightenment ideals because it celebrates the aristocracy as morally superior.

false

Although The Magic Flute is rich with comedy, it also has a serious message because:

The Queen of the Night represents forces that seek to suppress knowledge and clarity, The Queen of the Night represents anti-Enlightenment forces, Sarastro exemplifies the principle of rule by an Enlightened monarch, Sarastro demands that his subjects hold themselves to high intellectual and moral standards, ALL OF THE ABOVE

Although the roots of Chinese opera extend back thousands of years, ______ is the most popular of the many forms.

Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, NONE OF THE ABOVE