Music Notation
A note that receives one beat in 4/4 time.
What is a quarter note?
This wind instrument, popular in both orchestras and jazz bands, uses a single reed and is often associated with a mellow, smooth sound.
What is the clarinet?
This popular secular vocal music form of the Renaissance often featured multiple voices singing poetic texts, sometimes about love.
What is the madrigal?
This popular string instrument of the Middle Ages, played by both minstrels and troubadours, had a body shaped like a pear and was a precursor to the modern guitar.
What is the lute?
This ancient stringed instrument, often associated with Greek mythology, was played by plucking and is known for its U-shaped frame.
What is the lyre?
The note located in the first space of the treble clef.
What is an f?
This percussion instrument, consisting of two metal plates that are clashed together, is often used for dramatic effects in orchestral music.
What are cymbals?
During the Renaissance, this musical texture, where multiple independent voices sing or play together, became the dominant style in both sacred and secular music.
What is polyphony?
This type of sacred, monophonic chant was named after Pope Gregory I and became the standard music of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages.
What is Gregorian chant?
In ancient Greece, this god was considered the protector of music, arts, and poetry.
Who is Apollo?
It raises the pitch of a note by a half step.
What is a sharp?
This brass instrument, known for its bright and powerful sound, uses valves to change pitch and is a key member of both orchestras and jazz bands.
What is the trumpet?
This type of sacred Renaissance choral work is typically unaccompanied and set to Latin text, often used in Catholic services.
What is a motet?
In the Middle Ages, this type of music, sung without instrumental accompaniment, was the most common form of religious music in churches and monasteries.
What is a cappella music?
This ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician discovered the mathematical ratios behind musical intervals, influencing music theory for centuries.
Who is Pythagoras?
What time signature indicates that a quarter note gets the beat and there are 2 beats per measure?
What is 2/4?
This large, stringed instrument, played with a bow, is the lowest-pitched member of the violin family.
What is the double bass?
This renowned English Renaissance composer was known for both his sacred and secular works, including Ave Verum Corpus and contributions to the English madrigal tradition.
Who is William Byrd?
These French poet-musicians of the Middle Ages, often from noble backgrounds, wrote and performed secular songs about courtly love and chivalry.
Who are the troubadours (or trouvères)?
According to the Doctrine of Ethos in ancient Greek philosophy, music had the power to influence this aspect of a person’s character and emotions.
What is behavior (or morals)?
This rhythmic pattern consists of three notes played in the time normally taken by two, often used to create a faster, flowing feel in music.
What is a triplet?
This ancient instrument, still used today, consists of a long hollow tube with finger holes, and was commonly played by shepherds in ancient Greece.
What is the aulos?
This invention, developed in the 15th century, revolutionized the spread of music and knowledge by allowing the mass production of printed materials, including music scores.
What is the Gutenberg printing press?
The system was used in the Middle Ages to notate rhythm and pitch in music. This innovation helped standardize the performance of chants.
What are neumes?
In the Doctrine of Ethos, this term refers to a specific scale or series of notes that was believed to influence emotions and behavior, such as the Dorian or Phrygian.
What is a mode?