Elemental, my dear Watson!
Silence is golden...
Historically speaking...
All in the Family
The Symbolic Terminator!
100
What musical element deals with "high and low"?
The musical element that deals with "high and low" is pitch.
100
A note represents a very specific duration or length of time we hear a note. What is the name of the symbol that represents a specific duration of silence?
That symbol is called a rest!
100
Name a famous musician from the Classical time period.
The three composers from the classical time period are: Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
100
Name three of the four families of musical instruments.
The four families are: Strings, woodwind, brasswind, percussion.
100
What musical term is used to identify a note should be held longer than it's regular duration?
This term is "the conductor's eye" and the correct name is a fermata.
200
Name the two words we think about when considering the musical element called dynamics.
The two words would be loud and soft. It is a control of volume.
200
Half rests and whole rests look very similar. From a visual perspective (looking at it, not counting the beats), how can you tell them apart?
Both the half rest and whole rest are located in the third space. The whole rest hangs down from the top of the space and the half rest sits on the bottom of the space.
200
What time period did the orchestra develop it's four sections in and become the ensemble of choice for composers?
Many people call all music for an orchestra "Classical" because that is the time period in which it first had four independent sections.
200
What is the thing that puts a musical instrument into a particular category? Why is a percussion instrument in the percussion family.
Instruments are "classified" into families by how they produce a sound, not what they are made out of.
200
What is the name of the musical symbol that instructs a performer to articulate a note more forcefully.
This symbol looks like a small arrow either over or under the note head and is called an accent.
300
What musical element is a control of the speed of music?
The musical element that is a control of speed is called tempo.
300
How many beats, in common time, would there be in twenty four half rests?
Half rests are two beats each, so there would be forty eight beats.
300
Name the three inventions that changed the world in the Renaissance time period.
The three inventions that changed the Renaissance world are: the printing press, the compass and gun powder.
300
Which family of musical instruments is the piano in and why?
The piano is considered a percussion instrument because a hammer strikes the strings.
300
What is the name given the arrange of five lines and four spaces we use as the place to place our notes?
This is called the musical staff.
400
Name three of the four Italian terms we studied to describe different tempi (the plural of tempo).
The four terms that describe tempo are: largo, andante, moderato and allegro.
400
Describe what a quarter rest looks like and explain, in common time, how many beats a quarter rest would last for.
A quarter rest looks a bit like a bat wing! We draw in by placing a capital "Z" over a capital "C". Each quarter rest lasts the same length of time as a quarter note. One quarter of 4 is 1, so they last four one beat each!
400
Name the historical time period in which the instrument we call the "piano" was invented.
The piano was invented in the Classical time period.
400
Why is the trumpet in the brasswind family?
The trumpet is in the brasswind family because you buzz your lips into a cup shaped mouthpiece to produce a sound.
400
What is the musical term that is one of the three parts of rhythm and is used to describe how long a note or rest lasts?
This musical term is called duration.
500
What is the part of rhythm that describes repeated patterns of weak beats and strong beats?
The part of rhythm that describes pattern of weak beats and strong beats is called meter.
500
Sometimes a composer wants the performer to "rest" for a number of bars, not just beats. Describe what is found on the music to indicate a rest of two or more bars.
A multiple bar rest is shown by a long, dark line in the middle of the staff. There will be a number above this bar to show how many bars the performer will count.
500
Name two things we talked about that modern composers use when writing music for the orchestra.
Instrument exploration: new ways to play instruments we know. Different sound sources as instruments: think "Stomp"
500
In addition to the four traditional families of instruments, there is now a new family. What is this called?
The newest family of instruments is the electronic (not electric) family.
500
What is the name given to a large scale composition for orchestra in several parts or movements. Beethoven became the first "master" of writing this type of composition.
This type of composition is called a symphony! da, da, da-daaaaaaaaaa