Show:
Basic Elements of Music Theory
Blues and Jazz in the 1930's - Orgins
Blues and Jazz in the 1930's - Swing and Jazz Era
Popular Songs in the 1930's
Classical Music in the 1930's
100
Why are the pitches D-sharp and E-flat considered enharmonic? a. Their sound waves have the same frequency. b. They are next to each other in the chromatic c. Their sound waves have the same amplitude. d. They are dissonant when played with e. D-sharp is a leading tone to E-flat.
What is A. Enharmonic notes have identical pitches, but are sometimes called different note names. D-sharp and E-flat are the same pitch, which means that their sound waves have the same frequency.
100
Minstrel shows featured all of the following EXCEPT a. musical numbers b. comedy skits c. social satires d. magic tricks e. group dances
What is D. Minstrel shows traveled the country throughout the 1800s, performing music, comedy, dances, and satires for white audiences based on slave culture. Although magic became a part of vaudeville (which grew out of this tradition), it was not a part of minstrel shows.
100
In the 1930s, swing music could be heard by mainstream Americans in all of the following EXCEPT a. radio b. live theater c. movies d. newsreels e. TV shows
What is E. Although television had been invented in the 1930s, TV was not yet a popular media form, and mainstream Americans did not own television sets at home. They would have heard swing music in movies, wartime newsreels, radio shows, and live theater performances.
100
Who is called the "Father of Music Education" in the United States? a. Francis Scott Key b. George Gershwin c. Lowell Mason d. Stephen Foster e. Dan Emmett
What is C. Lowell Mason created a very successful method of music instruction in the United States in the 19th century, promoting high-level musical literacy among the population.
100
What interval does Ruth Crawford Seeger use as a cadence to signify the end of a phrase or section throughout her String Quartet? a. major seventh b. tritone c. perfect fifth d. minor second e. octave
What is A. Although she was working outside of traditional common practice techniques, Seeger still wanted to punctuate phrases and signify the end of a section within her quartet with something like a cadence. She chose to end each section with the interval of a major seventh.
200
Which of the following hsapes would BEST represent the contour of a disjunct melody? a. heart b. arch c. spiral d. zigzag e. triangle
What is D. A disjunct melody consists of leaps between various intervals, unlike a conjunct melody, which consists of smooth, stepwise motion. Therefore, a zigzag shape would best represent a disjunct melodic contour.
200
Mamie Smith's recording of "Crazy Blues" was groundbreaking because it a. was the first blues recording ever made b. increased demand for blues sheet music c. proved blues records could sell copies d. featured a white lead singer e. mixed a variety of blues styles
What is C. Record executives were surprised to find that blues records by black artists could sell records beyond the narrow market they anticipated. "Crazy Blues" sold over 75,000 copies in its first two months.
200
Musical arrangements for big bands were usually a. ignored by the musicians on stage b. so familiar they did not need to be written down c. written out for all instruments beforehand d. written out only for the soloists beforehand e. improvised by all musicians on the spot
What is C. Arrangers of big band music took time and care to write out each musician's part prior to the performance, making the orchestration very deliberate and organized.
200
The most famous 19tha. Francis Scott Key -century popular songwriter was a. Francis Scott Key b. Stephen C. Foster c. Dan Emmett d. George Frederic Root e. Lowell Mason
What is B. Stephen Foster began his music career working in minstrel shows, and became one of the first people to make his living solely on writing and selling popular songs. Some of his most famous songs were "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Gentle Annie".
200
The modernist composer who continued to carry experimental music to new levels after the 1930s was a. Aaron Copland b. Arnold Schoenberg c. Henry Cowell d. John Cage e. Edgard Varese
What is D. John Cage took what he learned from studying with modernist masters Cowell, Varese, and Schoenberg and pushed the limits of experimental modernist music even further throughout the 1930s and 1940s, incorporating manipulated and electronic instruments into his works. He is now one of the best known experimental composers of all time.
300
A violinist is preparing for a performance and she needs to tune her instrument. She would BEST be advised to tune on a nearby piano to a. A6, 1760 Hz b. A4, 440 Hz c. A2, 110 Hz d. A3, 220 Hz e. A5, 880 Hz
What is B. Orchestral musicians generally tune their instruments to "A-440", the pitch A above middle C that has a frequency of 440 Hz. Therefore, the violinist should press the A4 key on a piano, which is tuned to that pitch.
300
One of the most influential country blues artists of the 1930s was a. W.C. Handy b. Bessie Smith c. Blind Blake d. Robert Johnson e. George Gershwin
What is D. Although he lived a very short life, Robert Johnson's country blues recordings of the 1930s had a great deal of influence on blues-rock recording artists of the decades to come.
300
Thanks to his influential band manager, Irving Mills, Duke Ellington's band secured a longstanding engagement at which New York jazz club? a. CBGB b. The Blue Note c. The Onyx Club d. The Cotton Club e. Birdland
What is D. The Cotton Club in Harlem became the home of Duke Ellington and his orchestra between 1927-1931. From this historic jazz club, Ellington broadcast and recorded performances that solidified his fame in the American jazz scene.
300
At the turn of the 20tha. swing century, American popular songs were usually written in what style? a. swing b. tango c. waltz d. minuet e. march
What is C. Songs written in triple meter with a waltz feel were very popular at this time, as they were catchy and easy to sing or dance to.
300
Beyond the Federal Music Project, many musicians in the 1930s also benefited from the a. Federal Art Project b. National Recovery Administration c. Civilian Conservation Corps d. Federal Writers' Project e. Federal Theatre Project
What is E. The Federal Theatre Project employed actors, directors, and designers, but also musicians, who composed Broadway scores, played in the orchestra pit, or provided musical direction.
400
Instead of using traditional scales when writing pieces, composer Arnold Schoenberg created a new organizational system for pitches in the 1920s called the a. chromatic technique b. modal technique c. twelve-tone method d. voice leading method e. common practice
What is C. Seeking to reject the traditional compositional structures of common practice, Schoenberg based his pieces on the twelve-tone method. Using this technique, the composer selects a series of twelve pitches, called a tone row, from which all of the pitches in the piece will be selected.
400
Why was it that African American listeners did not respond as well to blues guitarist Lead Belly's music as white listeners? a. The topics of his songs were considered too racy. b. They did not approve of his time spent in prison. c. They did not want to listen to a white blues musician. d. They found his music to be outdated and too rural in style. e. His lyrics portrayed blacks in an unflattering light.
What is D. African American listeners found Lead Belly's style too raw and old-fashioned for their tastes, as they had become more accustomed to sophisticated forms of blues that developed in the 1930s. White intellectuals, however, loved Lead Belly's music, as it represented a pure, rural American folk form.
400
In jazz, "rhythm changes" is the name for a. chord progressions played by the rhythm section b. the practice of altering the rhythm of a familiar c. slowing or quickening the tempo of a well-known d. passing solos around in the rhythm section e. the chord progression of "I Got Rhythm"
What is E. "I Got Rhythm" was such a popular song in its time that many jazz musicians used its chord progression as the basis of new songs. This harmonic progression became so familiar that jazz musicians called them "rhythm changes"-"rhythm" for the name of the song, and "changes" meaning chord progressions.
400
In the 1930s, the sheet music output of the music publishing industry a. stayed level b. decreased drastically c. increased rapidly d. stopped entirely e. became obsolete
What is B. Due to the stock market crash, everyday Americans who had once typically purchased sheet music suddenly had no money to do so. Thus, the music industry ground almost to a halt, producing very little sheet music, other than in a few companies who remained afloat.
400
All of the following are musical sections within Virgil Thomson's score to The Plow that Broke the Plains EXCEPT a. "The Homesteader" b. "Drought" c. "Cattle" d. "The River" e. "Wind and Dust"
What is D. In outlining the story of the Dust Bowl, Thomson's score consists of 10 movements: "Prelude", "Pastorale (Grass)", "Cattle", "The Homesteader", "Warning", "War and the Tractor", "Speculation (Blues)", "Drought", "Wind and Dust", and "Devastation". "The River" is the name of the next documentary film that he scored, which explored the building of dams.
500
Which of the following scales does NOT contain a leading tone? a. harmonic minor b. blues scale c. melodic minor d. natural minor e. diatonic major
What is D. The natural minor scale does not contain a raised seventh scale degree, or leading tone, and thus is the only scale that lacks a strong pull to the tonic pitch.
500
All of the following are characteristics of the "hot" sound in jazz that Louis Armstrong introduced EXCEPT a. unevenly played eighth notes b. a regular harmonic pattern c. blues-style melodic inflections d. solos with very soft dynamics e. a smooth, four-beat pulse
What is D. Louis Armstrong's innovative "hot" sound consisted of solos with unevenly played eighth notes and blues inflections, played over a smooth, four-beat pulse with a regular harmonic pattern. Specific dynamics were not a requirement of the "hot" sound. [
500
Aside from big band, another important jazz ensemble that became popular in the 1930s was the a. combo b. vocal quartet c. barbershop quintet d. doo-wop group e. fusion ensemble
What is A. "Combos," made up of a rhythm section and 1-3 soloists, were smaller jazz ensembles that became very popular in the 1930s, and remain so today.
500
Which of the following 1930s popular songwriters had the longest career, spanning from 1911-1946? a. George Gershwin b. Jerome Kern c. Ricard Rodgers d. Irving Berlin e. Cole Porter
What is D. Starting out in songwriting at the age of 20, Irving Berlin lived to the age of 101, continuously adapting his musical style and creating hit after hit for Broadway shows and movies throughout his lifetime.
500
Who is called the "Dean of African-American Composers"? a. Virgil Thomson b. Aaron Copland c. The movement promoting African American writers d. Henry Cowell e. Marc Blitzstein
What is C. William Grant Still was a groundbreaking African American composer and conductor who helped to usher in a new era of African American participation in classical music.