Musical Terms quiz

More questions about Musical Terms

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   Where does 'a cappella' singing get its name from?

   Answer: The chapel

   Why: Renaissance chapel voices were often doubled by instruments; the unaccompanied meaning comes from 19th-century scholars who assumed otherwise.

2. 2 Medium

   Which marking leaves a passage up to the performer?

   Answer: Ad libitum

   Why: Shortened to ad lib, the Latin phrase meaning at one's pleasure became everyday English for improvising.

3. 3 Hard

   Which ornament's name comes from the Italian for 'to crush'?

   Answer: Acciaccatura

   Why: The slower appoggiatura, named from the Italian for to lean, takes the stress that an acciaccatura leaves to the main note.

4. 4 Easy

   Which tempo marking is faster than allegro?

   Answer: Presto

   Why: The ending -etto makes allegretto a little allegro, so it is slightly slower than allegro, not faster.

5. 5 Medium

   Which term names a recurring tune tied to one character?

   Answer: Leitmotif

   Why: Darth Vader gets his own leitmotif, John Williams's Imperial March, first heard in The Empire Strikes Back.

6. 6 Hard

   How many p's does Tchaikovsky's Pathétique use at its softest?

   Answer: Six

   Why: Written for bassoon, the six-p notes are often handed to a bass clarinet, which can play them more quietly.