Music theory - Exam
  • 1. Music theory is the study of principles and concepts that govern the structure, harmony, and expression of music. It includes an exploration of elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, form, and texture, as well as an analysis of how these components work together to create emotional and intellectual impact. Music theory provides a framework for understanding the language of music and helps musicians communicate with each other through notation, improvisation, and composition. By delving into music theory, musicians gain deeper insights into the mechanics behind music creation and performance, enabling them to interpret and express music more effectively.

    What is the term for the distance between two pitches?
A) Chord
B) Interval
C) Key
D) Scale
  • 2. What term describes a group of three notes played together?
A) Harmony
B) Interval
C) Triad
D) Octave
  • 3. What is the symbol that indicates to raise the pitch of a note by a semitone?
A) Natural
B) Sharp
C) Double Sharp
D) Flat
  • 4. What is the main purpose of a key signature in sheet music?
A) Specify time signature
B) Indicate key of the piece
C) Show tempo changes
D) Denote dynamics
  • 5. What is the first note of a major scale called?
A) Dominant
B) Tonic
C) Mediant
D) Subdominant
  • 6. What term refers to playing or singing in tune?
A) Syncopation
B) Intonation
C) Transposition
D) Orchestration
  • 7. What symbol is used to indicate a half step lower in pitch?
A) Natural
B) Flat
C) Sharp
D) Double Flat
  • 8. What is the term for the speed at which music is played?
A) Pitch
B) Tempo
C) Rhythm
D) Dynamics
  • 9. What is the term for a sudden increase in volume?
A) Decrescendo
B) Ritardando
C) Crescendo
D) Diminuendo
  • 10. Which three interrelated uses of 'music theory' are described by the Oxford Companion to Music?
A) Analyzing individual works, comparing musical performances, and studying historical instruments.
B) Understanding music notation, studying scholars' views on music from antiquity to present, and defining processes in musicology.
C) Exploring electronic sound production, improvisation techniques, and orchestration methods.
D) Examining tuning systems, composition methods, and practical aspects of performance.
  • 11. How does the musicological approach to theory differ from musical analysis?
A) It studies only modern music, ignoring historical perspectives.
B) It focuses on electronic sound production instead of traditional instruments.
C) It emphasizes improvisation over composition methods.
D) It starts with fundamental materials rather than individual works or performances.
  • 12. What does the development, preservation, and transmission of music theory encompass?
A) Methods and concepts used by composers and musicians in creating and performing music.
B) Comparative analysis of different musical cultures.
C) Only written treatises about music notation.
D) The study of electronic sound production exclusively.
  • 13. What is required to teach as a tenure-track music theorist in a US or Canadian university?
A) A degree in musical acoustics exclusively.
B) Experience with electronic sound production.
C) Only practical experience in performing music.
D) University study, typically to the MA or PhD level.
  • 14. Which methods are used for analysis in music theory?
A) Mathematics, graphic analysis, and western music notation.
B) Primarily improvisation techniques.
C) Only descriptive and statistical methods.
D) Exclusively comparative analysis.
  • 15. What is a music theorist?
A) An individual focused solely on musical acoustics.
B) Someone who only performs music.
C) A person who researches or teaches music theory.
D) A composer specializing in electronic sound production.
  • 16. Which ancient civilization's clay tablets include musical information such as lists of intervals and tunings?
A) Rome
B) Mesopotamia
C) Greece
D) Egypt
  • 17. What type of materials contain the earliest surviving Sumerian and Akkadian musical information?
A) Papyrus scrolls
B) Metal plates
C) Clay tablets
D) Stone carvings
  • 18. What is the approximate date of the earliest Mesopotamian texts about music?
A) Before 500 BCE
B) Before 1000 BCE
C) Before 1500 BCE
D) Before 200 CE
  • 19. Who reports on the earliest Mesopotamian texts about music?
A) Herodotus
B) Sam Mirelman
C) Plato
D) Aristotle
  • 20. What does the number five refer to in Chinese music theory?
A) The Pentatonic Scale, which primarily uses a 5-note scale
B) The number of musical instruments
C) The number of notes in a scale
D) The number of musical modes
  • 21. What did Ling Lun name the agreeable sound produced by blowing on bamboo?
A) Shierlü
B) Phoenix tone
C) Lülü
D) Huangzhong, the 'Yellow Bell'
  • 22. Who authored the work 'Harmonic Elements'?
A) Nicomachus of Gerasa
B) Aristoxenus
C) Cleonides
D) Ptolemaios
  • 23. Who wrote 'Harmonics' in Greek?
A) Porphyrius
B) Nicomachus of Gerasa
C) Ptolemaios (Πτολεμαίος), Claudius
D) Aristoxenus
  • 24. In which century was 'Introduction to Harmonics' by Cleonides written?
A) 4th century CE or later
B) 100–150 CE
C) 2nd century CE
D) 3rd or 4th century CE
  • 25. Which work is associated with Gaudentius?
A) Είσαγωγή άρμονική [Introduction to Harmonics]
B) Είσαγωγή τέχνης μουσικής [Introduction to the Art of Music]
C) Άρμονικά στοιχεία [Harmonic Elements]
D) Άρμονική είσαγωγή [Harmonic Introduction]
  • 26. Who authored 'On Ptolemy's Harmonics'?
A) Bacchius Geron
B) Aristoxenus
C) Nicomachus of Gerasa
D) Porphyrius
  • 27. During which centuries did Alypius of Alexandria write 'Introduction to Music'?
A) 3rd or 4th century CE
B) 100–150 CE
C) 2nd century CE
D) 4th–5th century CE
  • 28. What is the time period during which Ptolemaios (Πτολεμαίος), Claudius lived?
A) 100–150 CE
B) c. 232~233 – c. 305 CE
C) 127–148 CE
D) 428–347 BCE
  • 29. Which Chinese instrument theory contributed to the development of 84 musical modes?
A) The erhu
B) The pipa
C) The dizi
D) The guzheng
  • 30. Who used the first twelve letters of the alphabet to describe the twelve frets on five strings of the oud?
A) Abū Yūsuf Ya'qūb al-Kindi
B) al-Fārābi
C) Boethius
D) Safi al-Din al-Urmawi
  • 31. What is the title of Bāqiyā Nāyinῑ's work?
A) Zamzama e wahdat-i-mῡsῑqῑ
B) La musique arabe
C) Ta'rῑkh al-mῡsῑqᾱ al-arabiyya wa-usῡluha wa-tatawwurᾱtuha
D) Singing by Note
  • 32. Which French musicologist wrote about Arabian music?
A) Baron Francois Rodolphe d'Erlanger
B) None of the above
C) Reverend Thomas Symmes
D) Bāqiyā Nāyinῑ
  • 33. What does Sacred Harp music focus on in its solfege system?
A) The solfege 'do, re, mi'
B) None of the above
C) The solfege 'ti, do, re'
D) The solfege 'fa, sol, la'
  • 34. Who developed the system for 'singing by note' in Sacred Harp music?
A) Baron Francois Rodolphe d'Erlanger
B) Reverend Thomas Symmes
C) None of the above
D) Bāqiyā Nāyinῑ
  • 35. In what year did Reverend Thomas Symmes develop his system for Sacred Harp music?
A) 1720
B) 1800
C) 1900
D) 1750
  • 36. Which period saw Western musical influence spread globally, leading to the adoption of Western theory?
A) The Renaissance
B) The 1800s
C) The Baroque period
D) 1750–1900
  • 37. Which culture's music is primarily oral with specific forms, genres, and performance practices?
A) Middle Eastern cultures
B) European cultures
C) African cultures
D) Central Asian cultures
  • 38. What is transformational theory primarily concerned with?
A) Tonal spaces in music.
B) The makeup of musical objects.
C) Schenkerian analysis techniques.
D) Relations between musical objects.
  • 39. Which mathematical concept can describe just intonation?
A) A vector space
B) A ring
C) A free abelian group
D) A finite field
  • 40. What term is used for the shortest articulation in music?
A) tenuto
B) legato
C) staccatissimo
D) marcato
  • 41. What is the average number of tenure-track positions advertised per year in music theory?
A) 10
B) 50
C) Around 25
D) 100
  • 42. Which symbol can indicate a change in timbre by suggesting a marked or accented note?
A) Crescendo (<)
B) Marcato (^)
C) Staccato (.)
D) Decrescendo (>)
  • 43. What term describes the interweaving of melodic lines?
A) Counterpoint
B) Polyphony
C) Melody
D) Harmony
  • 44. What is a chord called when it includes additional notes beyond the basic triad?
A) A primary chord
B) A basic chord
C) An extended chord
D) A simple chord
  • 45. Which society was founded in 1999?
A) Society for Music Theory
B) Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie
C) Société d'Analyse musicale
D) Vereniging voor Muziektheorie
  • 46. What does 'mf' stand for in music dynamics?
A) sforzando
B) forte followed by piano
C) mezzo forte, meaning moderately loud
D) piano followed by forte
  • 47. What is the term for playing simultaneous rhythms in more than one time signature?
A) Polyrhythm
B) Homophony
C) Syncopation
D) Monophony
  • 48. Which Italian term is used to indicate a moderately soft dynamic?
A) piano (p)
B) forte (f)
C) sforzando (sfz)
D) mezzo piano (mp)
  • 49. What is a common way of representing chords in Western music other than staff notation?
A) Harmonic progressions
B) Melodic lines
C) Roman numerals
D) Rhythmic patterns
  • 50. Which of the following is a harmonic set of three or more notes?
A) A melody
B) A scale
C) A chord
D) A rhythm
  • 51. Which dynamic marking indicates the loudest possible volume?
A) sforzando (sfz)
B) mezzo piano (mp)
C) fortississimo (ffff)
D) pianissimo (pp)
  • 52. Who is credited with establishing musical analysis as a pursuit in its own right?
A) Adolf Bernhard Marx
B) David Lewin
C) Heinrich Schenker
D) Ian Bent
  • 53. What is the role of nature in the relationship between music and mathematics?
A) Nature itself is amazingly mathematical
B) Nature has no connection to mathematics
C) Nature's influence on music is purely aesthetic
D) Nature only influences biology, not music
  • 54. Which theorist first elaborated many notions of musical set theory in connection with tonal music?
A) Howard Hanson
B) Allen Forte
C) Arnold Schoenberg
D) Milton Babbitt
  • 55. Which writer on music semiology is known for work on topic and gesture?
A) Raymond Monelle
B) Robert Hatten
C) Jean-Jacques Nattiez
D) Kofi Agawu
  • 56. In harmony, what term refers to the 'vertical' aspect of music?
A) Harmony
B) Polyphony
C) Counterpoint
D) Melody
  • 57. What is the relationship of separate independent voices called?
A) Counterpoint
B) Homophony
C) Polyphony
D) Monophony
  • 58. What is the term used to describe serial music that extends beyond twelve-tone technique?
A) General serialism
B) Integral serialism
C) Post-tonal thinking
D) Twelve-tone technique
  • 59. What does 'ABD' stand for in the context of hiring for academic positions?
A) Associate Board Director
B) Advanced Bachelor's Degree
C) All But Dissertation
D) Academic Board Delegate
  • 60. Which type of music often augments chords with tensions?
A) Classical common practice period
B) All of the above
C) Jazz harmony
D) Baroque music
  • 61. What is the most fundamental concept of Schenker's theory?
A) Musical intervals.
B) Tonal space.
C) Dominant operation.
D) Chord progressions.
  • 62. Who developed transformational theory?
A) Heinrich Schenker
B) Ian Bent
C) Adolf Bernhard Marx
D) David Lewin
  • 63. Which writer on music semiology focused on narrativity?
A) Eero Tarasti
B) Anthony Newcomb
C) Heinrich Schenker
D) Jean-Jacques Nattiez
  • 64. Which term indicates a non-specific, but commonly understood soft and 'sweet' timbre?
A) Dolce
B) Sul tasto
C) Marcato
D) Cuivre
  • 65. Which dynamic marking indicates a nearly inaudible volume?
A) mezzo forte (mf)
B) forte (f)
C) pianissississimo (pppp)
D) sforzando (sfz)
  • 66. Which semiotician wrote about music in 'Image Music Text'?
A) Raymond Monelle
B) Roland Barthes
C) Kofi Agawu
D) Philip Tagg
  • 67. Which articulation involves the bow bouncing off the string on bowed instruments?
A) staccato
B) tenuto
C) spiccato
D) legato
  • 68. Which dynamic marking is used for a soft volume?
A) forte (f)
B) piano (p)
C) mezzo forte (mf)
D) sforzando (sfz)
  • 69. What is polyphonic texture?
A) Chords accompanying a melody.
B) Multiple independent melodies played simultaneously.
C) A single melodic voice with rhythmic accompaniment.
D) Two voices, one playing a drone note and the other a melody.
  • 70. Who adopted the idea of musical semiosis being introversive or extroversive?
A) Kofi Agawu
B) Raymond Monelle
C) Philip Tagg
D) Roland Barthes
  • 71. What is integral serialism also known as?
A) Total serialism
B) Twelve-tone technique
C) Multiple serialism
D) General serialism
  • 72. How many pitches does the Western chromatic scale divide an octave into?
A) Eight
B) Fifteen
C) Twelve
D) Seven
  • 73. Which subset describes major chords in musical set theory?
A) {2 5 9}
B) {0 3 7}
C) {0 4 7}
D) {1 4 8}
  • 74. Which frequency was historically assigned to concert A in France in 1859?
A) 450 Hz
B) 440 Hz
C) 432 Hz
D) 435 Hz
  • 75. Which term describes an articulation that is between tenuto and staccato?
A) legato
B) staccatissimo
C) portato
D) marcato
  • 76. Which articulation is described as 'separated' or 'detached'?
A) staccato
B) tenuto
C) marcato
D) legato
  • 77. What does 'crescendo' indicate in music dynamics?
A) a sudden decrease to a soft level
B) progressively increasing volume
C) a moderately loud dynamic
D) a loud attack with a sudden decrease
  • 78. Which of the following is NOT a fundamental pattern of notes mentioned for improving musical technique?
A) Natural scales
B) Arpeggios
C) Minor triads
D) Rhythm
  • 79. Which musical operation is not typically associated with pitch-class set theory?
A) Complementation
B) Transposition
C) Inversion
D) Rhythm analysis
  • 80. What does rhythmic notation in Schenkerian analysis represent?
A) Musical intervals.
B) Chord progressions.
C) Hierarchical relationships between pitch-events.
D) Actual rhythm of the music.
  • 81. Which composer's concept of 'emancipated' dissonance became more widely accepted in the early 20th century?
A) Claude Debussy
B) Ludwig van Beethoven
C) Johann Sebastian Bach
D) Arnold Schoenberg
  • 82. What term describes chords that consist of three distinct notes?
A) Triads
B) Inversions
C) Sequences
D) Progressions
  • 83. What type of algebra is used to expand on the methods of musical set theory?
A) Differential algebra
B) Abstract algebra
C) Linear algebra
D) Boolean algebra
  • 84. What is the most basic interval in music?
A) Unison
B) Third
C) Octave
D) Fifth
  • 85. What is another term commonly used for 'timbre'?
A) Rhythm
B) Color
C) Pitch
D) Volume
  • 86. Who provided a systematic analysis of the relation between musical structures and connotations in popular music?
A) Anthony Newcomb
B) Kofi Agawu
C) Philip Tagg
D) Leonard B. Meyer
  • 87. Which element of music refers to the 'horizontal' aspect?
A) Melody
B) Chords
C) Harmony
D) Texture
  • 88. What secondary characteristic can differentiate between genres according to Allan F. Moore?
A) Musical form
B) Instrumentation
C) Subject matter
D) Tempo
  • 89. What is a semitone also known as in music theory?
A) A whole tone
B) An octave
C) A half step
D) A minor third
  • 90. What is timbre often described in terms of?
A) Major, minor, major seventh
B) Bright, dull, shrill, etc.
C) Fast, slow, loud, soft
D) High, low, sharp, flat
  • 91. What is the primary characteristic of musical technique according to Heinrich Schenker?
A) Harmony
B) Repetition
C) Rhythm
D) Improvisation
  • 92. Which aspect can affect apparent dissonance and consonance in music?
A) Instrumentation
B) Tempo
C) Volume
D) Context
  • 93. What is a series of chords called?
A) A melody line
B) A scale pattern
C) An arpeggio sequence
D) A chord progression
  • 94. What term describes accenting unexpected parts of the beat?
A) Monophony
B) Polyrhythm
C) Homophony
D) Syncopation
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