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How many lines are on a musical staff?
Hint: EGBDF uses all of them
What clef is also called the G clef?
Hint: It curls around the second line of the staff
What clef is also called the F clef?
Hint: Two dots surround the fourth line
What mnemonic helps remember the lines of the treble clef (EGBDF)?
Hint: E-G-B-D-F from bottom to top
What word do the spaces of the treble clef spell from bottom to top?
Hint: F-A-C-E
What note sits on the first ledger line below the treble staff?
Hint: It bridges the treble and bass clefs
What note value receives 4 beats in common time?
Hint: It looks like an open oval
What note value receives 2 beats in common time?
Hint: Open oval with a stem
What note value receives 1 beat in common time?
Hint: Filled-in oval with a stem
What note value receives half a beat in common time?
Hint: It has one flag on its stem
What note value receives one-quarter of a beat in common time?
Hint: It has two flags on its stem
What does a dot after a note do to its value?
Hint: A dotted half note = 3 beats
What rest hangs below the fourth line and lasts 4 beats?
Hint: It looks like an upside-down hat hanging from a line
What rest sits on top of the third line and lasts 2 beats?
Hint: It looks like a hat sitting on a line
What rest lasts 1 beat and looks like a zigzag?
Hint: One beat of silence
What rest lasts half a beat and has one flag?
Hint: Half a beat of silence
What curved line connects two notes of the same pitch, combining their durations?
Hint: Same pitch, held longer
What do the two numbers at the beginning of a piece of music indicate?
Hint: Top number = beats per measure, bottom = which note gets one beat
What time signature is also called 'common time'?
Hint: Four quarter-note beats per measure
What time signature is used for waltzes?
Hint: ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three
What dynamic marking means 'loud' and is abbreviated 'f'?
Hint: The Italian word for strong
What dynamic marking means 'soft' and is abbreviated 'p'?
Hint: Also the name of a keyboard instrument
What dynamic marking means to gradually get louder?
Hint: An opening wedge shape in sheet music
What dynamic marking means to gradually get softer?
Hint: A closing wedge shape in sheet music
What musical term describes the speed of the beat?
Hint: Measured in BPM (beats per minute)
What tempo marking means 'fast and lively'?
Hint: About 120-156 BPM
What tempo marking means 'slow and stately'?
Hint: About 66-76 BPM
What tempo marking means 'at a walking pace'?
Hint: A moderate, comfortable speed
What musical term means to play notes short and detached?
Hint: Marked with a dot above or below the note
What musical term means to play notes smoothly and connected?
Hint: Smooth and flowing, no gaps between notes
What is a sequence of notes going up or down in a specific pattern of steps?
Hint: Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do
What type of scale has the pattern: whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half?
Hint: It sounds bright and happy
What symbol raises a note by a half step?
Hint: It looks like a tic-tac-toe grid
What symbol lowers a note by a half step?
Hint: It looks like a lowercase 'b'
What interval spans 8 notes and brings you back to the same letter name?
Hint: From one C to the next C
What is the set of sharps or flats at the beginning of a staff that indicates the key?
Hint: It tells you which notes to play sharp or flat throughout the piece
Which clef is used for higher-pitched instruments and the right hand on piano?
Hint: The G clef — it spirals around the G line
What type of key or scale generally sounds happy and bright?
Hint: Think of a cheerful march or a lullaby — the opposite of sad and dark
What tempo marking means 'very fast'?
Hint: Faster than allegro — about 168-200 BPM
What type of key or scale generally sounds sad or mysterious?
Hint: Many spooky or dramatic movie themes use this type of scale
What is the staff in music notation?
Which clef is commonly used for higher voices and instruments?
Which clef is commonly used for lower voices and instruments?
What do barlines divide music into?
What is a ledger line used for?
What does a sharp sign do to a note?
What does a flat sign do to a note?
What does a natural sign do?
What does a repeat sign tell a musician to do?
What does a grand staff usually combine?
What is the smallest step between two neighboring piano keys called?
How many half steps make one whole step?
What is the tonic of a scale?
Which step pattern makes a major scale?
What does a key signature tell the performer?
What do piano and forte mean?
What does crescendo mean?
Which pair correctly matches tempo words?
What does ritardando ask performers to do?
What is syncopation?
In compound meter, how are beats usually subdivided?
Which instrument uses a double reed?
Which percussion instrument can be tuned to specific pitches?
Which woodwind sounds lower and warmer than the oboe?
Which family includes violin, viola, cello, and double bass?
Which family includes flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon?
Which family includes trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba?
Which family includes timpani, snare drum, cymbals, and triangle?
A clarinet belongs to which family?
Even though it is made of brass, the saxophone is usually classified with which family?
What tool do string players often use to set strings vibrating?
Who leads the orchestra during rehearsal and performance?
What is the small stick many conductors use called?
What is the concertmaster?
What does an orchestral score show?
What does an individual player usually read from?
Which instrument commonly gives the tuning A to the orchestra?
Which section usually sits nearest the conductor in a standard orchestra layout?
Why is percussion often placed toward the back of the orchestra?
What is a principal player?
If the brass section covers the melody, what might the conductor adjust?
Which list names four standard orchestra families?
A 4/4 measure already has two quarter notes. How many more quarter-note beats are needed to complete the measure?
Hint: A 4/4 measure has four quarter-note beats total.
A passage begins softly and steadily grows louder until the final chord. Which dynamic marking describes that change?
Hint: The sound is growing.
A melody moves from C major to A minor while keeping no sharps or flats. What key relationship is being used?
Hint: C major and A minor share the same key signature.