Thank Heavens! It's Only Theory! Quiz

Answer: repeat a part of the music

The symbol indicates a person should repeat a part of the music. This is called a repeat symbol. To determine what part of the music a person should repeat, just look for a similar looking symbol: two straight lines but with the colon on the right side of the lines instead of the left side. Sometimes, that symbol is not on a sheet of music.

This means repeat starting from the beginning of the music. The repeated music is only to be repeated once. After that, a person continues with the rest of the music.

Answer: one beat

The symbol shown is a quarter note, and quarter note is only supposed to be held for one beat. This is only true if the bottom number of the time signature is a 4. The 4 means that a quarter note gets one beat. If the bottom number was 2 (for example, if the time signature is 3/2), then that would mean the half-note gets one beat and the quarter note gets half a beat.

Answer: True

For two notes to be an octave apart, there must be a difference of eight notes (which makes sense if a person remembers that oct = 8). Since there are eight notes in a scale, two notes that are an octave apart have the same assigned letter.. In the example provided, both notes are G and are an octave apart.

Answer: whole note

In music that is written in 3/4 time, there can't be a whole note. The 3 in 3/4 means that in each measure there are three beats. The 4 means that a quarter note gets one beat. A whole note has four beats and therefore can't be part of a measure that can only have three beats. However, it is possible to hold a note for four beats. An example would be if the last note of a measure is a half note (held for two beats) and the first note of the next measure is also a half note. If there is a tie connecting the two notes, than that means to hold the note for as long as their combined value (in this case, four beats).

Answer: E

The clef seen in the photo is a treble clef. In the treble clef, the lines of the staff are E, G, B, D, and F (from lowest to highest). A mnemonic device to help people remember this is "Every good boy does fine" or "Every good boy deserves fudge".
For a bass clef, the lines are G, B, D, F, A. One mnemonic device to help people remember that is "Good boys do fine always".

Answer: rest for two beats

The symbol shown is a half rest. In music in which the lower number of the time signature is 4 (for example, 3/4), then no music should be played for two beats. If the lower number was 8 (for example, in 6/8 music), then that would mean the half rest represents four beats of silence instead of two.

Answer: staccato

The dot underneath the quarter note indicates that it is a staccato. As the name implies, the note should be played quickly rather than smoothly, which is how most music is played. The opposite of this is legato, which means that the note should be played continuously--no resting between any of the notes.

Answer: D flat

The note written is a C sharp, which sounds the same as D flat.

A sharp raises a note by a half step, while a flat lowers a note by a half step. Since the interval between C and D is two half steps, or a whole step, raising C by half a step and lowering D by half a step results in the same pitch. The term used to refer to a note that is equivalent so another note is enharmonic equivalent.

Answer: Yes

The note seen is indeed an accidental. The symbol in the photo is a natural, more specifically, E natural. The natural sign is used to indicate that a note that is normally a sharp or a flat should not be played as a sharp or flat for that note only. Three examples of accidentals are sharps, flats, and naturals.

Answer: percussion

The glockenspiel (the musical instrument in the photo) is an example of a percussion instrument. Although it appears similar to a xylophone, one difference is that the keys of a glockenspiel are made of metal whereas the keys of a xylophone are made of wood. Glockenspiels also tend to be higher in pitch than xylophones.
Percussion instruments are instruments that are hit or struck by something. In this case, the object striking the glockenspiel is a pair of mallets.