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Quiz about The Language of Keys
Quiz about The Language of Keys

The Language of Keys Trivia Quiz


My music students need help! They are learning to play from sheet music published in France, Germany, and Italy. Help them figure out what keys their recital pieces are in. Note: b after a note name means flat and # after a note name means sharp.

A multiple-choice quiz by celicadriver. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
celicadriver
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
292,020
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
2374
Question 1 of 10
1. Karla is playing a set of variations in fa mineur. What key is fa mineur in English?


Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Cortney is practicing a nocturne in mi bémol majeur. How many flats can she expect to see in the key signature? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Craig is about to start working on a sonata in h-moll. To help him translate, what dictionary should he reach for? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Megan is studying orchestral excerpts from a symphony in B-dur. What key should she tell me the symphony is in when I quiz her about it?

Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Robert's repertoire for the recital includes a prelude and fugue in cis-moll. How many sharps belong in the key signature this poor lad is coping with? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Mike's busy preparing a concerto movement in la maggiore. If he wants to play studies in the same key as the concerto movement to help him get a better feel for the key, what studies should he select? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Stephanie seems to be having no trouble at all learning her mazurka in ut majeur. Why is this? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Earl is wondering about the cruel intentions of the composer who penned the "Tema con variazioni" in sol# minore. What key is Earl struggling with? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. If Earl was having issues with his piece, Karen is suffering from serious sharp overload with her étude in ré dièse mineur. What key is her étude in? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Chris's Ges-dur Konzertstück is coming along quite nicely. How many flats are in the key of Ges-dur? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Karla is playing a set of variations in fa mineur. What key is fa mineur in English?

Answer: F minor

French and Italian key nomenclatures both rely on a fixed-do system, where C is do or ut, D is ré or re, E is mi, etc. Fa is F, a fourth away from Do (C). Mineur is French for minor.
2. Cortney is practicing a nocturne in mi bémol majeur. How many flats can she expect to see in the key signature?

Answer: Three

French-English translation: Mi = E, bémol = flat, and majeur = major. The key of Eb major has three flats.

Music for wind ensemble is often written in flat keys, as the instruments have an easier time playing therein (for reasons I need not go into here). Many of the "dreamier" or more "beautiful" works for solo piano - nocturnes, impromptus, etc. by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schubert, Fauré and Scriabin - also appear frequently in the flat keys of Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb.
3. Craig is about to start working on a sonata in h-moll. To help him translate, what dictionary should he reach for?

Answer: German-English

Yes, H is a German note name: it means B. Moll means minor in German, and comes from the Latin word meaning "soft," referring to the rounded or "soft" contour of the flat sign. This contrasts with dur (major), from the Latin durum (hard), referring to the sharp edges of the natural and sharp signs.

Note the conventional usage of lowercase letters for minor keys, capital letters for major keys, and the hyphen between the letter name and the quality (major or minor) of the key.
4. Megan is studying orchestral excerpts from a symphony in B-dur. What key should she tell me the symphony is in when I quiz her about it?

Answer: Bb major

Since H in German translates to B in English, German B of course must refer to English Bb. I try not to think about it too much - I just memorize the facts and use them when they're needed. German "dur" = English "major".

Bb is another very common key for military and marching bands and wind ensembles. In fact, none of my students can play in sharp keys, as their band experiences have permanently entrenched flats into the very cores of their musical beings.
5. Robert's repertoire for the recital includes a prelude and fugue in cis-moll. How many sharps belong in the key signature this poor lad is coping with?

Answer: Four

C# minor is the relative minor of E major, and has four sharps.

In German, adding "is" to the key letter makes it sharp: cis-moll = C# minor. Compare this to the French equivalent: ut dièse mineur. The German word for the sharp SIGN (#) is "Kreuz."
6. Mike's busy preparing a concerto movement in la maggiore. If he wants to play studies in the same key as the concerto movement to help him get a better feel for the key, what studies should he select?

Answer: Studies in A major

La is a not only a lovely syllable to sing when you don't know the words, it is also the syllable denoting A, the sixth note from do (C) in the fixed-do system of keys. Therefore, Italian la maggiore = English A major, which has three sharps: F#, C#, and G#.

In a movable-do system (sometimes used for singing, but not to name scales or keys of pieces), do becomes the tonic note of whatever key you are singing in. For example, if your piece was in A major, and you wanted to sing syllables using movable-do, you would assign the syllables as follows: A = do, B = re, C# = mi, D = fa, etc. Composer Percy Grainger wrote a piece called "The Immovable Do," but that is another story.
7. Stephanie seems to be having no trouble at all learning her mazurka in ut majeur. Why is this?

Answer: The key of ut majeur has no sharps and no flats

French ut = Italian do = English C. One of my theory teachers always referred to C major as "The People's Key of C Major," since the lack of sharps or flats supposedly makes music in this key simpler to analyze and perform.
8. Earl is wondering about the cruel intentions of the composer who penned the "Tema con variazioni" in sol# minore. What key is Earl struggling with?

Answer: G# minor

The Italian word for sharp is "diesis," and flat is "bemolle," but these are not usually written out when naming keys: the Italian convention for written text is to use the symbols b (flat) and # (sharp), so sol# minore is G# minor, which has a manageable five sharps (not counting leading-tone and submediant inflections).

The key of E# minor is essentially an impossibility (you would need an F double-sharp in the signature); its enharmonic equivalent, F minor, is much more practical, having a mere four flats.
9. If Earl was having issues with his piece, Karen is suffering from serious sharp overload with her étude in ré dièse mineur. What key is her étude in?

Answer: D# minor

French-English translation: Ré = D, dièse = sharp, mineur = minor. D# minor has six sharps, plus leading-tone and submediant inflections - not easy to play. An alternative would be to think in the enharmonic key of Eb minor, and use naturals for raised sixths and sevenths.
10. Chris's Ges-dur Konzertstück is coming along quite nicely. How many flats are in the key of Ges-dur?

Answer: Six

A Konzertstück is a concert piece.

German Ges-dur = English Gb major = six flats. To flatten a note in German, add the letters "es" after the note name. If the note name is a vowel, just add "s". The final exception, remember, is Bb: English Bb is German B, and English B is German H. Two more examples: As-moll = Ab minor, Des-dur = Db major. The German word for the flat SIGN is "Be."

The first four flats in a flat key signature spell out the word BEAD. The flats proceed in fourths, so to get the next three, just continue on up in fourths: G,C, and F.
Source: Author celicadriver

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