Musical Incidentals and Accidentals Quiz

Answer: Trombone suicide

This exciting spectacle usually requires no playing and slides are often taped so they don't just pop out and injure someone further. The term 'head choppers' is often used for the vigorous movement of the trombone slides towards the other players' heads. Apparently some groups even perform blindfolded to add a degree of danger. Trombone Shorty aka Troy Andrews is a famous trumpet and trombone player from New Orleans. And did you know that a trombone is a paper clip in France?

Answer: A Stradivarius cello owned by King Felipe V

A piece from the seventeenth-century instrument's neck broke. It was not the original piece however but a nineteenth-century addition. There are only about 50 cellos by Stradivarius in existence. The cello was part of the quartet of Stradivarius instruments acquired by King Felipe V around the turn of the eighteenth century. An embarrassing and costly oops!

Answer: Bagpipes

Mr Bruce Thompson ran into two other men while driving home to Crieff Scotland after playing the pipes for the Queen in Holyrood Castle in Edinburgh at a garden party. His claim to have been dehydrated as all he'd had was a cup of tea was taken into account. He was fined 200 pounds.

Answer: The violin

In 2006, the owner of the violin approached an auction house and it has a plaque from Hartley's then fiancee Maria Finley who had given it to him. It was restored to her after the instrument survived the sinking according to details in her diary; then, it went to the Salvation Army and another person kept it in their attic for years.

A CT scan revealed more details about it in order to authenticate it. In October 2013, the violin sold at an auction, along with its leather case inscribed W.H.H. for 1.1 million pounds.

Answer: Keith Moon

Townshend of The Who loved to smash guitars and was known for it on stage as part of his performance. Keith Moon played drums alongside him in the group called The High Numbers that was to become The Who. Moon exploded his drum set on the 1967 episode of the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in question and Townshend's hearing impairment later in life has occasionally been credited to this incident.

The Vox Cheetah guitar was exploded in this famous performance. Moon's drum set had gunpowder in it and when he set it off, a piece of it lodged in his arm. Moon really enjoyed destroying things and toilets were another of his famous targets. Jeff Beck destroyed a guitar in the film 'Blow Up' by Antonioni. Jimi Hendrix burned a guitar during a London performance in 1967 after someone suggested he outdo the Who to get more attention.

In 2010, a Jimi Hendrix burned black Fender Stratocaster guitar sold for $380,000 dollars in an auction. The Who set the precedent for instrument destruction though.

Answer: capoeira

The art of capoeira is ancient and is said to be disguised as a dance because African slaves were not allowed to defend themselves against slave owners. If the capoeiristas were caught they could be executed for it at one point in history. The berimbaus is a traditional instrument using a gourd, a string/wire and a stick.

The main component of Capoeira movement is the ginga which is a back and forth movement. A capybara is of course, the enormous hamster like animal. The word "capoeira" is said to come from one of the native languages of the area called Tupi.

The berimbau is struck with a stick and vibrates the string and then the gourd body.

Answer: The Russian defense against Napoleon's armies in 1812

Despite the use of this piece for American Independence day on the Fourth of July accompanied with canons, chimes and fireworks displays, this piece was written in 1880 and celebrated the Russians defending themselves against Napoleon's army. "La Marseillaise" is used as well as "God Save the Czar" within the piece itself. Music history legend says Tchaikovsky lamented it as being too noisy but whether or not this is true, he already had a reputation in the US in the late nineteenth for writing 'barn burners' and this is a good example.

It has always been ironic that this Russian piece was used during the Cold War in America for its most American holiday.

Answer: Yes

The short answer is yes but the conditions must be just right. Recent studies by "Scientific American" and others have shown that it is possible and just how. The high C of movie and television show fame by an opera singer who shatters all glass around her is simply a legend.

The pitch must match the resonance of the flaws in the glass and be the right decibels. The series 'Mythbusters' finally did an episode in 2005 involving singer Jamie Vendera who tried this with 12 wine glasses and finally shattered one.

His voice was registering at 105 decibels though which is the equivalent of a jackhammer.

Answer: French

The French cymbal is the lightest of the three types and the rarest. The Germanic is the heaviest. The word cymbal comes from the Greek for a word meaning cup.

Answer: a trombone

Stanford band members were on the field thinking the game was over after a controversial play. The legendary rivals Stanford and University of California Berkeley played every year in the Big Game and Stanford was up for a trophy and the Stanford Axe. Stanford was leading 20-19.

However in the confusion that ensued over whether this would be the game over, the Stanford band went out on the field to celebrate the Stanford win and was playing the hit 'All Right Now' when the game had been restarted and player Kevin Moen caught the ball and trampled over trombone player Gary Tyrrell with only four seconds remaining to the game. Cal won 25 to 20.

The Trombone was enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana. Trombone player Tyrrell was accused of losing the game for his school for years.

Answer: Theodore "Hound Dog" Taylor

"Hound Dog" was born with an extra digit on each hand. Jerry Garcia, of Grateful Dead fame, lost part of his finger while holding wood for his brother to chop it on a trip to Santa Cruz when he was only four years old. Jean "Django" Reinhardt, the famous Gypsy guitarist born in Belgium, lost the use of two of his fingers when he was young and he and his wife were making artificial flowers to sell in their caravan which caught fire.

He developed an incredible style working around this setback. Tony Iommi, the English guitarist from Black Sabbath, lost his digit as a young machinist and his style was influenced by this.

However, the question remains, does Hound Dog belong on the list if he still had five fingers after removing the sixth one?

Answer: Valhalla

Richard Wagner used Norse mythology for the series of operas, "The Ring of the Nibelung". "The Ride of the Valkyrie" is perhaps the best known piece.

Answer: Acquired Musical Savant Syndrome

Though there are many savants around who display talents without any particular training, it is rare to find someone suddenly display them after trauma to the head. In 2006, a man named Derek Amato dove into a pool and had a head injury and was drawn to the piano shortly afterward.

The case has been documented and discussed. Derek cannot read conventional music but says he sees squares, black and white, to guide him. He learned to play several instruments.

Answer: Rock Your Body

This incident was highly publicized and talked about at the time. Whether you think it was a setup for publicity or a true accident, it made Janet one of the most searchable terms on the internet for a while. The creator of Youtube even claimed it had come about because of this incident because of so many people searching for a video of the event.

Answer: carnyx

Musical archaeologists have uncovered several examples of the actual instruments and depictions of the instruments. The difficult recovery of partial fragments may be because they were shattered as a tribute to the Gods. The sound that has been recreated is very harsh and if you had several of these, you would certainly confuse your opponent. The Bard in "Asterix the Gaul" plays one although no one likes anything he plays.