Musical Instrument Medley Trivia Quiz

Answer: Guitar

When he was about 11 years old, John Denver's grandmother gave him a 1910 Gibson 'F-hole' acoustic jazz guitar. It was the same one she had played and it started him on the road to a career in music. He took lessons on guitar, and joined a boys' choir and later moved to Los Angeles where he joined the Mitchell Trio as lead singer. This 1960s group sang folk songs including some of Denver's early compositions. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded Denver's song, "Leaving On A Jet Plane", their first and only number one hit.

The 'lovely lady' mentioned in "This Old Guitar" is Annie Martell, also the subject of arguably his most famous ballad, "Annie's Song". He married Annie in 1967 but they were divorced in 1982. "This Old Guitar" first appeared as the last track on Denver's eighth album "Back Home Again" in 1974, and was one of this favourites.

Answer: Trumpet

The words from this favourite piece from Handel's "Messiah" come verbatim from the book of 1 Corinthians: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Corinthians 15:52-15:53, NKJV. The aria is sung by the bass and is the only instrumental solo in the whole oratorio.

The first trumpets were horns from animals; for example, the shofar, used in Jewish religious ceremonies, was a ram's-horn trumpet formerly used in battle for signalling. Different sounds were made by adjusting the way the mouth was placed over the end of the horn. The first metal 'natural' (valveless) trumpets appeared in the 1400s.

Answer: Ukulele

Written by Martin Mull and released in March 1973 on his "Martin Mull And His Fabulous Furniture In Your Living Room", "Ukulele Blues" makes irreverent fun of family life.

Having four strings, the ukulele is a member of the lute family, and originated in Madeira, Portugal. It is mostly associated with Hawaii where its name translates roughly as 'jumping flea'. It was developed late in the 19th century. It was probably most famously used in the modern era by Herbert Khaury, also known as Tiny Tim, whose song "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" was a great hit.

Answer: Bells

Mike Oldfield, an English musician and songwriter, is best known for his debut album "Tubular Bells", released in 1973. This well known piece was used in the movie, "The Exorcist". It was played widely on the radio and became a popular piece.

Bells, and in particular tubular bells, are in the percussion family. They are also known as chimes and are made of a series of cylindrical metal tubes of different length, each of which produce a difference note when struck. The first known bell was produced in China in about 2000 BC.

Answer: Flute

Written by John Coltrane, "Syeeda's Song Flute" appeared on his 1960 album "Giant Steps". It was written for Coltrane's daughter, who he adopted when he married Juanita Grubbs, who went by the name of Naima. He later had three children by pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane.

Flutes are in the woodwind family in spite of being made of metal or precious metal, as originally, like saxophones, they were made of wood. On a flute, the sound is produced by blowing against a sharp edge. Its range is from about middle C to the C three octaves above middle C.

Answer: Drums

Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys wrote this song in 1964, and it featured on the "Shut Down Volume 2" album. He was the middle of the three Wilson brothers (Brian and Carl Wilson) and was the band's drummer.

Part of the percussion musical group, drums have been used for centuries for music, sending messages, and in the military. Some nations have traditions of drumming for entertainment as well as sending military messages over a distance; Scottish highlanders also incorporated them into their marches, to accompany their bagpipes.

Answer: Banjos

"Duelling Banjos" was made famous by the 1972 film "Deliverance", though it was used without Smith's permission. It was composed in 1954 by Smith as a banjo instrumental called "Feudin' Banjos"; it was aired on television for the first time in 1963 in "Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee", an episode of "The Andy Griffith Show".

Banjos in their current form were developed in the U.S.A in the 1700s, though early forms of a similar instrument were fashioned by African Americans and on the African continent. Though it is occasionally used in other genres, it is most frequently associated with country, folk, and bluegrass music.

Answer: Fiddle

Writers of "Fiddle in the Sky", Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were both born in Texas. "Fiddle in the Sky" appeared on their 1972 "Summer Breeze" album; the album displayed their talents across multiple genres including country music, of which "Fiddle in the Sky" was an example. Jim Sears was interested in music from an early age, even going as far as to order a fiddle from a Sears catalogue.

'Fiddle' is a colloquial term for the violin, and is the smallest, highest-pitched instrument in the violin family, which are classified as those that create sound through vibrating strings. There are no differences in the structure of violins and fiddles; it's really the sort of music played on them and how they are held that's different.

Answer: Piano

"Grand Piano" was released in 2014 as part of Nicki Minaj's album "The Pinkprint". This haunting ballad tells the story of love, breaking up, betrayal and mixed emotions and is said to have been the result of a failed relationship with one of her boyfriends.

The pianoforte was invented in the 1700s in the 1700s in Padua, Italy, by Bartolomeo Cristofori, who called it by a name meaning 'harpsichord that can play softly and loudly'. The first precursor of the piano dates back to around 1000 BC and variations were used in Greece and Rome, the Middle East and China.

Answer: Harmonica

"Harmonica Wizard" is a march written by John Philip Sousa in 1931, after he was invited to conduct the fifty-two strong Philadelphia Harmonica Band in September, 1925. He was so impressed with their ability, he wrote this piece for them that they played at a special concert a few years later.

Harmonicas were developed in Europe in the early part of the 19th century, and are also known as the French harp, and mouth organ. Their basic parts are a comb, reed plates, and cover plates. Harmonicas have two major types, a 16-hole chromatic version that has a playing range of slightly over four octaves, and a 10-hole diatonic model, that has a three-octave range. There are several other less popular 12- and 14-hole models.