A Musical Alphabet Trivia Quiz

Answer: Andante

Andante comes from the Italian word meaning "going". Adagio is slower than andante, and allegro is faster.

Answer: Bugle

The bugle has no valves, and can play a more limited number of notes
than a trumpet can. The Baritone Horn, or euphonium, sounds in the
same range as a trombone. The bassoon is a woodwind. Ernest Bloch
wrote "Baal Shem", a suite for violin and piano.

Answer: Catch

Many English composers have written catches, some of which would be
unsuited to a family web site. The chalumeau is the low register of
the clarinet. Cavatina is a term for a song, but does not describe a round, and a cacho is a Salvadoran percussion instrument made from an animal's horn.

Answer: Diminuendo

Diminuendo comes from the Italian, meaning lessening. Divisi
describes when players who would usually play the same note (unison)
play different notes. Da Capo means repeat from the beginning of the
music. Donatello was either a Renaissance artist or a Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle.

Answer: Embouchure

Brass and woodwind players spend lots of time getting their
embouchures right. While getting the embouchure right may POSE an
enigma for the player, enigma means mystery. An epicedium is a
dirge. Encore means play it again. I doubt that you would encore an
epicedium.

Answer: Recorder

In the Renaissance, and through the time of J. S. Bach, if a
composer requested that a part be played by the flute, he probably
meant the recorder. The modern, transverse, flute would be specified
by "flauto traverso" or "German flute"

Answer: Glockenspiel

The name is German, and means "play of bells". A gong is an
oriental type of cymbal. Benjamin Franklin invented, and Mozart wrote
music for, the glass harmonica. Glissando is the technique of sliding
from one note to another, while playing all the notes in between.

Answer: Harmonica

The harmonica, beloved of blues players, Bob Dylan, and many others
is really a small reed organ which uses the player's breath instead
of a bellows or other source of moving air to make its sound. The
hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument in which a rosin covered wheel
rubs against the strings, to make them sound. The Heckelphone is a
bass oboe.

Answer: Intermezzo

In the 18th Century, intermezzos might be short, comic, operas performed between the acts of longer, serious, operas. I suspect that going to the opera was more time consuming then than now.

Answer: Jongleur

Jouer is the French verb meaning to play. Journeyman is a title for someone employed in a trade, and a Jester is a clown. Jongleurs might be associated with a court, or might wander from town to town.

Answer: Kazoo

There have been marching kazoo bands, and it might appear as a novelty
instrument in an orchestra. Konzert is the German word for concert.
Klezmer is a style of music. I don't know what a kiddytune is, but it
should exist if it doesn't.

Answer: lyre

The lyre was an ancestor of the harp. David's lyre playing soothed King Saul, and Orpheus was supposed to be such a fine player that he charmed the Greek god of the dead!

Answer: Metronome

The metronome was invented in 1812. Beethoven wrote the second
movement of his Eighth Symphony to poke fun at it and its inventor
Malzel. Beethoven, however, also used it, and gave metronomic tempo
markings in many of his works.

Answer: Nocturne

Niente is the Italian word for nothing. Nerveux, French for
"nervously", would not give a dreamy quality to music. Nachtanz is
a German word for the second of two dances, usually a fast dance
following a slower one.

Answer: Oboe

The Ocarina is an egg-shaped flute. The Odono and Oja are both
African instruments; a drum and a whistle, respectively.

Answer: piano

The instrument's full name is "pianoforte", meaning it can play both loudly and softly.

Answer: Quadrille

The "Lobster Quadrille" was danced for Alice by the Mock Turtle,
and the Gryphon. "Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you
join the dance?"

Answer: Gradually slow down.

Starting over from the beginning is da capo. Rehearsals are where
you find out when the conductor wants a ritard -- and you hope he
doesn't add one in the concert!

Answer: Saxophone

Adolph Sax invented the Saxophone in the 1840's. The Sarrusophone
was invented about the same time, and is also of metal, but is a
double-reed, and is obsolete. Sousaphones are tubas used in marching
bands. The Saz is a Turkish lute.

Answer: Treble

The lines of the treble clef are EGBDF, which led to the mnemonic
"Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" when I was taking piano. There is a
tenor clef, with middle C on the fourth line of the staff.

Answer: Ukulele

The Uilleann pipes are a kind of bagpipes. The Ud is an Arabic lute. Umore is the Italian word for humor.

Answer: Violin

The other three are all terms meaning "quick" or "lively" and
referring to tempo

Answer: woodwind

Not all woodwinds are made of wood. The flute and saxophone are made of metal. Flutes, recorders, whistles, etc have no reed. Clarinets and saxophones have a single reed. Bassoons and oboes have double reeds.

Answer: Xaphoon

It was invented by Brian Wittman, and is pronounced zafoon. See
www.xaphoon.com for more.

Answer: Zydeco

Bring out the accordion and washboard! Thanks to www.dolmetsch.com and to "A New Dictionary of Music" for references.