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Quiz about Is SHe Really Playing That Instrument

Is S/He Really Playing That Instrument? Quiz

Something I see a lot are commercials, movie scenes, etc., where someone is pretending to play an instrument. I'm no musician, but having been in band, I can tell most of the time who at least knows a little something about the instrument. Can you?

A multiple-choice quiz by HairyBear. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
HairyBear

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
370,015

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
324

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the clarinet? Hint

Their left hand is at the top.

Their hair is on fire.

Their pinky is in the air.

Their right hand is at the top.

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the saxophone (not counting the soprano sax)? Hint

They will be blowing in the wrong end.

They won't be looking at the music.

They won't be sweating.

They will be holding it up.

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the drums? Hint

They won't be on time.

They will be holding the drum sticks tight-fistedly.

They won't look crazy.

They will be holding what look like paint brushes.

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing a trombone? Hint

They will be puffing their cheeks out.

They will be using the slide incorrectly.

They will be holding it in their right hand.

They will be blowing in the wrong end.

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. What is the most likely way to tell if someone isn't really playing a guitar? Hint

Their lips are moving.

Their guitar isn't plugged in.

Their guitar is a weird shape.

Their left hand isn't moving.

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. What is the most likely way to tell if someone isn't really playing the violin? Hint

They're holding it like a guitar.

They're holding it upside-down.

They're holding it with a cloth on their shoulder.

They're holding it on their right shoulder.

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the accordion? Hint

They are pushing too many buttons.

They are off-key.

They are playing too many notes.

They aren't pushing any buttons.

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the bagpipes? Hint

They aren't making weird faces.

They aren't squeezing the bag.

They don't have earplugs in.

They aren't wearing a kilt.

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the trumpet? Hint

They'll open their lips to blow.

They'll be blowing out their cheeks.

They'll be pushing the keys with their right hand.

They'll be squeaking.

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. One popular culture question just to make it interesting: How can you tell Bing Crosby isn't playing the piano when he's singing "White Christmas" in the movie, Holiday Inn? Hint

It's a violin playing.

He's playing at the left end of the piano but the notes are high.

He's playing at the right end of the piano but the notes are low.

It's too hard to sing and play at the same time.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the clarinet?

Answer: Their right hand is at the top.

99% of the time, someone who does not know how to play the clarinet will hold it with his/her right hand at the top. It seems natural, and it's wrong. The right hand goes at the bottom and the left hand at the top. There are pinky keys, so the pinkies might be in the air. Someone's hair being on fire wouldn't necessarily prevent him/her from playing the clarinet, it just wouldn't be the wisest course of action right at that moment.

The "clarinetist" in the Zatarain's rice commercials not only has his right hand at the top, he's holding the clarinet so high in the air it would be impossible to play.

2. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the saxophone (not counting the soprano sax)?

Answer: They will be holding it up.

Saxophones are heavy and they tip forward. It's nearly impossible to hold a saxophone with your hands and play it at the same time. They come with neck straps to hold the saxophone up so that you can use your hands to play. This applies to the tenor, alto, and baritone saxes. Kenny G's soprano sax is more like a clarinet, so it would be possible to hold it and play it at the same time. Blowing in the wrong end would certainly be a tip-off, but it's not very likely.

3. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the drums?

Answer: They will be holding the drum sticks tight-fistedly.

This one is more difficult to see, but professional drummers do not hold the drum sticks tightly, but more like you'd hold a fork, gently balanced against the fingers so that the drum sticks can bounce. Drummers do use brushes for special sound effects. For the final bangs of a rock music piece, drummers will tighten their fists to get maximum volume, but that's only for the final bangs.

4. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing a trombone?

Answer: They will be holding it in their right hand.

This is another hand problem. Real trombone players hold the trombone with their left hand and adjust the slide with their right hand. While blowing in the wrong end would certainly qualify as not playing the instrument, it isn't something even someone who knew nothing about trombones would be likely to do.

5. What is the most likely way to tell if someone isn't really playing a guitar?

Answer: Their left hand isn't moving.

An easy one for you. If that left hand isn't moving, they aren't holding the strings down to make the different chords, so they aren't really playing the guitar. There are, of course, all kinds of weird-shaped guitars, and plenty that don't plug in.

A left-handed pretend guitar player would not be moving his/her right hand, but not moving the left hand would still be a major give-away.

6. What is the most likely way to tell if someone isn't really playing the violin?

Answer: They're holding it on their right shoulder.

Still another hand issue, the violin goes in the left hand, on the left shoulder, the bow in the right hand. The left hand ends up doing all the work, the right hand just moves up and down. There are master classes in bowing, however, so it isn't an easy thing moving that bow up and down correctly.

Many violinists put a cloth on their shoulder under the instrument. While holding it upside-down or like a guitar are possible, they aren't the most likely way you'll see someone "playing" a violin incorrectly.

7. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the accordion?

Answer: They aren't pushing any buttons.

Learning those buttons is an essential part of learning the accordion since the keyboard has relatively few keys, and since the buttons aren't labeled, it's not an easy task. I could have easily included "not moving the bellows" as another correct option. Fake accordionists never seem to move the bellows. No movement, no sound.

8. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the bagpipes?

Answer: They aren't squeezing the bag.

That noise made by bagpipes comes from a pipe called a drone, which produces sound continuously by being fed air from the bag. If the so-called player isn't pressing down and letting up on that bag with his/her elbow so that it deflates and inflates, s/he isn't really playing the pipes.

9. What is the most likely way to tell if someone is not really playing the trumpet?

Answer: They'll open their lips to blow.

Did I get you with the hand? They do push the keys with their right hand. But they don't open up to blow. This one is also hard to see, but all brass instrument players play with their lips pressed together, not with their mouths open. Blowing out the cheeks is considered incorrect technique, but it isn't impossible to play that way.

10. One popular culture question just to make it interesting: How can you tell Bing Crosby isn't playing the piano when he's singing "White Christmas" in the movie, Holiday Inn?

Answer: It's a violin playing.

Believe it or not, while Bing is singing his signature tune, he's pretending to play the piano while a violin accompanies him. Don't ask me why.

Source: Author HairyBear

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