Hardest Joy to the Ear Trivia Quiz | Other Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The sitar, a stringed instrument commonly used in Indian classical music, found recognition in the West through the works multiple Grammy Award winner, Pandit Ravi Shankar and made its way into the music of popular bands like "The Beatles". Which other band used it on their chart topping hit, "Paint It Black"?

Answer: The Rolling Stones

The sitar is a long, plucked string instrument with a hollow neck and rounded base. Its name is believed to have originated in the Persian term 'seh-tar' which meant three strings. Pandit Ravi Shankar, father of Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones, was one of the most well known sitar players on the Indian subcontinent.

George Harrison of "The Beatles" learnt to play the instrument from Ravi Shankar and it features on many of the band's songs including "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Within You Without You" and "Love You To". However, it is "Paint It Black" by "The Rolling Stones" that was the first single featuring the sitar to make it to number 1 on the US and UK charts. The instrument was played by Brian Jones.

2. While similar instruments have been used in Africa for centuries, the kazoo was invented in the 19th century and patented by George D. Smith in 1902. Making an appearance on the song "Corporal Clegg" by "Pink Floyd", which band member played this instrument?

Answer: David Gilmour

Kazoos belong to the membranophone family and can be made of plastic, metal, wood or other materials, each type resulting in a different sound. The instrument is played by humming into it, rather than blowing into it. Beaufort in South Carolina, USA has a museum dedicated to the history of kazoos.

"Corporal Clegg" is part of Pink Floyd's second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets" and is about a soldier who loses his leg in World War II. The kazoo is used as a parody of the sound of a military brass band in the song.

3. Apart from regular instruments like the piano and guitar, Joni Mitchell's album "Blue" also featured a lesser known instrument called the Appalachian dulcimer. A type of stringed instrument from the zither family, in which country did the Appalachian dulcimer originate?

Answer: United States of America

The Appalachian dulcimer is a type of fretted zither with three to four strings and is believed to have originated in the Appalachian region of the United States of America. Locally it is also referred to as a hog fiddle or harmony box. While playing the instrument, the left hand is used for fretting while the right hand plucks the strings.

"Blue" was recorded by Mitchell in 1971 with the songs having been written by her during a vacation in Europe following a break up with then boyfriend, Graham Nash. Apart from this album, she has also played the Appalachian dulcimer during live concerts. Cyndi Lauper also played this instrument on her studio album "The Body Acoustic".

4. The celesta resembles an upright piano though it is a member of the percussion family. Which of these songs does *not* feature this instrument?

Answer: "Space Oddity" by David Bowie

The softer timbre of the celesta led to it being named after the French word for heavenly, 'celeste'. It was invented in the 19th century in Paris by a harmonium builder named Auguste Mustel. It was also used in Tchaikovsky's famous ballet, "The Nutcracker".

"Space Oddity" featured another rare instrument called the stylophone, a miniature electronic keyboard.

5. The kalimba is a type of thumb piano indigenous to the Sub Saharan region of Africa. Which of these bands, founded by Maurice White, used this instrument on most of their albums?

Answer: Earth, Wind and Fire

"Earth, Wind and Fire", founded by Maurice White in the late 1960s, is an American band covering a number of different genres ranging from jazz and disco to pop and soul. Some of their famous hits include "Sing a Song", "Shining Star", "After the Love Has Gone" and "Let's Groove".

The kalimba is also referred to as a thumb piano as the instrument is held in the hands and played by plucking the tines with the thumbs. The first European documentation of the kalimba is found in the writings of Portuguese explorers in the 16th century.

6. Named after the German words for 'bell play', the Glockenspiel is a percussion instrument that resembles a xylophone. On which ballad by Jimi Hendrix, featuring on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list published in 2004, would you hear this instrument?

Answer: Little Wing

"Little Wing", written by Jimi Hendrix, was part of the 1967 album "Axis: Bold as Love". Hendrix himself played the glockenspiel on the song. Sound engineer Eddie Kramer stated in an interview that the instrument was lying at the Olympic Studios where the song was recorded having been left back from a previous orchestral session and Hendrix picked it up and played it for the song.

"Little Wing" is ranked 366 on the list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" published by the Rolling Stone magazine in 2004. It has been covered by other artists including Eric Clapton, Santana, Sting and Def Leppard.

The glockenspiel consists of a series of tuned metal bars arranged similarly to a piano. It is a relatively high pitched instrument. The earlier use of the glockenspiel can be traced to George Frideric Handel's "Saul". Other instances of the instrument being used in mainstream music include "Only a Northern Song" by "The Beatles", "Closer to the Heart" by "Rush" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" by "Panic! At The Disco".

7. Another type of percussion instrument is the marimba which consists of wooden bars struck with mallets to produce sounds. Which ABBA song features this instrument in the introduction?

Answer: Mamma Mia

The marimba is believed to have been introduced to the Caribbean region by African slaves with origins that can be traced to the central and western parts of Africa. The instrument is a type of xylophone with the name itself coming from the Bantu word for xylophone.

"Mamma Mia" is from the band's self-titled third album "ABBA". Other songs that featured the marimba include The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb", Elton John's "Island Girl" and The White Stripes' "The Nurse".

8. The jaltarang (literal translation: water ripple) is an Indian percussion instrument which uses sets of bowls filled with varying amounts of water to produce sound. Which of these songs by George Harrison featured this instrument?

Answer: Gone Troppo

"Gone Troppo" is a studio album released by George Harrison in 1982. The jaltarang featured on the title track.

Harrison was deeply influenced by Indian culture and spent a lot of time in India as a follower of Paramahansa Yogananda. He eventually became a member of the Hare Krishna faction of the Hindu faith.

The jaltarang consists of sets of ceramic or metal bowls filled with different levels of water. Music is produced by striking the rims of the bowls. The pitch can be changed by adjusting the level of water in the bowls while the different scales are produced based on the size of bowls used.

In the state of Rajasthan in India, a variation called the jalthaal is found which uses a single metal plate instead of several bowls.

9. While bagpipes are well known all over the world, you would hardly expect to hear them on a rock song. Which of the following bands achieved the amazing feat of combining the sounds of bagpipes with guitars and drums in the song "It's a Long Way to the Top"?

Answer: AC/DC

AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band that first got together in 1973. Bon Scott who was the lead vocalist when the song was recorded, also played the bagpipes. Other popular songs featuring bagpipes are Paul McCartney's "Mull of Kintyre", The Animals' "Sky Pilot" and The White Stripes' "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn".

10. One of the most well known Armenian folk instruments is the duduk, a type of woodwind instrument. Which English singer and musician used the duduk to create the score for Martin Scorsese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ"?

Answer: Peter Gabriel

The duduk (pronounced doo-dook) literally translates to 'apricot horn'. It is a double reed instrument made of apricot wood which can be traced back to as early as the fifth century. Peter Gabriel's score for "The Last Temptation of Christ", which was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Motion Picture, was one of the first to feature the duduk. The sound of the duduk is well suited for dramatic scores and has since been used in a number of other films like "Avatar", "The Kite Runner" and "The Passion of The Christ".

UNESCO added the music of the duduk to the Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity list in 2005.

Source: Author zorba_scank

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ertrum before going online.
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Joy to the Ear Trivia Quiz

Some rare, indigenous musical instruments are not very well known outside their region of origin. It does bring joy to my ears to find them featured in works of more mainstream musicians though.

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