Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In 1984, Leonard Cohen sang of a musician who played a "secret chord" -- which he then proceeded to explain, naming its parts as he played them. "It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift." What had "the baffled king" composed?
2. The lead singer of "With a Little Help from My Friends" seems a bit nervous about his role. "What would you do if I sang out of tune?" he asks. "Would you stand up and walk out on me?" Which Beatle sings so plaintively of this fate?
3. What happens to "our song" when a relationship goes sour? In her 1970 hit "Don't Play That Song," Aretha Franklin explored what happens to the music afterward. Why does she say she doesn't want to hear the song?
4. Musicians looking for a hook have often used music as a metaphor. Hence we have the Hillside Singers proclaiming that they'd "like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony." That 1971 single -- "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" -- did not arise purely out of musical altruism, however. In fact, the song began as an advertising jingle for what organization?
5. "When you read, you begin with A-B-C. When you sing, you begin with do-re-mi." Since the 1959 debut of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," students have sung to "Do-Re-Mi" as they learned the notes that define the Western musical scale. Which of these is the practice of singing a particular syllable for each note of the scale?
6. If you hear what I hear when listening to Christmas carols, it seems hard to escape music about music! Christmastime is signaled by the ringing of bells; everyone harks to the herald angels' singing; and even mountainsides are heard to echo these refrains. In "The Little Drummer Boy," the narrator describes how he plays a piece as a gift to the Christ child. What sound does his drum make?
7. Prince Tamino, protagonist of the 1791 opera "The Magic Flute" ("Die Zauberflöte"), relies on his faithful woodwind instrument to help him defeat various enemies and win the heart of the beautiful Princess Pamina. Its rich tone is much remarked upon -- when he plays, "even wild animals feel joy." From what material is this marvelous flute made?
8. In 1979, the Charlie Daniels Band had their greatest hit with the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." They sing of music as being about more than life and death: a fiddle contest is a battle for nothing less than the immortal soul of a young man named Johnny. How does the song describe the Devil's preparation for his solo?
9. Sometimes, musicians use their music to share their theories about its origins. In a 1972 song by Argent, remade by KISS in 1991, we hear that "if you wanna be a singer or play guitar, man, you gotta sweat or you won't get far." But how do they tell us we got rock and roll in the first place?
10. To go by song titles, music can be a surprisingly violent art. In 1973, Roberta Flack had a hit with "Killing Me Softly with His Song"; luckily, the title seems to have been metaphorical. Who was the deadly songster who inspired this song, a man who himself sang of when "the music died"?
Source: Author
CellarDoor
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
agony before going online.
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