Music Genres from A to Z Trivia Quiz

Answer: A capella

A capella is from an Italian term meaning "in the manner of a choir or chapel", and first appeared around 1875, i.e., the singer or group sings without music or unaccompanied. The oldest a capella group in the United States are the Whiffenpoofs, undergraduates from Yale who combine their voices to sing "The Whiffenpoof Song", i.e., "We're poor little lambs who have lost our way".

Other groups known for this style of singing include Rockapella, Home Free, the University of Wisconsin group called Fundamentally Sound and Straight No Chaser ("Let It Go").

Answer: Ray Stevens

Ray Stevens popularized the novelty song "The Streak" in 1974 on his album "Boogity Boogity" which was nominated for 2 Country Music Association Awards. He is also known for his other comedic songs like "Ahab the Arab" (1962). The Blues originated in the rural south at the end of the 18th century, and deals with loss and despair.

The style became more popular around the 1940s, and was the forerunner of R&B and, finally, rock and roll. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) was called "The Empress of the Blues" and recorded songs like "Down Hearted Blues"; B.B. King (1925-2015) and his guitar were "Singin' the Blues" (1956), and Buddy Guy did "Damn Right I've Got the Blues" (1991).

Answer: classical

If you answered anything other than classical music for Polish composer Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), this may not be the quiz for you. Chopin was a musical prodigy who completed his education in Warsaw and, at the tender age of 21, moved to Paris. Most of Chopin's works were written for the piano, including two piano concertos and songs to Polish lyrics.

He developed a friendship with Franz Liszt and had a stormy relationship with French writer George Sand. One of Chopin's major works was "Polonaise in A Flat Major" Op.53, and his technique and themes made him a symbol of the Romantic Era.

Answer: Gloria Gaynor

Ahh, those Disco days and Disco nights...with Gloria Gaynor and her inspiring song of female emancipation "I Will Survive" (1978) and "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1975) which became models for the Disco sound of the late 1970s and 1980s. In 2005 she was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. Donna Summer supplanted Gaynor as "Queen", having more disco hits than, perhaps, any other female performer.

Hearing her songs brings you right back to the time of outrageous clothes, platform shoes and hedonism, like "Hot Stuff" (1979), "Last Dance" (1978) and "She Works Hard for the Money" in 1983. King sang "Shame", the group Rose Royce did "Car Wash", and Patti LaBelle has her pies!

Answer: Henry Mancini

Anyone for 'elevator music'? You really can't talk about "Easy Listening" tunes without mentioning the wonderful composer Henry Mancini (1924-1994). From the trend-setting style of "The Theme from Peter Gunn" in 1959, to the poignant "Moon River" in 1962, to the catchy "Pink Panther" in 1963, you could not turn on a radio or watch a variety show without experiencing his music.

He was, arguably, one of the greatest composers in film history. He won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe and a remarkable 20 Grammys! Aaron Copland wrote classical pieces like "Rodeo"; Philip Glass wrote influential compositions like "Akhnaten"; Bernstein composed "West Side Story".

Answer: Hanson

You don't hear much about Folk singers anymore - I guess they're now Old Folk singers! The term originated in the 1800s but often dealt with songs from a much earlier time. "Greensleeves" is an example of a folk song that dates back to 1580 when it was called "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves". Around the late 1950s and 1960s, there was a revival of the genre with groups like The Kingston Trio and "Tom Dooley" in 1958. Peter, Paul and Mary spoke for a generation with "Puff, the Magic Dragon" in 1963, and Janis Ian wrote the 1999 song "Society's Child". On the other hand, Hanson's rendition of "MMMBop" in 1996 might be more like 'Bubblegum Music'.

Answer: Seattle, Washington

Grunge music is sometimes referred to as 'the Seattle sound'. It is a part of the larger genre of Alternative Rock and began in the mid-1980s in the state of Washington. Although other types of music have since replaced the sound, the "Grunge Era" is usually considered between 1991-1996 with bands like Nirvana and their album "Nevermind", Alice in Chains song "Dirt" and Stone Temple Pilots' "Core".

The other cities mentioned have spawned their own sounds, e.g., Motown, jazz and Latin music like Gloria Estefen's Miami Sound Machine.

Answer: Andrea Bocelli

Hip Hop, the musical child of rap, has gained in popularity in the 21st century with artists like Wiz Khalifa ("See You Again"), The Game ("Hate It or Love It") both in 2005, and The Weeknd ("The Hills") from 2015. Hip Hop originated in the Bronx, New York in the 1970s and the urban sound is often characterized by R-Rated lyrics, misspelled group names and a disdain for women and the law. Like their rapper predecessors, some Hip Hop artists are as known for their 'rap sheet' as for their rap sound. Andrea Bocelli is a blind, Italian classical tenor and crossover artist. With "Sacred Arias", he simultaneously hit the Top 3 spots on the US Classical albums chart in 2000.

Answer: Duane Eddy

Have you ever heard the song "40 Miles of Bad Road" (1959) or "Rebel Rouser" from the 1958 album "Have 'Twangy' Guitar, Will Travel"? If you have, you know that Duane Eddy has a very distinctive guitar sound. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Eddy was one of the most popular artists of the time, appearing on "Dick Clark's American Bandstand" (anyone still remember that show?).

He even took songs from other media, e.g., "Peter Gunn" and "High Noon" and adapted the songs to his own style. Albums like The Connection's "Let It Rock!" continue to reprise his songs.

The other choices all had hits with lyrics: "Wichita Lineman", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "The Prayer", respectively.

Answer: Louis Armstrong

Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong (1901-1971) once said "Man, if you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know". A jazz trumpeter born in New Orleans, Louisiana (the birthplace of jazz), he is still considered one of the most influential musicians in the development of jazz, creating improvisation and a new musical vocabulary, e.g., 'scat'. Even singer Bing Crosby alluded to the fact that Louis Armstrong cannot be replaced; there will never be another Satchmo! At the same time, Benny Goodman was called "The King of Swing"; big band leader Glenn Miller popularized hits like "Little Brown Jug", and ("Chances Are") Johnny Mathis later created romantic moods with his songs.

Answer: Klezmer

Jewish and Israeli music or klezmer was influenced mostly by Romanian music, primarily Moldova and Bessarabia, with an impact from surrounding countries like Greece, the Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. It is played mostly at wedding ceremonies and other Jewish celebratory events, using conventional instruments like violins, trumpets and clarinets, along with accordions and cymbalom (a Hugarian dulcimer).

Originally klezmer consisted largely of lively dance tunes. "Fiddler on the Roof" included klezmer numbers and one of the bands playing this music is called Hot Pstromi. Karaoke is Japanese; K-Pop is from South Korea and krumping is a U.S. street dance.

Answer: Lambada

The Limbo is from Trinidad; the Lambeth Walk is from a 1937 musical called "Me and My Girl" and the Lindy Hop (or Lindy) is an American dance which originated in the 1920s and 1930s in Harlem, New York City, and it requires a partner. As for the Lambada, only once in the history of film have two competing movies (like "Antz" and "A Bug's Life") been released on the same day; their subject matter - the Lambada. On March 16, 1990, when the Brazilian dance craze reached its peak popularity in the United States, both "Lambada" and "The Forbidden Dance" were issued and, it appears, so was the dance's death knell...needless to say, both films tanked!

Answer: Michigan

Motown (short for Motor Town), was originally founded by Gordy as Tamla Records in January of 1959, and officially became Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. It was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan and became one of the main sources of music in the 1960s.

Here's a list of just some of its stars: Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and, of course, the Supremes. The Motown sound was, basically, a very successful fusion of soul and pop music. To demonstrate its impact, from 1960-1969, the label had 79 records on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart.

Answer: Aaliyah

Did you ever wonder what 'New-Age' music was, and when does it stop being new?I think new-age music is more of a goal than a specific style, i.e., to help you meditate, relax, reduce stress, bring tranquility and, perhaps, reach a "zen state of mind".

It is a kind of musical Yoga, with potential healing powers, and it can incorporate sounds of nature like rain or thunder or crickets or it can encompass some classical music or other gentle sounds. New-Age singers include Enya ("Waterfall", 1988), Yanni ("In My Time", 1993) and Mannheim Steamroller ("Fresh Aire", 1975). Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001) was an R&B singer/actress with a bright future...until the plane crash.

Answer: Jessye Norman

Opera is, essentially, a dramatic story done completely in song and often performed in a foreign language. Most people are intimidated by this musical form and are unable to absorb the beauty of the singing and the drama of the plot. The form began in Italy (Florence) in 1598, and got a 'face-life' with comic operas after the 1760s, with Mozart leading the way with "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro". Jessye Norman is a Grammy Award winning soprano and a winner of the Kennedy Center Honors.

She is associated with operas by Wagner, and has released albums like "Spirituals in Concert" (1991). Chris Norman - soft rock; Norman Blake - Bluegrass; Larry Norman - Christian Rock.

Answer: Pink Floyd

Psychedelic music is a subgenre of rock which first emerged in the 1960s and was influenced by the culture of the times and by psychotropic, mind-expanding drugs. If you've ever seen a poster by artist Peter Max, that's what psychedelic music sounds like.

Some people consider most of the 1960s bands like the Beatles (with "Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the Stones and even the Beach Boys as having a psychedic sound. However, some bands employed this sound on a regular basis, like Pink Floyd whose members included Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Syd Barrett and David Gilmour. (Jam/grunge, the Raiders/old Rock & Roll, Plaid/techno.)

Answer: Quarterflash

There really were no genres I could find with the letter 'Q' (or 'X'), so I substituted groups with Q instead. "Harden My Heart" (1982) was a hit song released by the group Quarterflash, which was founded in 1980 in Portland, Oregon. BTW, they got their name from an Australian saying "A quarter flash and three parts foolish". Only two members of the original group are left, i.e., Rindy and Marv Ross. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also featured in the Broadway musical "Rock of Ages".
Quiet Riot - "Cum On Feel the Noize", Queensryche - "Queen of the Reich",
Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Answer: Peter Noone

If you picked Bob Marley, you may have no idea what Reggae is. Reggae music is a genre which developed in Kingston, Jamaica in the 1960s. One of its main promoters was Bob Marley and the Wailers (Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) who evolved from a 'ska' vocalist group. Reggae has elements of Caribbean mento, calypso, jazz, R&B and African music; one of its main elements is offbeat rhythms and staccato chords, and the themes tend to encompass social criticism and religion or love and peace. Examples are "One Love", "Get Up, Stand Up" and Jimmy Cliff's "I Can See Clearly Now". Peter Noone was the frontman for Herman's Hermits, a 1960s English beat band who did "Henry VIII" in 1965.

Answer: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

If you chose the least popular soundtrack, i.e., "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), then you got it right! The film is set in Oregon in the 1850s and is based on a short story ("The Sobbin' Women") by Steven Vincent Benet which was, in turn, based on the Ancient Roman story "The Rape of the Sabine Women".

The musical starred Howard Keel and Jane Powell and had some great dance numbers, one of which featured an amazing barn-raising scene. The other hit musicals include "Singin' in the Rain" from 1952, "South Pacific" (1958) with Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor, and "Sound of Music" from 1965 with "So Long, Farewell".

Answer: Selena Quintanilla-Perez

The incorrect choices are all 'Country and Western' singers. Tejano or 'Tex-Mex' music includes folk and popular music from Central and Southern Texas. The main champion of this type of music was Selena Quintanilla-Perez, known only as Selena (1971-1995). Selena was an American singer, song-writer and actress who was dubbed the "Queen of Tejano music".

She is given credit for turning this genre into mainstream, and was named 'top Latin artist of the '90s" by Billboard Magazine. Her albums included "Amor Prohibido" (1994) and "Dreaming of You" from 1995.

Her name and her sound might have gone universal if not for her untimely murder at 23 years old.

Answer: UB40

Since 'U' is an unusual letter, I have again resorted to band names beginning with U. Red, Red Wine" was a song written and first performed by Neil Diamond in 1967... however, since he didn't fit the category, I went with UB40's 1983 version on their album "Labour of Love".

It is a reggae song (see Question 18) which hit #34 on the US Billboard charts in 1984, but had already hit #1 on the British charts in September, 1983. In 1988, a longer version was released with a rap by Terence 'Astro' Wilson. UB40 is a British reggae/pop band whose name derives from Unemployment Benefit, Form 40. U2 has Bono; Ultravox did "Vienna"; Uncle Kracker did "Follow Me".

Answer: Van Halen

Steve Winwood wrote and recorded the song "Valerie" in 1982 on the album "Taking Back the Night" where he wrote "I'm the same boy I used to be". Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse both released the same name song, but with different lyrics, asking "Why don't you come on over, Valerie?"; Winehouse's "Valerie ('68 version)" was released on the 2006 album "Back to Black", while Ronson's song was released a year later on the album "Version", and featured Amy Winehouse.

The song was featured in the movie "27 Dresses", and at the end of "Amy" a 2015 documentary biography of Winehouse. Eddie Van Halen was married to Valerie Bertinelli, but the group never covered the song.

Answer: Vanessa Williams

"Colors of the Wind" was first heard in the 1995 Disney film "Pocahontas" and was recorded by Judy Kuhn, the actress who voiced "Pocahontas" in the movie. The song became a hit when it was covered by Vanessa Williams; it also won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 68th Academy Awards. "Pocahontas" (1595-1617) was a Native American who is said to have saved the life of John Smith in 1607. Vanessa Williams is a singer and actress who was reinstated in 2015 as a former Miss America winner (1984) and appeared in "Soul Food" (1997) and on the TV show "Ugly Betty" (2006-2010). Jodi Watley is an R&B singer; Dionne Warwick teamed with Burt Bacharach; Gretchen Wilson sang "Redneck Woman".

Answer: You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Fatboy Slim is the stage name for British musician and record producer Norman Cook who popularized the 'big beat' genre of the 1990s. His 1998 album "You've Come a Long Way Baby" (not the Virginia Slims commercial) featured the commercially successful songs "Right Here Right Now", "The Rockafeller Skank", and "Praise You". Cook has also done remixes for the groups Cornershop, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and Wildchild. As for the incorrect "Y" albums: "You Really Got Me" is from The Kinks (1964); "Youth and Young Manhood" is from The Kings of Leon in 2003; "You Can Play These Songs With Chords" is by Death Cab for Cutie in 2002.

Answer: Zydeco

This quiz (or compendium as I like to call it) ends, as it should, with the letter 'z'. In this case, 'z' stands for a type of dance music from Southern Louisiana called zydeco; zydeco is Cajun music which usually uses a guitar, fiddle and accordion for accompaniment.

The genre blends Creole music with blues and rhythm & blues. The earliest use of the term zydeco may have been from a C&W group called Zydeco Skillet Lickers who recorded the song "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo" in 1929. Zydeco integrates other genres like R&B, soul, reggae, ska, hip hop, rock, Afro Caribbean and others. Zouk is French Caribbean dance music; Zamrock is from Zambia; Zarzuela is Spanish operetta.