Music Nomenclature Trivia Quiz

Answer: little by little

This term is often used when a composer wishes to dictate a gradual dynamic increase or decrease. For example: poco a poco crescendo - increase volume little by litte -or- poco a poco accelerando - little by little increase speed.

Answer: a musical embellishment

An interesting fact - Anurag Kashyap of San Diego, CA won first place at the 2005 National Spelling Bee by spelling the winning word: appoggiatura. Appoggiaturas are often ornamental, impromptu musical phrases or "tricks" exectuted by the artist while performing.

Answer: a sudden strong accent on a note or chord

The term Sforzando is often notated by the symbols sfz or sf. A prime example of sforzando is featured in the main musical theme of the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and is named "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by composer Richard Strauss.

The piece starts with a pp (pianissimo - very quietly) dynamic marking and suddenly explodes in a triumphant burst of orchestral splendor.

Answer: to gradually decrease tempo

Rallentando is synonymus with the more widely used term Ritardando. These terms often appear in musical manuscript as rall. or rit.

Answer: a 64th note

Hemidemisemiquaver is the British term for a 64th note. The pattern is easy to detect: 8th note - Quaver, 16th note - Semiquaver, 32nd note - Demisemiquaver. The 64th note has some interesting (and LONG) names in other languages such as the French Octuple Croche, the German Ger Vierundsechzigstel and Vierundsechzigstelnote, the Italian Semibiscroma and the Spanish Semifusa.

Answer: a symbol that indicates to hold a pitch longer than its value

The Fermata is a symbol that looks like an upside down U or crescent with a dot placed just under it. It is usually used to create dramatic suspension at the end of a musical phrase and is often called a bird's eye or bull's eye.

Answer: an exceptionally high, ornamental soprano voice

The Coloratura voice is a rare and exquisite instrument. If you wish to hear a truly remarkable example of this may I suggest listening to the aria "Der Holle Rache" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Magic Flute" or "Die Zauberflute".

Answer: to gradually decrease volume

The terms Decrescendo and Diminuendo indicate a decrease in volume and are often written as decrs., dim. or with a long arrow pointing right. The opposite of these terms is Crescendo and is written as cres. or with a long arrow pointing left.

Answer: short, separated, detached

Staccato indicates a "choppy" approach and is written by placing a small dot above the note. The opposite is LEGATO indicating smoothly connected or slurred phrasing.

Answer: louder, slower and more grandiose

A perfect example of Allargando that almost everybody knows is the theme that is played before the beginning of every 20th Century Fox movie. Next time you hear it, pay close attention how it builds and slows for dramatic effect.