Instrumentation

Question 1

fanfare

Answer 1

a flourish for brass instruments (frequently with percussion) for ceremonial or celebratory effect, or simply any short passage for brass in an orchestral work

Question 2

sonority

Answer 2

the nature and quality of musical sounds

Question 3

timbre

Answer 3

the particular tone colour of an instrument or voice

Question 4

solo

Answer 4

a complete piece (or a section) for one player or singer with no accompaniment, or for one player or singer with accompaniment

Question 5

double stopping

Answer 5

where two (or more) notes are played together on an orchestral string instrument (two or more strings being ‘stopped’ simultaneously)

Question 6

hammer on

Answer 6

a guitar technique used to facilitate fast playing by avoiding the need to pick every note

Question 7

pull off

Answer 7

a guitar technique: a string is plucked by ‘pulling’ the string off the fingerboard with a finger used to fret the note

Question 8

range

Answer 8

the distance between the lowest and highest notes in a single melodic part. (a soprano part working between middle C and the C above has a range - or ‘compass’ - of an octave)

Question 9

tessitura

Answer 9

the most widely used part of a vocal or instrumental part’s range