Style / Form

Question 1

African Music

Answer 1

Music which originated from the Africa subcontinent. Usually has a heavy emphasis on drumming.

Question 2

Aria

Answer 2

A solo song in a opera, stage work, oratorio or cantata. Usually quite difficult with fast running phrases, and long phrases, to show off the singer and the voice. Often has a lot of repetition on the words.

Question 3

Baroque

Answer 3

Music written after the Renaissance period but before the Classical. C1600- 1750. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann are well known composers from this period.

Almost always has a harpsichord.

Question 4

Blue

Answer 4

Slow jazz based music which is often in 4/4 time and often based on a 12 bar structure which repeats. The first line of a blues song is often repeated. Often uses the “blues scale”.

Question 5

Boogie Woogie

Answer 5

Blues style music for the piano. characterised by a driving left hand, usually based on the twelve-bar blues and a right hand which improvises, or is improvisatory in style.

Question 6

|Bothy Ballad

Answer 6

A Scottish traditional folk song, usually with many verses which tell a story and a chorus which people join in for. Uses the Doric language, originated in Aberdeenshire and the subject matter is usually farming or rural life.

Question 7

Celtic Rock

Answer 7

A style of music which fuses aspects of traditional folk music with features of rock school.

Question 8

Chorus

Answer 8

i. A section of an opera, oratorio or stage work which is for a group of singers - usually SATB

ii. The repeating refrain of a song in between verse which are different.

Question 9

Classical

Answer 9

The period of musical history which comes after Baroque and before the Romantic. C1750 - 1820. Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven were important classical composers.

Question 10

Concerto

Answer 10

A piece, usually in three movements, for a solo instrument and orchestra.

Question 11

Dixieland

Answer 11

A type of jazz music which relied heavily on improvisation. There is always only one player to a part in Dixieland. Also known as trad. or traditional jazz.

Question 12

Fanfare

Answer 12

A short triumphant piece, or passage in a larger piece, often played on brass instruments as a welcome or a grand entrance. Often based on rising arpeggio figures. A motif in a larger piece of music which fits this description is also called a fanfare.

Question 13

Gaelic Psalm

Answer 13

Slow unaccompanied type of psalm chant found in the Free Church of Scotland. Mostly found in the Western Isles. Features call and response with the minister starting and the congregation responding. The music is sung in Gaelic and has no sense of pulse, being in free time. There is also little sense of key or tonality.

Question 14

Gospel

Answer 14

A style of music which is dominated by voices - usually singing in elaborate harmony. to lyrics of a Christian nature.

Question 15

Improvisation

Answer 15

Music which is made up on the spot and not written down. Dixieland Jazz / swing / big band / blues music all rely heavily on improvisation.

Question 16

Indian

Answer 16

Classical music native to India. The music is built on Ragas which are short melodic motifs. There are literally thousands of different Ragas each specifically appropriate to different times of the day, seasons of the year, days of the week, occasions such as birthdays, weddings etc. Indian music uses a sitar, and two tuned tabla drums of different pitches.

Question 17

Jazz

Answer 17

A type of music which grew heavily in the late nineteenth century after the abolition of slavery in the deep south of the USA. Has its roots in negro-spirituals and African music, and relies heavily on improvisation.

**

Question 18

Jig

Answer 18

A fast Scottish folk / Ceilidh dance with running quavers in compound time.

Question 19

Latin America

Answer 19

Music from countries in South America - usually with emphasis on percussion instruments.
Examples include a samba or salsa.

Question 20

March

Answer 20

Music in duple time with a strong steady beat for marching. In Scottish music a march often features pipes and drums.

Question 21

Minimalist

Answer 21

An American form of modern music where the music is made up of simple and short fragments which repeat many times changing only very gradually and subtly.

Question 22

Mouth Music

Answer 22

A type of Scottish folk vocal music where nonsense syllables are used in an improvising style and to imitate instruments. Used as an accompaniment for dancing.

Question 23

Musical

Answer 23

A work for the stage where spoken dialogue is interrupted by songs, duets, chorus numbers and dances.

Question 24

Opera

Answer 24

A play set to music where all of the words are sung. Usually presented in a theatre, on stage , with costumes, scenery, lighting etc. and accompanied by an orchestra.

Question 25

Pibroch

Answer 25

A piece for solo bagpipes. Usually in theme and variation form.

Question 26

Pop Music

Answer 26

Popular music from the period of about 1960 onwards.

Question 27

Ragtime

Answer 27

A type of jazz music, usually for piano, which features a vamping style accompaniment on the left hand with a highly syncopated melody on the right hand. Other features include several short repeating sections e.g. AABBCCDDAB. Scott Joplin was a very well-known Ragtime pianist and coposer.

Question 28

Rapping

Answer 28

Rhyming lyrics that are spoken and performed in time to a beat with a sense of rhythm, but no defined sense of key.

Question 29

Reggae

Answer 29

A musical style similar to rock music. Originated in Jamaica in the 1960s.

Question 30

Reel

Answer 30

A fast Scottish folk / ceilidh dance with running quavers in simple time.

Question 31

Rock

Question 32

Rock & Roll

Question 33

Romantic

Answer 33

Period of musical history from C1820 - 1900. Consisted of music which was particularly expressive / concerned with expression of emotion, and often conceived on a large scale.

Question 34

Scots Ballad

Answer 34

A slow Scottish song which tells a story. Often in strophic form. Can be accompanied or acapella.

Question 35

Strathspey

Answer 35

A Scottish dance with four steady beats in the bar. Scotch snaps are a feature of the Strathspey.

Slow
Simple Time
Scotch Snaps

Question 36

Swing

Answer 36

A jazz style which started in the 1930s in the USA in the big bands of the time.Swing music is where quavers are not played equally, but played as a 2/3 + 1/3 division on the beat.

Question 37

Symphony

Answer 37

A large work for orchestra usually in four movements. (Fast / Slow / Minuet and Trio or Scherzo / Fast)

Question 38

Waltz

Question 39

Waulking Song

Answer 39

A type of Scottish folk music where there is a rhythmic beat / thump to the music. Used as a song by women in the Western Isles for “waulking” the cloth to make it waterproof. Often led by a solo singer and with a call and response type format.

Question 40

Concerto Grosso

Answer 40

The name for a piece of music which has a group of solo instruments and an orchestra to accompany them. Concerti Grossi were very popular in the Baroque period.

Question 41

Impressionist

Answer 41

A modern style of composition which describes, or gives an impression of something. Impressionist music, which is programmatical therefore, often has no clear discernible melody. Debussy was the most famous Impressionist composer. The style was copied from late nineteenth century French art.

Question 42

Jazz Funk

Answer 42

A combinations of jazz with amplified instruments (such as bass guitar) and elements of the rock and roll style.

Question 43

Lied

Answer 43

German romantic song. Songs by composers such as Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven characterised by a solo singer (male or female) singing in German , and integrated piano accompaniment. Voice and piano are of equal importance. Settings of German Romantic poetry.

Question 44

Mass

Answer 44

The music written for a service of Holy Communion – or the
Eucharist. There are six movements, and the words are in Latin.
The opening words for each movement are as follows: Kyrie
Eleison / Gloria in Excelsis Deo / Credo in Unum Deum / Sanctus,
Sanctus, Sanctus / Benedictus qui Venit in Nomine Domine / Agnus
Dei Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi.

Question 45

Musique Concrete

Answer 45

A type of modern composition where pre-recorded or electronic
sounds are combined with normal musical instruments. Examples
include telephones, cash registers, vacuum cleaners etc.

Question 46

Oratorio

Answer 46

A bible story set to music where everything is sung. Usually
performed in a theatre, concert hall or church, but without
costumes, scenery, lighting etc. Accompanied by an orchestra.

Question 47

Passacaglia

Answer 47

A bass line where the same few bars are repeated numerous times
with different music over the top. See also Ground Bass, and
Chaconne, which are exactly the same thing.

Question 48

Plainchant / plainsong

Answer 48

Also known as Gregorian chant named after Pope Gregory. Dates
from the 3rd century, and is unison singing of sacred texts usually
by monks. It is a cappella, and without any sense of key or pulse.
Usually in Latin. Usually has lots of melismas.

Question 49

Recitative

Answer 49

A type of vocal writing used in oratorio, musical and opera to move
the plot along and to allow for action, and conversation and
dialogue between characters. Characterised by no sense of pulse,
speech type rhythms, varying tempo and a very simple
accompaniment of short and intermittent chords, or sustained
chords which move infrequently.

Question 50

Sonata Form

Answer 50

A structure often used for the first movement of sonatas,
symphonies, string quartets, etc., especially in the Classical and
early Romantic periods. Sonata form has three sections.
i. Exposition – has two subjects, one in the tonic and one in the
dominant.
ii. Development – where the material from the exposition is
developed.
iii. Recapitulation, where the exposition is repeated but all in the
tonic or home key.
Sometimes there is a brief slow introduction and/or a coda.

Question 51

Sonata

Answer 51

A work, usually in three movements (fast/slow/fast) for a solo
instrument accompanied by piano. Or, in the case of a piano
sonata, just for piano.

Question 52

Soul

Answer 52

A style of African / American popular music, which usually includes
features of Gospel and blues, conveying strong emotions.