Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 01: THE POWER OF MUSIC
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 1
Multiple Choice
1. According to neuroscientists, when we listen to music it alters the __________ in our brain, thereby affecting our
mental state.
a. electrical stimulation
b. chemical composition
c. weight
d. synapses
e. all of the above
ANSWER: b
2. Which anatomical organ serves as our “central processor,” converting sound waves into electrochemical impulses that
are interpreted by the brain?
a. primary auditory cortex
b. limbic system
c. brainstem
d. basilar membrane
e. hippocampus
ANSWER: d
3. Which sub-region of the brain generates emotion, including how we feel about the music we hear?
a. amygdala
b. basilar membrane
c. cerebellum
d. frontal lobe
e. hippocampus
ANSWER: a
4. In a digital recording, all the components of musical sound, such as pitch, tone color, etc., are reduced to sequences of
binary numbers and stored on compact discs.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: a
5. Identify the incorrect statement about popular music.
a. often uses electric enhancements to amplify and transform vocal and instrumental sounds
b. primarily vocal
c. has a strong beat that tends to dominate the overall sound
d. works are generally short and involve exact repetition
e. performed from a written score; musicians normally have music stands on stage to help them remember the
tune
ANSWER: e
6. Identify the incorrect statement about classical music.
a. printout of lyrics are distributed at concerts so listeners know what the music is about and what they are

Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 01: THE POWER OF MUSIC
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supposed to feel
b. works are typically long and repetitions are varied
c. typically uses acoustic instruments
d. primarily instrumental
e. melody and harmony typically more prominent than rhythm
ANSWER: a
7. In musical terminology, __________ means “type” of music.
a. motive
b. encore
c. sound waves
d. genre
e. syncopation
ANSWER: d
8. Genre and venue in music not only implies what and where you might hear music performed, but also how one might
dress and act.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: a
9. What is meant by the term “encore”?
a. the gradual decrease in the volume of sound
b. an instrumental genre in which one or more soloists play with and against a larger orchestra
c. the repetition of a work by the performer to gratify an appreciative audience
d. music that has endured the test of time and requires a particular set of skills to perform or appreciate it
e. a short, distinctive melodic figure that stands by itself
ANSWER: c
10. How does an audience convey its desire for an encore?
a. holding their cell phones towards the stage
b. exuberant applause
c. sending text messages
d. engaging in a stadium wave
e. chanting “We Will Rock You”
ANSWER: b
11. Identify the correct definition of “movement.”
a. the orchestral ensemble that plays symphonies
b. a large, independent section of a major instrumental work
c. the repetition of a piece demanded by an appreciative audience
d. a short, distinctive melodic figure that stands by itself
e. the process whereby a performer plucks the strings of an instrument rather than bowing them
ANSWER: b

Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 01: THE POWER OF MUSIC
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12. A ________ is a type of music for orchestra that is divided into several movements, each possessing its own tempo
and mood.
a. tone poem
b. pizzicato
c. encore
d. concerto
e. symphony
ANSWER: e
13. The ________ is a large ensemble of acoustic instruments that plays symphonies, concertos, overture, and other
genres of classical instrumental music.
a. chorus
b. concerto
c. big band
d. orchestra
e. crescendo
ANSWER: d
14. A short, distinctive musical figure that can stand by itself, and often unifies entire compositions is a:
a. motive
b. crescendo
c. chord
d. pizzicato
e. movement
ANSWER: a
15. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) by Richard Strauss is an example of which musical genre?
a. concerto
b. dance suite
c. overture
d. tone poem
e. symphony
ANSWER: d
16. Which genre of composition is a one-movement work for orchestra that tries to capture in music the emotions and
events associated with a story, play, or personal experience?
a. symphony orchestra
b. classical music
c. tone poem
d. encore
e. concerto
ANSWER: c

Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 01: THE POWER OF MUSIC
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17. Which instruments are playing the melody in the listening example?
a. violins
b. trumpets
c. flutes
d. French horns
e. bassoons
ANSWER: b
OTHER: Strauss, Also sprach Zarathustra, DL 2, 0:14-0:43
18. Identify the term that best describes the listening example.
a. motive
b. diminuendo
c. melody
d. pizzicato
e. encore
ANSWER: a
OTHER: Beethoven, Symphony 5, first movement; DL 1: 0:00-0:02
Subjective Short Answer
19. Provide a brief definition of music. What makes music different from noise?
ANSWER: Music is the rational organization of sounds and silences passing through time. Tones need to be arranged in
some sort of consistent, logical, and (usually) pleasing manner.
20. What is the primary benefit of digital music? In what way does it fall short of a “live” musical performance?
ANSWER: It can be enjoyed by almost anyone, anywhere, any time. The quality of sound is not as good as a live musical
performance.
21. Which type, or genre, of music has the orchestra traditionally played more than any other?
ANSWER: symphonies
Essay
22. Cite the different roles that the following areas of the brain play in the performance and perception of music: temporal
lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus.
ANSWER: temporal lobe, processing sound; frontal lobe, anticipating the next line or phrase of a composition; parietal
lobe, the motor center enables us to accomplish the physical activity to play music; occipital lobe, visual
center allows us to read the notes; amygdala, contributes to how we feel about the music we hear;
hippocampus, musical memory.
23. Cite four differences between classical and popular music that are described in the text.
ANSWER: (1) acoustic instruments rather than an emphasis on electrically amplified instruments (2) preset notation/fixed
entity rather than emphasis on aural and oral transmission (3) emphasis on instrumental music rather than
music requiring a “lyric” to convey meaning (4) lengthy, variety of moods, requires concentration rather than
short, single mood works (5) beat often beneath the surface (6) abstract beauty instead of immediate impact
and lyrics that often deal with immediate life issues

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
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Multiple Choice
1. Rhythm has two meanings in music: one general, the other specific. The general meaning refers to the organization of
time in music. Identify the more specific definition.
a. an emphasis or stress placed on a musical tone or chord
b. the division of music into compelling patterns of long and short sounds
c. the character or color of sound as determined by its harmonics and its attack and decay
d. sounds that provide the support and enrichment for a melody
e. an articulation mark indicating that notes are to be smoothly connected
ANSWER: b
2. What is the term for the even pulse that divides the passing of musical time into equal segments?
a. measure
b. tempo
c. phrase
d. beat
e. ritard
ANSWER: d
3. Which term means the speed at which beats progress?
a. tempo
b. syncopation
c. accent
d. dissonance
e. homophony
ANSWER: a
4. What

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
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6. The downbeat is:
a. the strongest beat in any given measure
b. the first beat in a measure
c. more accented than other beats
d. indicated by a downward movement of the conductor’s hand
e. all of the above
ANSWER: e
7. What is the term describing an emphasis or stress placed on a musical tone or chord?
a. allegro
b. tempo
c. beat
d. accent
e. accelerando
ANSWER: d
8. What results when beats are gathered into regular groups?
a. meter
b. rhythm
c. ritard
d. upbeats
e. tempo
ANSWER: a
9. Which term is synonymous with “measure”?
a. meter signature
b. bar
c. syncopation
d. downbeat
e. phrase
ANSWER: b
10. What is the term for a group of beats?
a. rhythm
b. tempo
c. consonance
d. meter signature
e. measure
ANSWER: e
11. In a meter signature (or time signature), what does the top number tell the performer?
a.

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 3
d. how many beats occur in each measure
e. how many measures there are in the composition
ANSWER: d
12. Identify the meter of the listening example.
a. duple
b. triple
ANSWER: b
OTHER: Mozart, “Se vuol ballare,” DL 32, 0:00-0:28
13. Identify the meter of the listening example (it begins with an upbeat).
a. duple
b. triple
ANSWER: a
OTHER: Monteverdi, Orfeo, Toccata, DL 20, 0:00-0:31
14. Identify the meter of the listening example.
a. duple
b. triple
ANSWER: a
OTHER: Haydn, Trumpet Concerto, DL 36, 0:00-0:39
15. Identify the meter of the listening example.
a. duple
b. triple
ANSWER: b
OTHER: Verdi, La Traviata, Un dì felice, DL 57, 0:00-0:34
16. Identify the term that indicates the absence of sound.
a. accent
b. ostinato
c. rest
d. dissonance
e. style
ANSWER: c
17. Term for the note or two occurring at the very beginning of a piece that provides a little extra momentum into the first
downbeat.
a. pickup

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 4
18. Identify whether this listening example, which is in triple meter, begins with a pickup or on the downbeat,
a. it begins with a pickup
b. it begins on the downbeat
ANSWER: a
OTHER: Verdi, La Traviata, Un dì felice, DL 57, 0:00-0:08
19. Which term describes placing an accent on a weak beat or between the beats?
a. ritard
b. tempo
c. syncopation
d. triad
e. pickup
ANSWER: c
20. Which term describes the predominant musical technique heard in the listening example?
a. motive
b. syncopation
c. ritard
d. allegretto
e. imitative polyphony
ANSWER: b
OTHER: Haydn, Symphony No. 94, second movement; DL 7, 4:22-5:11
21. Which definition is appropriate to melody?
a. a series of notes arranged into a distinctive and recognizable musical unit
b. an arrangement of pitches that ascend and descend in a fixed, unvarying pattern
c.

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
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d. the tonal center of the scale
e. the concluding part of a musical phrase
ANSWER: c
24. What is the term for the interval that comprises the first and eighth tones of the major and minor scales? Their sounds
are quite similar because the frequency of vibration of the higher pitch is exactly twice that of the lower.
a. clef
b. antecedent
c. ritard
d. octave
e. natural
ANSWER: d
25. The octave is a feature of all musical cultures, although many cultures subdivide the pitches within the octave in a
unique manner.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: a
26. Which symbol raises a note to the next higher neighboring tone?
a. leap
b. natural
c. sharp
d. mode
e. key
ANSWER: c
27. Symbols that correspond to the black keys of the keyboard are known as:
a. consonance and dissonance

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 6
a. clef
b. scale
c. cadence
d. staff
e. melody
ANSWER: d
30. What symbol indicates the range used for lower-sounding instruments and male voices?
a. staff
b. tonic
c. bass clef
d. key signature
e. octave
ANSWER: c
31. The __________, which includes both clefs, is intended for two-handed keyboard music with a large range.
a. great (grand) staff
b. chromatic scale
c. modulation
d. invertible counterpoint
e. symphony
ANSWER: a
32. The arrangement of pitches within the octave that ascends and descends according to a fixed pattern is known as:
a. clef
b. scale
c. tempo
d. key
e. modulation
ANSWER: b
33. Which two scales have been used for almost all Western melodies since the seventeenth century?
a. pentatonic and chromatic
b. major and whole tone
c. minor and blues
d. chromatic and major
e. major and minor
ANSWER: e
34. Which scale adds five more notes

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 7
d. major
e. whole-tone
ANSWER: a
35. Although it is the first note of the scale, melodies rarely conclude on the tonic.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: b
36. What is the name for the central pitch around which melodies gravitate and on which they generally end?
a. phrase
b. consequent tone
c. clef
d. key
e. tonic
ANSWER: e
37. What provides the “gravitational field” that embodies both the scale of the melody and the strong pull of its tonic
pitch?
a. tonality
b. mode
c. meter
d. counterpoint
e. modulation
ANSWER: a
38. What is the term describing the change in tonal center from one key to another?
a. modulation
b. cadence
c. tonality
d. syncopation
e. counterpoint
ANSWER: a
39. The element that adds depth and dimension to music as well as providing support and accompaniment to the melody is
__________.
a. texture
b. rhythm
c. harmony
d. color

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
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a. arpeggio
b. blues
c. interval
d. chord
e. meter
ANSWER: d
41. A __________ is the basic chord in music; it consists of three pitches arranged in a specific manner.
a. triad
b. dominant
c. beat
d. motive
e. arpeggio
ANSWER: a
42. What is the term for a purposeful movement of chords?
a. dissonance
b. chord progression
c. harmony
d. meter
e. counterpoint
ANSWER: b
43. Which triad provides the “gravitational pull” of a chord progression; it is the central chord around which the melody
and harmony function?
a. consonant
b. dominant
c. tonic
d. clef
e. ritard
ANSWER: c
44. The ________ is the end of a chord progression.
a. canon
b. accent
c. modulation
d. timbre
e. cadence
ANSWER: e
45. On which note of the scale is the dominant triad always built?
a. second
b. third

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Name: Class: Date:
CHAPTER 02: RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY
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d. fifth
e. octave
ANSWER: d
46. Which chord tends to move to the tonic at the end of musical phrases, helping create the strong effect of a cadence?
a. dominant
b. chromatic
c. subdominant
d. polychord
e. arpeggio
ANSWER: a
47. Chords that are __________ produce a sense of calmness and stability.
a. homophonic
b. syncopated
c. consonant
d. motivic
e. all of the above
ANSWER: c
48. Dissonant chords add __________ to the music?
a. rhythm
b. peace and tranquility
c. pleasure and security
d. tension and anxiety
e. nothing
ANSWER: d
49. The harmony of the listening example is best described as dissonant.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: a
OTHER: Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, DL 70, 3:36- 3:45 (Rite chord)
50. The harmony of the listening example is best described as dissonant.
a. true
b. false
ANSWER: b
OTHER: Haydn, Emperor Quartet, DL 38; 0:00-0:16 (opening phrase)
51. Any element of

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Listening to Western Music 8th Edition Test Bank

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