1. Music in Antiquity

Question 0

Harp

Answer 0

Plucked string instrument with a resonating soundbox, neck, and strings in roughly triangular shape. The strings rise perpendicular from the soundboard to the neck.

Question 1

Lyre

Answer 1

Plucked string instrument with a resonating soundbox, two arms, corssbar, and strings that run parallel to the soundboard and attach to the crossbar

Question 2

bull lyre

Answer 2

Sumerian lyre with a bull’s head at one end of the soundbox.

Question 3

genre

Answer 3

Type or category of musical composition, such as sonata or symphony.

Question 4

hymn

Answer 4

Song to or in honour of a god. In the Christian tradition, song of praise sung unto God.

Question 5

diatonic

Answer 5

In Ancient Greek music, adjective describing a tetrachord with two whole tones and one semitone.

Question 6

notation

Answer 6

A system for writing down musical sounds, or the process of writing down music. The principal notation systems of European music use a staff or lines and signs that define the pitch, duration, and other qualities of sound.

Question 7

aulos

Answer 7

Ancient Greek reed instrument, usually played in pairs.

Question 8

kithara

Answer 8

Ancient Greek instrument, a large lyre.

Question 9

melody

Answer 9

(1) Succession of tones perceived as a coherent line.
(2) Tune.
(3) Principle part accompanied by other parts or chords.

Question 10

monophonic

Answer 10

Consisting of a single unaccompanied melodic line.

Question 11

heterophony

Answer 11

Music or musical texture in which a melody is performed by two or more parts simultaneously in more than one way, for example, one voice performing it simply, and the other with embellishments.

Question 12

polyphony

Answer 12

Music or musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody.

Question 13

harmonia

Answer 13

Ancient Greek term with multiple meanings:

(1) the union of parts in an orderly whole
(2) Interval
(3) Scale type
(4) Type of melody

Question 14

ethos

Answer 14

Greek, “custom”

(1) Moral and ethical character or way of being or behaving.
(2) Character, mood, or emotional effect of a certain tonos, mode, meter, or melody.

Question 15

diastematic

Answer 15

Having to do with intervals. In diastematic motion, the voice moves between sustained pitches separated by discrete intervals; in diastematic notation, the approximate intervals are indicated by relative height.

Question 16

note

Answer 16

(1) A musical tone.

(2) A symbol denoting a musical tone.

Question 17

interval

Answer 17

Distance in pitch between two notes.

Question 18

scale

Answer 18

A series of three or more different pitches in ascending or descending order and arranged in a specific pattern.

Question 19

tetrachord

Answer 19

A scale of four notes spanning a perfect fourth.

Question 20

genus

Answer 20

In Ancient Greek music, one of three forms of tetrachord: diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic.

Question 21

diatonic

Answer 21

In Ancient Greek music, adjective describing a tetrachord with two whole tones and one semitone.

Question 22

chromatic

Answer 22

(from Greek chroma, “color”)
In Ancient Greek music, adjective describing a tetrachord comprising a minor third and two semitones, or a melody that uses such tetrachords.

Question 23

enharmonic

Answer 23

In Ancient Greek music, adjective describing a tetrachord comprising a major third and two quartertones, or a melody that uses such tetrachords.

Question 24

conjunct

Answer 24

In Ancient Greek music, adjective used to describe the relationship between two tetrachords when the bottom note of one is the same as the top note of the other.

Question 25

disjunct

Answer 25

In Ancient Greek music, adjective used to describe the relationship between two tetrachords when the bottom note of one is whole tone above the top note of the other.

Question 26

Greater Perfect System

Answer 26

In Ancient Greek music, a system of tetrachords spanning two octaves.

Question 27

species

Answer 27

The particular ordering of whole tones and semitones within a perfect fourth, fifth, or octave.

Question 28

tonos

Answer 28

Ancient Greek term used with different meanings by various writers; one meaning is a particular set of pitches within a certain range or region of the voice.