MUSIC

Question 1

Pitch

Answer 1

The highness or lowness of a sound.

Question 2

Tempo

Answer 2

The speed of a sound
or piece of music.

Question 3

Dynamics

Answer 3

The volume of a sound
or piece of music.

Question 4

Duration

Answer 4

The length of a sound.

Question 5

Texture

Answer 5

Texture describes how melodies, rhythms and harmonies are layered in a piece of music.

Question 6

Timbre or Sonority

Answer 6

Timbre (or sonority) describes the particular sound quality of an instrument or voice.

Question 7

Articulation

Answer 7

How individual notes or sounds are
played/techniques.

Question 8

Silence

Answer 8

The opposite or absence
of sound, no sound. In
music these are RESTS.

Question 9

Notation

Answer 9

How music is written down.

Question 10

STAFF NOTATION

Answer 10

music written on a STAVE (5
lines and spaces)

Question 11

GRAPHIC NOTATION/SCORE

Answer 11

music written
down using shapes and symbols to represent
sounds.

Question 12

TIME SIGNATURE

Answer 12

A time signature tells you how many beats are in the bar

Question 13

BAR LINE

Answer 13

divides the music into small
sections/chunks called bars.

Question 14

DOUBLE BAR LINE

Answer 14

shows
the end of a section/piece.

Question 15

Line Notes

Answer 15

Every Good Boy
Deserves Football

Question 16

Space notes

Answer 16

F A C E in the space

Question 17

Structure

Answer 17

Structure (or form) is the overall plan of a piece of music.

Question 18

Rhythm

Answer 18

Rhythm is music’s pattern in time

Question 19

ORCHESTRA

Answer 19

a group of instrumentalists, especially one combining string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections and playing classical music.

Question 20

CONDUCTOR

Answer 20

a person who directs the performance of an orchestra or choir.

Question 21

FAMILIES/SECTIONS

Answer 21

Instruments of the orchestra can be divided into 4 families or sections: STRINGS,
WOODWIND, BRASS and PERCUSSION.

Question 22

TUNING UP

Answer 22

Before the orchestra rehearses or plays, all instruments need to be IN TUNE with each other.

Question 23

Strings Section/Family

Answer 23

The strings are the largest family of instruments in the orchestra and they come in four sizes: the violin, which is the smallest, viola, cello, and the biggest, the double bass

Question 24

Woodwind Section/Family

Answer 24

Originally (and some still are) made
from wood (some now metal and
plastic). All are BLOWN.
FLUTES: Flute and Piccolo – air
blown over hole.
SINGLE REED (small piece of bamboo in the
mouthpiece): Clarinet, Bass Clarinet &
Saxophone (not traditionally in the orchestra,
but some modern composers have used it)
DOUBLE REED (two reeds in the mouthpiece):
Oboe, Cor Anglais, Bassoon, Double Bassoon.

Question 25

Brass Section/Family

Answer 25

Four types of brass instruments in an orchestra, all made
from metal – usually brass and BLOWN by the player
‘buzzing their lips’ into a MOUTHPIECE (shown right).
The Trumpet, French Horn and Tuba all have three
VALVES which, along with altering the players mouth
positions, adjust the length of the tubing allowing for
different notes to be played. The Trombone has a SLIDE which
adjusts the length of the tubing. Brass instruments (along with
Percussion) have often been used to play FANFARES: a short, lively,
loud piece of music usually warlike or victorious in character used to
mark the arrival of someone important, give a signal e.g., in battles,
of the opening of something e.g., a sporting event or ceremony.
Fanfares often use
notes of the
HARMONIC SERIES – a
limited range of notes
played by BUGLES
(smaller trumpets with
no valves) and valveless
trumpets.

Question 26

Percussion Section/Family

Answer 26

Always located at the very back of the orchestra (due to their
very loud sounds!). Large number of instruments which produce
their sound then hit, struck, scraped, or shaken.
TUNED PERCUSSION (able to play different pitches/notes)

Piano Xylophone Glockenspiel Timpani Celesta Tubular Bells
UNTUNED PERCUSSION (only able to produce ‘sounds’).