MUS Quizzes

The most influential of the young British guitarists who emerged during the mid-1960s and was heavily influenced by blues guitarist Robert Johnson.

Eric Clapton

From which stream of influence does the "high lonesome sound" commonly heard in country music hail?

European American stream

Minstrelsy was invented in southern, aristocratic neighborhoods of cities like Atlanta?

False

Ralph Peer discovered Brian Wilson during a chance meeting at a movie casting call.

False

Which statement is true about Berry Gordy?

He founded Motown records and sought to produce African American pop music that would appeal at the widest possible listening public.

Which of the following is true about Bob Dylan?

His songs reflected a gift for poetic imagery, metaphor, and irony

The melodies of early "blackface" Ethiopian songs were actually not Ethiopian at all. Instead, composers used melodies inspired by ____________ music that sounded vaguely exotic to them.

Irish/Scottish

Which White actor invented the minstrel character "Jim Crow?"

Thomas Dartmouth Rice

Profoundly gifted singer, arranger, pianist, and composer who achieved the most remarkable and unexpected synthesis of country with rhythm & blues elements and recorded Tin Pan Alley standards.

Ray Charles

Which talented composer, arranger, songwriter, and pianist had a unique vocal timbre and recorded in a variety of musical genres including Tin Pan Alley music ("Georgia on My Mind"), R&B ("What'd I Say"), and country ("I Can't Stop Loving You")?

Ray Charles

Who achieved a Number One pop hit with his version of the Tin Pan Alley standard, "Georgia on My Mind"?

Ray Charles

Who wrote and sang the song "A Change is Gonna Come", which went on to become an anthem of the 1960s civil rights?

Sam Cooke

Which urban folk duo recorded "The Sound of Silence?"

Simon and Garfunkel

Which California-based jazz saxophonist recorded the biggest hit of the bossa nova era, "The Girl from Ipanema?"

Stan Getz

Who was the most influential songwriter of American popular song during the nineteenth century?

Stephen Foster

Incredibly influential British band consisting of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr who launched the "British Invasion" with their North American tour of 1964.

The Beatles

Which British Invasion band of the 1960s recorded such classics as "Eleanor Rigby," "A Hard Day's Night," and "Norwegian Wood?"__________

The Beatles

One of the most controversial rock bands of the 1960s formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by keyboardist Ray Manzarek, singer Jim Morrison, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger.

The Doors

What was the name of Motown's house band in the 1960s that featured bass player James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, and keyboardist Earl Van Dyke?

The Funk Brothers

Which film released in 1927 became the first to synchronize sound to the video?

The Jazz Singer

What was the first form of musical and theatrical entertainment regarded by European audiences as distinctively American in character?

The Minstrel Show

Which statement is true about The Beach Boys?

The primary creative force within the band was Brian Wilson

Which of the following is true about African American ballads of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

They celebrated the exploits of black heroes and "bad men."

What role did song pluggers play in the music industry from the nineteenth century until the 1920s?

They promoted songs and convinced big stars to perform them.

Mexican immigrants in California played an important role in the development of rock music.

True

What was the name by which the studio musicians with whom Phil Spector worked regularly at Gold Star studios became known?

Wrecking Crew

A memorable musical phrase or riff is called a _________________.

hook

A repeated pattern designed to generate rhythmic momentum is called a ____________.

riff

The quality of sound, sometimes called "tone color," is ____________________.

timbre

_______ refers to the quality of a sound and is used to describe an artist's unique /soundprint/. It is sometimes called "tone color".

timbre

Which recording by Bob Dylan was a fierce song about a young woman's fall from a state of obvious privilege into one of desperation and effectively put an end to previous restrictions on length, subject matter, and poetic diction in the creation of pop records?

"Like a Rolling Stone"

What year did The Beatles break up?

1970

_______ is the name of the singing style that became popular, and influenced American popular music, when Italian opera composers began selling songs in America.

???

What was ironic about the cakewalk?

??? NOT: African American slaves would tip-toe through the homes of their owners to secretly attend white churches, which were forbidden. MIGHT: Whites were laughing at the silly African American dances, which were actually parodies of the strict formal dances by high-class whites. So in a way, the whites of high society were unknowingly laughing at themselves.

Which stream is associated with improvisation?

??? NOT: European American stream

Which stream is associated with group dances such as the quadrille?

??? NOT: French American stream

What is unique about Eleanor Rigby?

??? NOT: It was a highly successful cover of an very unsuccessful Bob Dylan b-side. MAYBE: The use of orchestra instead of traditional rock instrumentation

Which stream is associated with altering traditional church music in the 1800s to fit their cultural identity?

African American stream

Singer known for the overwhelming power and intensity of her vocal delivery who produced an extraordinary and virtually uninterrupted stream of hit records over a five-year period.

Aretha Franklin Soul

Which prominent producer of the 1960s was associated with the "Wall of Sound?" ___________

Barry Gordy Jr.

Which term refers to the mass adulation surrounding the Beatles?

Beatlemania

Who founded Motown records in 1959? __________

Berry Gordy

Profoundly influential singer and songwriter known for insightful and poetic lyrics who has produced a distinctive, heterogeneous, and erratic output of albums that, taken together, represent a singular testament to the spirit of pop music invention.

Bob Dylan

Who wrote "Like a Rolling Stone", which is one of only a handful of watershed recordings in the history of American popular music?

Bob Dylan

Which of the following was NOT a member of the Beatles?

Brian Wilson

Who lead the Beach Boys in the 1960s? __________

Brian Wilson

What is true true about the diddley bow?

It is a musical instrument adapted from the African one-stringed zither.

Pioneering soul artist known for a repetitive, riff-based instrumental style, which elevated rhythm far above harmony as the primary source of interest and provided the foundation on which most of the dance-oriented music of this entire period has been based.

James Brown

Which artist recorded the politically charged "Say It Loud—I'm Black and I'm Proud," which was a striking anticipation of important black music to come, both in its musical style and in its emphasis on the black experience as subject matter?

James Brown

Who is "Soul Brother Number One"?

James Brown

____________________ is the name of a song, that became the name of a character, that went on to become the unfortunate namesake for segregationist laws in America that were oppressive to blacks.

Jim Crow

The most original, inventive, and influential guitarist of the rock era and the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s. He was known for theatrical on-stage antics, such as setting fire to his guitar.

Jimi Hendrix

Which instrumentalist and vocalist from Seattle, Washington, was the most original, inventive, and influential guitarist of the rock era as well as the most prominent African American rock musician of the late 1960s?

Jimi Hendrix

What is a "broadside"?

Large sheets of music that were sold on the streets.

What city was Minstrelsy invented? ______

NYC

Select all that is true about Stephen Foster?

PARTIAL: -He is known at "the father of American music". -His more-than two hundred songs earned other people lots of money and he died destitute. -He embraced both genteel traditions and less highly regarded but popular traditions such as minstrelsy. -Pride of his Latin American heritage permeate his songs.

Select all the answers that are true about "strophic ballads"?

PARTIAL: -The song "Barbara Allen" is one of them. -They were circulated via broadsides. -The song "My Blue Heaven" is one of them.

Musical performer who, with his partner Art Garfunkel, recorded influential folk rock hits in the 1960s.

Paul Simon