Music Theory Exam Prep

The first commercial recordings of Cajun music, produced in _________ (year), tended to standardize this highly innovative tradition, popularizing favourite artists and styles.

1928

Match the diagram of the meters with their names.

1&2&3&4& Quadruple single 1&a2&a Duple Compound 1&2&3& Triple Simple 1&2& Duple Simple 1&a2&a3&a4&a Quadruple Compound 1&a2&a3&a Triple Compound

Creole accordionist who made some of the first and most important recordings by a French-speaking musician from South Louisiana

Amédé Ardoin

The music's basic pulse

Beat

Famous Cajun fiddler from Eunice, Louisiana, first recorded in the 1920s and 1930s.

Dennis McGee

Jimmie Rodgers lived a long and productive life (he died in the 1960s).

False

Two of Nashville's brightest stars, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline, were killed tragically in an automobile accident.

False

The roots of conjunto date back to the late 1800s, when the Mexican population in the area was introduced to the accordion and to various European folk dances -- polkas, waltzes, redovas, mazurkas, schottisches -- by _______ and Czech immigrants living in southern Texas.

German

__________ are storytelling ballads (in the folk-music sense of the word) that are usually performed to waltz (or sometimes polka) rhythms, and whose subject matter often (though certainly not exclusively) focuses on heroes and great deeds, usually providing social commentary in the process.

Corridos

Unit 1

Covered below

Unit 4

Covered in the following terms

Unit 3

Covered in the next section

Unit 2

Covered in the terms below

Match the following Italian tempo markings with their English definitions.

Grave very slow and solemn Largo slow and broad Larghetto not quite as slow as largo Adagio slow Andante a medium slow tempo Moderato moderate, or medium Allegretto not as fast as allegro Allegro fast Vivo, or Vivace lively and brisk Presto very fast Prestissimo very, very fast

__________ (two words) music, so called from the nickname for the taverns where its listeners gathered, usually consisted of a strong vocal with instrumentation generally provided by an electric steel guitar and a fiddle, with some rhythm support. Song topics increasingly dealt with unfaithful love, broken hearts and rowdy lifestyles to a greater degree than earlier.

Honky-tonk

The two most famous artists recorded at the Bristol Sesssions were: 1) the Carter Family and 2) ____

Jimmie Rodgers

Match the following Italian terms regarding gradual tempo changes with the English definitions.

accelerando accelerating; getting faster ritardando slowing down ritenuto slower rubato don't be too strict with the rhythm poco a poco little by little; gradually

Because most Amerindian music is performed to accompany dances, it usually has regularly recurring patterns of beats and _________.

accents

"A cappella" singing is singing without instrumental

accompaniment

Each beat is divided into thirds

compound meter

A melody that rises and falls slowly, with only small pitch changes between one note and the next

conjunct

Genuine ______ is a small-group dance music, driven by accordion and bajo sexto, and is actually native to Texas and northern Mexico.

conjunto

Traditionally, most musical genres accompanied _______ performed during communal ceremonies.

dances

A short musical idea - shorter than a phrase - that occurs often in a piece of music

motif or motive

Question text (The Carter Family) were born and raised in southwestern Virginia, where they were immersed in the tight harmonies of ____

mountain gospel music

Most scholars speculate that spirituals proliferated near the end of the eighteenth century and during the last few decades leading up to the end of legalized slavery in the 1860's.

True

The two most common instruments in early Cajun music were the _______ and the accordion.

fiddle

The ____________ string of the banjo is the one that is used to create the drone.

fifth

Hillbilly music

first recorded in the 1920s

The most significant revival of the spirituals since the end of slavery came during the Black-led U.S. freedom movement of the 1950's and 60's, during which the spirituals (and some gospel songs) served as the basis for the creation of many of the _______ ________ (two words) that bolstered and supported the efforts of the Civil Rights workers.

freedom songs

Question text Zydeco music is usually in a fast tempo and is dominated by the button or piano accordion and a form of a washboard known as a "rub-board," "scrub-board," or ________ (Cajun French word).

frottoir

A ________ is a traditional West African musician, negotiator, praise singer and historian.

griot

In a piece of music, how often the chords change

harmonic rhythm

When you have more than one pitch sounding at the same time in music

harmony

The song Amazing Grace _____________________________

has a melody based on a pentatonic scale has lyrics by Englishman John Newton was sung often during Civil Rights marches in the 1960s

Off the beat

in between pulses

The term "zydeco" was a corruption of ______ ____________ (two French words) from the saying "the snap beans are not salty" meaning hard times are here.

les haricots

Music often described as cheerful, inspiring, exciting, or just plain fun

major

A series of notes strung together, one after the other or "a meaningful succession of pitches plus rhythm"

melody

Arrangement of beats into a repetitive pattern of strong and weak beats

meter

Absolute and specific way to specify a tempo

metronome markings

Music that is more likely to sound sad, ominous, or mysterious

minor

A musical texture with a melody all by itself

monophony

Credited with being the first to sing while playing the accordion as well as to include modern dance trap drums in the traditional conjunto ensemble.

Valerio Longoria

In Texas and westward a country version of the big band sound evolved into what would eventually become known as _______ (two words), a style that featured multiple fiddles, electrified instruments, smooth pop sounding vocals, and sometimes horns.

Western swing

________music arose as a synthesis of traditional Creole music, some Cajun music influences, and African-American traditions, including R&B, blues, jazz, and gospel.

Zydeco

Plains song texts are largely or entirely of _________, non-lexical syllables that are fixed and constitute an integral part of the poetry.

vocables

A sound with a particular pitch and duration

note

A musical texture in which there is more than one independent melodic line at the same time, and they are all fairly equal in importance

polyphony

In the literal definition of the term a _______ is a ranch song; these were very powerful songs for expressing sentimentality associated with a person's love for their country.

ranchera

The percussion ___________ is usually a succession of equally spaced beats.

rhythm

Song learning is accomplished by _________.

rote

The notes of a particular key (the primary pitch "palette" of a piece of music)

scale

Because of the close association of music with spirituality, the __________ has usually been the person most involved with music.

shaman

Each beat is basically divided into halves

simple meter

Downbeat

strongest pulse, usually first beat of measure

A strong note either on a weak beat or off the beat

syncopation

The speed of the basic pulse

tempo

A longer section of melody that keeps reappearing in the music

theme

Tells the performer how many beats to expect in each measure, and what type of note should get one beat

time signature

A note or chord that feels like "home", or "the resting place", in a particular key

tonal center or tonic

Although each tribe has its distinctive style, Amerindian dances generally move in a ____________ and feature a dignified style of frontal body movement.

Circular pattern

Played keyboard accordion and is considered one of the pioneers of Zydeco music (sometimes called the "King of Zydeco").

Clifton Chenier

"Discovered" by folk revivalist/promoter Ralph Rinzler and performed at the famous Newport Folk Festival.

Dewey Balfa

The emergence of __________ (name, two words) and his other rockabilly emulators in the mid-1950s (Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers) dealt mainstream and traditional country music a severe commercial blow as much of their youthful audience was lost to the new fads in sound.

Elvis Presley

The early tours of the ____________ (University) Jubilee Singers, in the 1870's, during which audiences in America and abroad heard spirituals for the first time, served to spark the development of a new concert spirituals tradition that would have a major influence on American and world culture for more than a century beyond the end of slavery.

Fisk

During the '80s and '90s recorded with American artists as varied as Ry Cooder, Dwight Yoakum and Buck Owens.

Flaco Jimenez

Match the definitions with the term.

Following terms will cover it

Closely affiliated with "La Onda Chicana" in the 1970s through music that reflected the emerging political consciousness of disillusioned Chicano youth.

Little Joe Y La Familia

From East Los Angeles and influenced by Tejano music as well as rockabilly, jazz, rock, cajun, and a number of other styles.

Los Lobos

During the '70s, broke new ground by recording corridos dedicated to drug smuggling and illegal border crossings.

Los Tigres del Norte

Guitarist/singer who won the National Heritage Award.

Lydia Mendoza

Groupings of beats

Measures or bars

Strongly influenced by the music of Johnny Cash and country music.

Mingo Saldivar

By the early 1960s country music had begun to recapture much of its old audience and also win new followers, largely through the development of the _________ (two words), which consisted of a modification of the older country sound through taking off some of the hard edge by using such techniques as a string section or a choral backing to broaden the audience appeal.

NASHVILLE SOUND

In 1927 _________ (name, two words) of the Victor firm conducted recording sessions in Bristol, Tennessee, for both established performers like Ernest Stoneman and newer acts, of whom two soon rose to prominence.

Ralph Peer

The pattern in time of a small group of notes

Rhythm

Match the country artists with the genre with which they are most associated.

Willie Nelson Outlaw Country Bob Wills Western Swing Kitty Wells Honky Tonk Patsy Cline Nashville Sound Bill Monroe Bluegrass The Carter Family early country ("hillbilly" music)

Scholars have identified approximately _________ tribal units, almost as many languages, and about 60 independent language families in North America.

a. 1000

Take My Hand, Precious Lord was written by the father of modern gospel music, __________________.

a. Thomas A. Dorsey

Native American flutes can be made out of ______________ (select all that apply)

a. bone b. wood c. cane d. bark e. pottery

Most Amerindian melodies have a/an ___________ contour or undulate with a descending inflection.

a. descending

The most common vocal style is characterized by (select ALL that apply)

a. high-pitch or falsetto singing b. glottal tension e. pulsations on longer notes

The three types of instruments used widely in tradition Amerindian music are(select THREE)

a. idiophones c. aerophones e. membranophones

Throughout the continent, the teaching of Western church music to Amerindians was a major __________ activity. Nevertheless, Amerindians usually kept their knowledge of Western music separate from their traditional music.

a. missionary

Most Amerindian songs are accompanied by ___________ instruments

a. percussion

What are the differences between gospel music and spirituals?

b. spirituals composers are unknown, gospel composers are known c. spirituals are sacred "folk"songs, gospel fused elements of spirituals and blues d. spirituals originated during slavery, gospel music in the 1920's

A _________ (two words) is an instrument with 12 strings in 6 double courses (or pairs), used in Mexican music. It is used primarily in norteño music of northeastern Mexico and across the border in the music of south Texas.

bajo sexto

What American string instrument has deep roots in the xalam and ngoni of West Africa

banjo

Metronome markings are in

beats per minute

The performance by African American banjoist Nathan Frazier and fiddler Frank Patterson recorded in Tennessee in 1942 demonstrates what type of texture?

c. hetereophonic (multiple versions of the same melody at once)

Most of the music of Native Americans is __________________.

c. monophonic

A group of notes built on major or minor triads (or thirds)--sometimes referred to as simply a collection of three or more notes sounded simultaneously

chord

A series of chords played one after another

chord progression

A melody that rises and falls quickly, with large intervals between one note and the next

disjunct

A musical texture in which there is one line that is obviously the melody, the rest of the notes are harmony and accompaniment

homophony

In Plains music, a variety of scales are used, but one of the most common is the ____________ scale.

pentatonic

A group of notes that make sense together and express a definite melodic "idea", but it takes more than one to make a complete melody

phrase

Generally speaking, human beings were not considered to be the active originators of music, but rather the recipients of music imparted to the tribe by __________, either through dreams and visitations or, more directly, at the legendary time of the tribe's origin.

spirit beings

The ______ are the religious folk songs created and first sung by African Americans in slavery.

spirituals