Deck 24: Music in America: Jazz and Beyond

Question 1

Who composed "Conga Brava"?

A) George W. Thomas and Sippie Wallace
B) Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman
C) Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol
D) Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is heard in the introduction to "Cool"?

A) the motive of the cha-cha melody
B) a fugue
C) a steady jazz percussion accompaniment
D) a theme played by the flute and vibraphone

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In which part of "Conga Brava" do you hear a Latin beat?

A) during the saxophone improvisation
B) during the reed choir section
C) during the trombone solo
D) during the brass choir section

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In the "Fugue" dance in "Cool," the fugue subject consists of:

A) a soft jazz drumbeat.
B) four slow notes.
C) the cha-cha motive.
D) improvised drum solos.

Question 5

What instruments are featured in solos in "Out of Nowhere"?

A) trumpet, saxophone, and piano
B) trombone, saxophone, and piano
C) trumpet, trombone, and piano
D) trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone

Question 6

In West Side Story,the use of the cha-cha melody in the meeting scene,and later in "Maria," is an example of what technique?

A) counterpoint
B) ornamentation
C) improvisation
D) thematic transformation

Question 7

What instrument plays a solo for an entire twelve-bar blues stanza in "If You Ever Been Down" Blues?

A) piano
B) clarinet
C) bass
D) trumpet

Question 8

Each stanza of "If You Ever Been Down" Blues is in what form?

A) a b c
B) a a b
C) a a a
D) a b b

Question 9

What rhythmic device is heard in "Cool"?

A) isorhythm
B) syncopation
C) metrical modulation
D) serialized rhythms

Question 10

The form of "Out of Nowhere" can be diagrammed as:

A) A B C.
B) A A B.
C) A A¢.
D) A B.

Question 11

What happens between lines of text in "If You Ever Been Down" Blues?

A) The trumpet and clarinet play short breaks.
B) The drums play a solo.
C) The piano plays a long solo.
D) The trumpet echoes the text.

Question 12

Bitches Brew features:

A) Miles Davis on trumpet.
B) Sippie Wallace on drums.
C) Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.
D) Duke Ellington on piano.

Question 13

What solo instrument plays in the introduction of "Conga Brava"?

A) guitar
B) saxophone
C) trumpet
D) trombone

Question 14

In the b section of "Conga Brava," the rhythm changes:

A) from a Latin beat to triple meter.
B) from a Latin beat to a typical jazz duple meter.
C) from duple meter to a Latin beat.
D) to quintuple meter.

Question 15

Besides the electric bass guitar,what other electric instrument is heard in this excerpt from Bitches Brew?

A) amplified violin
B) amplified tenor saxophone
C) electric piano
D) electric vibraphone

Question 16

The two famous artists featured in "If You Ever Been Down" Blues are:

A) Sippie Wallace and Louis Armstrong.
B) Mamie Smith and Scott Joplin.
C) Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington.
D) Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

Question 17

Bitches Brew contains elements of ________ styles.

A) Baroque and jazz
B) jazz and rock
C) rock and folk
D) Romantic and rock

Question 18

What is the style of "Out of Nowhere"?

A) blues
B) swing
C) ragtime
D) bebop

Question 19

In this excerpt from Bitches Brew,the electric bass guitar plays:

A) a meditative evocation of the blues.
B) scalelike passages.
C) a rocklike ostinato.
D) syncopated, dissonant chords.

Question 20

In the meeting scene in West Side Story,the romantic moment is enhanced by the:

A) timpani solos.
B) lyrical soprano solo.
C) violins.
D) guitar line.

Question 21

Which statement about the blues is false?

A) The blues is sometimes called the "twelve-bar blues."
B) The mood of the blues is often lonely, troubled, or unhappy.
C) The form is generally a a b, repeated for various stanzas.
D) The left hand of the pianist plays on the beat while the right hand plays syncopated rhythms.

Question 22

The two key features of jazz performance style are:

A) improvisation and highly developed syncopation.
B) call and response.
C) ragging and improvisation.
D) improvisation and breaks.

Question 23

Which composer was a Marine Corps bandmaster who wrote many famous marches?

A) Amy Beach
B) John Philip Sousa
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Stephen Collins Foster

Question 24

What characteristic of African music is still used in African American church music today?

A) pentatonic scale
B) complex rhythmic patterns
C) call-and-response singing
D) use of the piano

Question 25

The first American composer,according to most sources,was:

A) Aaron Copland.
B) Charles Ives.
C) Benjamin Franklin.
D) William Billings.

Question 26

Music that has been consciously developed,fostered at concerts,and taught in conservatories is called:

A) Classical music.
B) popular music.
C) cultivated music.
D) vernacular music.

Question 27

Fuging tunes are based on:

A) operas.
B) hymns.
C) cantatas.
D) oratorios.

Question 28

When the accents are moved slightly ahead of the beat,the effect is called:

A) metrical modulation.
B) beat syncopation.
C) back beat.
D) isorhythm.

Question 29

"To rag" means:

A) to improvise.
B) to play in a syncopated style.
C) to sing in a "rough" vocal style.
D) to swing the rhythm.

Question 30

Who was the leading composer of ragtime in the early 1900s?

A) William Billings
B) Stephen Collins Foster
C) Duke Ellington
D) Scott Joplin

Question 31

Which composer wrote many famous popular songs in the nineteenth century?

A) Amy Beach
B) John Philip Sousa
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Stephen Collins Foster

Question 32

What is the term for a religious folk song that came into being outside any established church?

A) fuging tune
B) spiritual
C) call and response
D) hymn

Question 33

Which statement about Amy Beach is false?

A) She was the first American woman to compose a symphony.
B) She was the first known American woman to conduct an orchestra.
C) She was a fine concert pianist.
D) She composed a piano concerto and a piano quintet.

Question 34

In the "Fugue" dance in "Cool," the fugue countersubject is played by the:

A) electric bass guitar.
B) drums.
C) flute and vibraphone.
D) violins.

Question 35

A distinctive feature of ragtime music is:

A) improvised breaks.
B) the left hand playing strictly on the beat while the right hand syncopates the rhythm.
C) melodies consisting of three four-measure phrases.
D) instrumental solos.

Question 36

A mid-nineteenth-century comic variety show in which white actors performed in blackface was called:

A) a spiritual.
B) call and response.
C) a vaudeville show.
D) a minstrel show.

Question 37

In the nineteenth century,Americans tended to look to ________ for opera and ________ for instrumental music.

A) France; Italy
B) England; France
C) Germany; France
D) Italy; Germany

Question 38

The blues emerged around:

A) 1860.
B) 1940.
C) 1880.
D) 1900.

Question 39

When some of the accents in music are moved away from the main beats,it is called:

A) rhythmic ostinato.
B) hocket.
C) syncopation.
D) harmonic rhythm.

Question 40

The technique that makes music "swing" is:

A) improvisation.
B) beat syncopation.
C) the use of breaks.
D) isorhythm.

Question 41

Fusion jazz is a combination of:

A) swing and ragtime.
B) jazz and rock.
C) atonal and tonal music.
D) blues and rock.

Question 42

The conga is a dance of ________ origin.

A) Afro-Cuban
B) Mexican
C) African
D) Brazilian

Question 43

Which statement about Duke Ellington is false?

A) He composed music for, arranged music for, and conducted his own jazz band.
B) He was recognized as one of America's most important composers during his lifetime.
C) He went commercial and wrote Top 40 hits.
D) He wrote religious music later in his career.

Question 44

The earliest recordings of jazz,lasting only three minutes each,were referred to by people in the recording business as:

A) race records.
B) black records.
C) African American records.
D) compact discs.

Question 45

"Out of Nowhere" is representative of:

A) big-band jazz.
B) gospel.
C) bebop.
D) blues.

Question 46

Early jazz players developed the art of "jamming," or:

A) collective improvisation.
B) ragtime.
C) beat syncopation.
D) blues melodies.

Question 47

Popular songs that were well known to the public and became favored by jazzmen were called:

A) jazz tunes.
B) standards.
C) bebop.
D) swing songs.

Question 48

What is Louis Armstrong best known for?

A) the ability to switch from trumpet to saxophone
B) imaginative breaks and variations on the trumpet
C) prolific compositions for Broadway
D) improvisational skill on the piano

Question 49

Sippie Wallace was primarily known for:

A) songwriting and gospel and blues singing.
B) her symphony and piano concerto.
C) innovative jazz compositions using dissonance.
D) ragtime piano playing.

Question 50

What city was the first important center of jazz?

A) Los Angeles
B) New Orleans
C) Chicago
D) New York

Question 51

Gospel music evolved at the same time as:

A) fuging tunes.
B) the Mass and the motet.
C) ragtime and blues.
D) swing.

Question 52

Which style of music "emancipated" melody,harmony,and tonality in jazz?

A) big-band jazz
B) gospel
C) bebop
D) blues

Question 53

In a typical early jazz band,which instrument was not a melody instrument?

A) trumpet
B) clarinet
C) trombone
D) banjo

Question 54

In a typical early jazz band,which instrument was not part of the rhythm section?

A) piano
B) banjo
C) percussion
D) trumpet

Question 55

Which style of music suddenly lost popularity after World War II?

A) bebop
B) rock
C) rhythm and blues
D) big-band jazz

Question 56

Big bands of the 1930s were made up of ________ players.

A) three or four
B) five to seven
C) about twelve
D) ten to twenty-five

Question 57

The development of popular song is associated with:

A) New Orleans.
B) Chicago.
C) Tin Pan Alley in New York City.
D) Kansas City.

Question 58

What characterizes bebop?

A) ten to twenty members in the band
B) little opportunity for improvisation
C) origins in black American churches
D) combos featuring virtuosic improvisation

Question 59

Big-band jazz is called:

A) bebop.
B) swing.
C) blues.
D) ragtime.

Question 60

What is the form of a blues song?

A) theme and twelve bars of variations
B) a b a a b a, and so on
C) a a b a a b, and so on
D) rondo form

Question 61

The lyricist for West Side Story was:

A) Andrew Lloyd Webber.
B) Leonard Bernstein.
C) Ira Gershwin.
D) Stephen Sondheim.

Question 62

The business side of rock,including mass marketing and aggressive promotion of performers,became especially influential in the:

A) 1950s.
B) 1960s.
C) 1970s.
D) 1990s.

Question 63

Light operas from the nineteenth century containing spoken dialogue,light tunes,and dancing are called:

A) ragtime.
B) shows.
C) operettas.
D) music dramas.

Question 64

Which band led the British Invasion of the 1960s?

A) the Beatles
B) the Rolling Stones
C) the Beach Boys
D) the Grateful Dead

Question 65

Rhythm and blues differs from earlier blues in its:

A) use of acoustic guitar, fiddle, and voice.
B) use of syncopation.
C) more pronounced rhythms and electric guitar accompaniment.
D) polished, lyrical styles and choreographed dance moves.

Question 66

Which song style was derived especially from southern gospel singing combined with the rhythm and blues of Ray Charles?

A) soul
B) rockabilly
C) funk
D) Motown

Question 67

American musicals after 1940 became:

A) more sophisticated, with more carefully constructed plots.
B) more like the minstrel shows of the mid-1800s.
C) more European, with Old World ambience and waltzes.
D) less concerned with plot and more concerned with virtuosic singing.

Question 68

Trends that evolved in the l980s and 1990s in reaction to commercialization and corporate control include:

A) folk rock and country.
B) acid rock and heavy metal.
C) punk and indie rock.
D) art rock and singer-songwriter rock.

Question 69

Which composer did not write operettas?

A) John Philip Sousa
B) Arthur Sullivan
C) Johann Strauss Jr.
D) Victor Herbert

Question 70

Which statement about Miles Davis is false?

A) He played fusion jazz throughout his career.
B) He favored high squeals at times in his improvisations.
C) He worked with Charlie Parker early in his career.
D) He worked with many different jazz artists and changed his style many times.

Question 71

The style known as acid rock is marked by:

A) singer-songwriters using acoustic accompaniment.
B) straightforward, blues-derived rock.
C) large bands with wind instruments.
D) long, jazzlike improvisations on electric guitar and hallucinatory imagery in the lyrics.

Question 72

The style that originated as a pointed expression of black urban concerns and quickly grew during the 1980s and 1990s is:

A) punk.
B) indie rock.
C) hip-hop.
D) post-rock.

Question 73

The folk rock of Bob Dylan looked back to the styles of:

A) white country and folk music.
B) urban rhythm and blues.
C) soul and funk.
D) the early British rock bands.

Question 74

One of the main sources of American popular music in the form of musical theater around 1900 was:

A) south Chicago.
B) Broadway in New York City.
C) Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
D) Market Street in San Francisco.

Question 75

The earliest rock that emerged after World War II resulted from blending which two styles of music?

A) country and jazz
B) country and rhythm and blues
C) musical theater and jazz
D) jazz and blues

Question 76

The plot of West Side Story bears a resemblance to which of Shakespeare's plays?

A) Macbeth
B) A Midsummer Night's Dream
C) King Lear
D) Romeo and Juliet

Question 77

Which song style was developed by Berry Gordy Jr.in Detroit?

A) gospel
B) rockabilly
C) blues
D) Motown

Question 78

Which experimental rock movement can be most closely compared to minimalism?

A) punk
B) indie rock
C) rap
D) post-rock

Question 79

The two leading composers of early American musical comedy were:

A) Duke Ellington and Sippie Wallace.
B) Jerome Kern and George Gershwin.
C) Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein.
D) Amy Beach and Steve Reich.

Question 80

The white rural style derived from southern and southwestern folk song is:

A) gospel.
B) country.
C) rhythm and blues.
D) blues.