Ultimate Music Terms Quiz

Given by the definition, name all the musical terms!

Some of these come from the "Musical Direction Words Quiz" by Quizmaster.

These are US terms rather than UK terms, but I still try to be lenient with type-ins.

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Last updated: January 4, 2019

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First submitted	November 2, 2018
Times taken	80
Average score	54.5%
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Definition	Term
Very slow	Largo
Slow and stately	Adagio
At a walking pace	Andante
Moderately	Moderato
Fast, quick, and bright	Allegro
Very fast	Presto
Speeding up	Accelerando
Slowing down	Ritardando
Continuous slide upward or downward between two notes (especially harp)	Glissando
Play with the mute (string instruments)	Con Sord
A quavering or vibratory sound, especially a rapid alternation of sung or played notes	Trill
Play only on the G string	Sul G
Very soft	Pianissimo
Soft	Piano
Somewhat soft	Mezzo Piano
Somewhat loud	Mezzo Forte
Loud	Forte
Very loud	Fortissimo
Getting louder	Crescendo
Getting softer	Diminuendo
Sweetly	Dolce
Bowing term played louder or more forcefully than the surrounding music	Marcato
Dot that indicates notes should be detached	Staccato
Notes should be smooth and connected	Legato
For strings, plucked rather than bowed	Pizzicato
To be played with the bow, usually after plucking	Arco
Birdseye that means a note should be held	Fermata
Chord played in series like a harp	Arpeggio

Definition	Term
Played by just one person	Solo
Played by all together	Tutti
Played with the wood of the bow	Col Legno
Two players reading the same musical staff to divide into two or more voice parts	Divisi
Two notes played on two different strings at the same time	Double Stop
Words sang by a vocalist.	Lyrics
A beat in music held for four beats	Whole Note
A beat in music held for two beats	Half Note
A beat in music held for one beat	Quarter Note
A beat in music held for 1/8 beat	Eighth Note
A beat in music held for 1/16 beat	Sixteenth Note
A period of silence between notes	Rest
To perform two different notes in one bowing (legato)	Slur
Two notes of the same pitch connected by a curve indicating that they are to be played for the combined duration of their time values	Tie
A term marked by two lines and two dots implicating that you have to play the given measure again	Repeat
Any of the sections, typically of equal time value, into which a musical composition is divided, shown on a score by vertical lines across the staff; bar	Measure
A set of five parallel lines and the spaces between them, on which notes are written to indicate their pitch	Staff
Any of several symbols placed at the left-hand end of a staff, indicating the pitch of the notes written on it	Clef
The clef that violins play	Treble
The clef that violas play	Alto
The clef that cellos and basses play	Bass
A singing range between baritone and alto	Tenor
A singing range between tenor and bass	Baritone
A time signature indicating 2 or 4 half-note beats in a bar; alla breve	Cut Time
Two numbers divided by a bar after a clef noting what rhythm the piece is played in	Time Signature
Sharps or flats on a staff indicating what key the piece should be played in	Key Signature
An extra note added as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or melody	Grace Note

Level 95

Nov 2, 2018

Nice quiz! You might make it clear in the instructions that these are US rather than UK terms (we usually talk about semibreves, minims, crotchets etc. rather than whole, half, quarter notes). Also there's a typo: it is Col legno (col, rather than con - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_legno)

Level 61

Nov 3, 2018

Thank you! Will fix =)

Level 66

Nov 25, 2021

I never do well with terms involving string instruments even though my son plays the cello! And I am a piano teacher.

A couple of corrections- 8th notes receive 1/2 beat, not 1/8th. 16th notes receive 1/4 beat (in common time). The reason they are called by those fractions is because it takes 8 8th notes to equal a whole note, and 16 16th notes to equal a whole note. All of the divisions (half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth) are named by their relation to a whole note.

Grateful to find your quizzes. Thanks.