Study Guide

Music: Instrumental & Vocal
Sample Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand musical notation.

1. Use the example below to answer the question that follows.

Which of the following rhythms best completes this measure?







Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The given measure contains only eight eighth notes of time. The correct response includes an eighth rest and a dotted quarter note, which provide the four eighth notes of time needed to complete the measure.

Competency 0002
Understand melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements.

2. Which of the following pitch collections represents a natural minor scale?







Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Musicians often derive the natural minor scale by starting on the sixth note of the major scale. The pattern of whole steps (W) and half steps (H) for the natural minor scale is W — H — W — W — H — W — W.

Competency 0003
Understand musical composition, arranging, and improvising.

3. Which of the following musical forms typically includes an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation?

  1. minuet and trio
  2. da capo aria
  3. sonata-allegro
  4. theme and variations
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. In an idealized sonata-allegro form, the exposition presents primary thematic materials in tonic, after which a textural break (medial caesura) occurs that introduces a nontonic lyrical secondary theme. The development elaborates these materials and ends by preparing the arrival of tonic with a dominant pedal. The recapitulation presents all thematic material in tonic.

Competency 0004
Understand elements of music presented in recorded examples.

4. This excerpt ends with which of the following cadences?

(The examinee listens to a 20-second excerpt of a lied from the Romantic period.)

  1. deceptive
  2. half
  3. authentic
  4. plagal
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The excerpt ends on the dominant chord (V). The type of cadence that ends on a dominant chord is called a half cadence.

Competency 0005
Understand characteristics of Western, U.S., and world music and composers presented in recorded examples.

5. This excerpt is representative of which of the following styles of music from the United States?

(The examinee listens to a 30-second excerpt of a piano rag.)

  1. bebop
  2. blues
  3. swing
  4. ragtime
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. The excerpt features characteristics of ragtime, such as duple meter, syncopation, four-bar phrase lengths, and a regular alternation of low bass notes on the beat with midrange chords between beats.

Competency 0006
Understand elements of a musical performance presented in recorded examples.

6. Which of the following instruments is featured as the soloist in this excerpt?

(The examinee listens to a 20-second excerpt of a solo concerto from the Baroque period.)

  1. oboe
  2. clarinet
  3. flute
  4. bassoon
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. The excerpt features an oboe as the solo instrument. The oboe's conical bore and double reed contribute to its characteristically bright, penetrating timbre.

Competency 0007
Understand the history of Western music from the Middle Ages to 1750.

7. The compositional style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is characterized by:

  1. syllabic vocal lines and regular phrase structures.
  2. chromatic harmonies and large melodic leaps.
  3. syncopated rhythms and repeated notes.
  4. stepwise vocal lines and polyphonic textures.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. Representative of late sixteenth-century vocal polyphony, the musical style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is characterized by stepwise voice leading, carefully controlled treatment of dissonances, and imitative textures.

Competency 0008
Understand the history of Western music from 1750 to the present.

8. The string quartet first appeared as a musical genre during which of the following periods of Western music history?

  1. Romantic
  2. Classical
  3. Baroque
  4. Renaissance
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) played a significant role in the development of the string quartet genre. His quartets Op. 9 (1770), Op. 17 (1771), and Op. 20 (1772) established the four-movement form while Op. 33 (1781) strongly influenced other Classical composers. Haydn's 68 quartets represent a compendium of compositional techniques and forms associated with the Classical era.

Competency 0009
Understand U.S. and world music.

9. Which of the following styles of Latin American music typically features the following instrumentation: two trumpets, two or three violins, and various types of guitars?

  1. mariachi
  2. mambo
  3. calypso
  4. salsa
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Mariachi refers to a style of rural dance-based son music from western Mexico as well as to the ensemble itself. Although several variations are possible, a typical mariachi ensemble includes two trumpets, two or three violins, a classical guitar, a vihuela (five-string guitar), and a guitarrón (bass guitar).

Competency 0010
Understand the principles of music education.

10. A student who uses a wheelchair will be attending a guitar class. Which of the following adaptations would be most appropriate for this student?

  1. pairing the student with a peer who is proficient at playing the guitar and who can model appropriate fingerings during class
  2. arranging for sheet music to be copied in large print for the student to use during guitar class
  3. working with the student to find an appropriate alternate position for the guitar, such as flat across the student's lap or on a table
  4. providing the student with a percussion instrument to play during the guitar class
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. When adapting music activities for a student with special needs, a music teacher should strive to enable the student to participate in the activities as fully as possible. In this scenario, the typical position for playing a guitar needs to be adapted for a student with a physical disability.

Competency 0011
Understand vocal and choral performance techniques.

11. Which of the following represents the typical alto vocal range?







Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. The range of pitches from the A below middle C to the C above middle C is considered to be the typical alto range.

Competency 0012
Understand instrumental solo and ensemble performance techniques.

12. A beginning clarinetist is producing a small, weak tone. Which of the following techniques would best address this problem?

  1. telling the student to play using more vibrato
  2. modeling proper air support and embouchure for the student
  3. having the student play in the chalumeau and clarion registers
  4. playing a recording of a professional clarinetist for the student
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Modeling is an effective strategy for teaching beginning instrumentalists. Proper air support and embouchure are essential elements for creating good tone quality on a clarinet.

Competency 0013
Understand conducting techniques, score reading, and repertoire.

13. Which of the following conducting patterns would typically be used to conduct a march?

  1. a fast two-beat pattern
  2. an angular four-beat pattern
  3. a rounded two-beat pattern
  4. a slow four-beat pattern
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Since marches are composed in duple meter, the pattern would need to include two distinct beats. Marches are often conducted at 120 beats per minute (allegro), a fast tempo. Therefore, a fast two-beat pattern would be most appropriate.