Music Instruments Quiz - MUSC 8

This video excerpt features both an acoustic and electric _____. Though plucked, these instruments are technically a part of which instrument family? _____

• mandolin

• guitar

• bass

• percussion

• string

Answer explanation

The first is an acoustic guitar. The second is an electric guitar. Both are technically members to the String family. Try and use the process of elimination:

1) Woodwind? Nope, not even a choice.

2) Brass? Nope, not even a choice.

3) Percussion? Someone has to pluck them, so is this pitched percussion? Hmmm.

4) String? Well, they do have strings! And the human playing them has to alter their hand positions and fingering to produce different pitches. Yes, must be strings!

Introducing the "Tuba mirum" of Verdi's Requiem, this excerpt epically features which instrument family?​ (a)   It begins with ​ (b)   , positioned in multiple places within the hall.

• brass
• trumpets
• woodwinds
• percussion
• tubas
• trombones

Which solo instrument is featured here, seemingly in dialogue with the Soprano voices?

• cello

• bass

• viola

• violin

Though composed for solo piano and jazz orchestra, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue famously opens with a tremolo and wailing glissando on this instrument.​ ​ (a)   It is a member to what family? ​ (b)  

• flute
• oboe
• English horn
• clarinet
• woodwind
• brass
• reed

This excerpt comes from the very opening of Brahms' Ein Deutsche's Requiem. Featuring the string family, arrange the below instruments in the order that they enter. (This is an organ reduction and can be used as a clue. Make sure you are listening!)

• cello

• double bass

• viola

• violin

This instrument helps to simulate canon fire at the end of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

• tympani

• bass drum

• taiko drum

• triangle

One of the most important orchestral works of the 20th-c., Stravinsky's Rite of Spring actually resulted in riots at its conclusion. What two types of brass instruments are seen at the beginning and at the end of this excerpt?

• French horns, trombones

• trumpets, tubas

• trombones, trumpets

• French horns, euphonium

In this excerpt of Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral by Wagner, which family is represented? ​ (a)  

The melody is first heard in the ​ (b)   and then the ​ (c)  

• English horns
• piccolos
• brass
• woodwind
• clarinets
• flutes
• French horns
• double reeds

The first minute of Mahler's 2nd Symphony ("Resurrection") prominently features two string instruments. Which are they?

• violin

• viola

• cello

• double bass

From Leonard Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances" (Mambo, specifically) from West Side Story is one of the most difficult pieces to play for any professional orchestra. Here, Maestro Dudamel, leads a Venezuelan high school orchestra of underserved and underprivileged students, and they rock it! Clearly, Latin rhythms and percussion help to drive the piece. How many percussion parts do you see and/or hear?

• Five

• Six

• Seven

• Eight