What are the three cultural/musical sources of the popular music in America?
Western European classical music, Anglo-American folk music, and African rhythms.
Western European rhythms, Anglo-American use of the vernacular speech, and African instruments
Western European vernacular speech, Anglo-American folk instruments, and African blues.
Minstrelsy, spirituals and ragtime
“Cross-pollination of influences” is a concept that applies almost exclusively to
a) Classical music b) Folk music c) Popular music
During the nineteenth century, the radio replaced the piano as the center of home entertainment.
a) true b) false
In a blues song, the identical first two lines of a chorus are called a rhymed couplet.
a) true b) false
5. Another description for “parlor songs” is the phrase “piano bench music.”
a) true b) false
In describing American popular music, we say that it has a “beat”. This term “beat” refers to
The European influence in American music
The Anglo-American folk influence in American music
The African influence in American music
7. Chuck Berry’s song “Maybellene” has country music influence because of its:
a) twelve bar blues form b) none of these
c) slightly distorted electric guitar sound
d) strong honky-tonk two-beats in the chorus
8. Music during the nineteenth century dramatically reflected class differences (including education, literacy, manners) between city
folks and their rural counterparts
a) true b) false
9. The Virginia Minstrels were a group of four entertainers, singing and playing the instruments associated with minstrel shows.
a) true b) false
10. The Fisk Jubilee Singers made history as the first white performers of authentic African-American music.
a) true b) false
11. Tin Pan Alley refers to:
a. the skid row district of the west side of Manhattan.
b. none of these choices are true.
c. the California Gold Rush’s influence on bringing American popular music to the West Coast for the first time.
d. an area in New York that housed the music publishing business.
12. The song “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” is an example of a song with a three-beat cycle called:
a. an operetta. b. a waltz.
c. “Jumpin’ Jim Crow.” d. a fox trot.
13. The first big Tin Pan Alley “hit” in 1892 was:
a. “After The Ball.” b. “Yankee Doodle Boy.”
c. “Old Folks At Home.” d. “All Coons Look Alike To Me.”
14. John Philip Sousa is a composer and bandleader whose concert bands displayed tremendous musicianship and precision. One particular
style of music for which he is best known is:
a. the waltz. b. the fox trot.
c. the march. d. the operetta.
15. Stephen Foster wrote songs for both minstrel shows and
a) the parlor b) the musical theater
c) the black church d) the white church
16. A publishing-house pianist who could play a new song for a professional singer or a prospective customer
a) blackface b) the interlocutor c) song-plugger
d) Jim Crow
17. This phrase refers to “spontaneous musical creation”, and is the essence of what jazz music is all about
a. race records b. “blue note” c. jazz improvisation d. front line
18. A “race record” refers to
a recording of black music by black people
a “race” by musical theater performers to record the newest Tin Pan Alley hit song
a recording of the minstrel songs of Stephen Foster
a recording of black music sung by white people
19. In a jazz band, this phrase refers to the horn soloists (trumpet, clarinet, and trombone)
a. the race line b. front line c. race line d. blues line
20. Both blues and jazz come from the same sources, but each has certain characteristics that differentiate one from the other. Generally
speaking, which of the following is true?
blues is predominantly vocal music whereas jazz is predominantly instrumental music
blues is based on African-American experience in America whereas jazz is based on the Caucasian experience
the instrument most identified with blues is the acoustic guitar, whereas the instrument most identified with jazz is the electric
guitar
21. The first widely known blues reached their audience via
a. the radio b. the sheet music c. street performances d. none of the above
22. Bessie Smith is a representative of what popular genre?
a. jazz b. classic blues c. ragtime song d. none of the above
23. The birthplace of jazz is:
a. Chicago, Illinois b. New York, New York. c. New Orleans, Louisiana
d. Jackson, Mississippi
24. The term “Storyville” refers to:
the first published blues song written by W.C. Handy
the “red-light” area of New Orleans where jazz was to evolve in the early twentieth century.
a slang term for blues songs based in fiction rather than in a real-life event.
the nightclub where the patrons coined the term “jazz” to describe the style of music being played there
Prohibition signaled a lull in ability of jazz musicians to find work until its eventual repeal
a) true b) false
26. One of the advantages of the microphone was that it enabled small-voice singers to record and perform in theaters.
a) true b) false
Which innovations in the 1920’s changed the music industry?
a) parlor songs b) radio broadcasting c) amplified live performance
d) both a and b e) both b and c
28. The instrument that is so remarkable in the recording of “Charleston” and introduced a new sound in the 1920’s was:
a) the clarinet b) the saxophone c) the trumpet d) the piano
One of the most remarkable things about Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is that it managed to achieve immense popularity without reworking
the sounds, rhythms, and melodies of ragtime, jazz, blues, and dance music into its composition.
a) true b) false
The Jazz Singer was the first ___________ starring _____________
electric recording, George Gershwin
talking film, Al Jolson
commercial radio station, King Oliver
amplified live performance, Louis Armstrong
A “Crooner” is:
a) a singer who sings with full voice b) a singer who sings softly
c) a singer who sings in the old singing style ( before microphones)
d) a singer that only sings in the shower
One of the choices available to experience live music in 1929 that was not available ten years before was:
a) paying to see a vaudeville show b) purchasing an acoustic recording
c) all of these choices d) none of these choices
33. In jazz, non-verbal vocalizing using nonsense syllables in place of words is called:
a) scat singing b) vocalese c) stride vocals d) crooning
Who found his way north after Storyville close and followed Joe Oliver to Chicago?
a) Foster b) Paul Whiteman c) Louis Armstrong d) none of these
35″Cheek to Cheek,” written by Irving Berlin and considered a top contender for being the most popular song of the 1930s, is a song from
the film Top Hat.
a) true b) false
36. Prohibition refers to the 18th Amendment, which:
a) prohibited woman from dancing “animal dances” in places open to the general public
b) prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages until its repeal
c) prohibited women from voting
d) prohibited the consumption but not the sale of alcoholic beverages
37. Although one of the lesser known figures by mainstream America, Fletcher Henderson is the man most responsible for shaping the sound
of big band swing.
a) true b) false
The great singing and dancing team that appeared in the film Top Hat was:
a) Fred and Adele Astaire b) Vernon and Irene Castle
c) Marge and Gower Champion d) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
A famous song by Glenn Miller
a) Chattanooga Choo Choo b) Taking a Chance on Love c) Wrappin’ It Up
d) none of these
40. Duke Ellington is universally revered as jazz’s greatest composer, with some authoritative commentators also calling him America’s
greatest composer as well
a) true b) false
41. George Cohan’s legacy endures in his:
a) ballads b) waltzes c) patriotic songs d) dances
42. A small group consisting mainly of string instruments of various types.
a. jump band b. percussion band c. electric blues band d. none of these
43. The folk music of white southerners became country music when ________ appeared.
a. parlor songs b. talking movies c. commercial radio d. television
The Lomaxes worked to preserve folk music, while Peer worked to profit from country music.
a. true b. false
45. The first curator of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress was John Lomax.
a. true b. false
Bob Wills is most commonly known as the “father of bluegrass music.”
a. true b. false
“The Prisoner’s Song” was recorded by:
a. Woody Guthrie b. Jimmie Rodgers c. Vernon Dalhart d. none of these
Jimmie Rodgers, like the Carter family sought to preserve the past.
a. true b. false
Gene Autry is best known as the first singing cowboy in motion pictures
a. true b. false
“This Land is Your Land” was written by Gene Autry
True b. false
Woody Guthrie made folk a commercial music.
a. true b. false
52. The rumba grew out of an Afro-Cuban dance called the mambo.
a. true b. false
53. The songwriter/composer of “Begin the Beguine” was Latin American composer Xavier Cugat.
a. true b. false
54. Bossa nova is a Latin style that originated in Brazil and incorporated elements of American jazz.
a. true b. false
55. The songwriter/composer of the song “Begin the Beguine” was Tito Puente
a. true b. false
56. An imported style from Trinidad that was popularized in 1956 by American singer Harry Belafonte was:
a. meringue b. calypso c. rumba d. none of these
57. The trade journal that chartered record sales in the music industry.
a. The Washington Post b. The USA Today c. The Billboard d. none of these
58. An “indie” refers not only to an independent record company, but also to an entrepreneurial spirit of independence with regards to
promoting and selling music.
a. true b. false
59. In the late 1940’s, a small band-rhythm section plus few horns, played R and B style influenced by big band swing.
a. steel guitar band b. jump band c. brass swing band d. none of these
60. The song “Choo Choo ChBoogie” is played by a:
a. Latin band b. Electric blues band c. jump band d. none of these
61. During the 1940s, “rhythm and blues” referred to music by African-American artists directed at African-American audiences.
a. true b. false
62. Rock and Roll began as outsider music.
a. true b. false
63. A blues piano style characterized by repetitive bass figures, usually in the shuffle rhythm.
a. blues b. rag c. honky-tonk d. boogie-woogie
64. Although “Rock Around the Clock” was a huge hit, it message was not appealing to the teens at all.
a. true b. false
65. The song “Johnny B Goode” was written and performed by
a. Elvis Presley b. Little Richard c. Bill Haley d. none of these
66. Elvis Presley’s first recordings were made on which of the following record labels?
a. Phillips Records b. Atlantic Records c. Sun Records d. RCA Records