Q.1
What are the four instruments in a classical String Quartet?
  • Violin, viola, cello, double-bass
  • Two violins, viola and cello
  • Violin, two violas, cello
  • Violin, viola, two cellos
Q.2
Which is the odd term out here?
  • Bowing
  • Stopping
  • Tuning
  • Purfling
Q.3
A typical violin has four strings; how many are there on a Hardanger fiddle?
  • 5 strings
  • 6 strings
  • 8 strings
  • 12 strings
Q.4
, the opening movement of Holst's Suite, begins with two surprises: the first is its time-signature of 5/4, so that the pulse and style are clearly suggestive of a march, yet the march itself is (intentionally) 'un-marchable' to those of us without 5 feet. The second, more subtle but distinctive feature is that all the string players are instructed to perform from the outset. What does this instruction mean?
  • Similar to pizzicato ('plucking'), except the string is flicked with the fingernail
  • The strings are plucked with a plectrum or quill, rather than the bare fingertip
  • The bow is turned over and its wooden back is bounced off the string, instead of the 'hair' side of the bow being drawn across it as more usually
  • A mute is applied to the strings
Q.5
Apart from the piano and certain other keyboard instruments, which stringed instrument also has pedals (usually seven of them)?
  • Clavichord
  • Hurdy-gurdy
  • Harp
  • Dulcimer
Q.6
With which early-modern stringed instrument was John Dowland most closely associated, often writing and performing songs accompanied on it?
  • The guitar
  • The lute
  • The mandolin
  • The theorbo
Q.7
The 'golden age' for the manufacturing of classical stringed instruments centres around the names of Stradivarius (of course ... ) and Guarneri: when and where were these makers active?
  • Around Cremona in the 17th and 18th centuries
  • In Spain in the 17th century
  • In Switzerland in the 19th century
  • In Hungary in the 18th century
Q.8
Before the days of modern synthetics and steel, all the parts of an instrument and its bow would necessarily be made of organic materials ('animal, vegetable or mineral'). Parts from which animals would typically have been involved in performances of the Baroque and Classical eras (Bach, Mozart & co.)?
  • Cat, horse
  • Cow, pig
  • Sheep, horse
  • Pig, sheep
Q.9
This plucked string instrument has a wide cultural history but seems, in the 20th century at least, to have found its spiritual home in Austria. It features in Strauss' , on the soundtrack to the film , and there is a fairly well-known carol in whose choral arrangement the harmony singers are required to imitate the 'zing' of its strings. Alphabetically also, it's probably about the last instrument you would think of ~ further down the list, even, than the xylophone. What instrument is this?
  • Zymbelstern
  • Zither
  • Zitar
  • Zutor
Q.10
Some while ago there was a violin teaching book called . Why was this title so neat?
  • Because without a bow, the player would be limited to playing pizzicato and never discover the singing tone of the violin
  • Because the bow needs to be mastered in the right hand before the student holds the instrument with their left
  • Because when the student advances far enough, they may wear a bow-tie or hair-ribbon while giving a public performance
  • Because after playing, they may 'take a bow' (in its other sense and pronunciation), to acknowledge their listeners' applause
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