California State University, Northridge » Music » Music 306 - Introduction to Jazz » Spring 2022

Music 306 - Introduction to Jazz » Spring 2022 » CH 01-06 Review Quiz

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Question #1

The quality of sound that allows listeners to distinguish between a violin and a trumpet is referred to as:

A. timbre

B. harmony

C. rhythm

D. pitch

E. melody

Question #2

A device inserted into the bell of a brass instrument to distort the sounds coming out is called

A. larynx

B. key

C. mouthpiece

D. valve

E. mute

Question #3

Which brass instrument moves its slide to create a glissando?

A. banjo

B. trumpet

C. tuba

D. clarinet

E. trombone

Question #4

Which part of the drum set consists of two cymbals controlled by a foot pedal?

A. ride cymbal

B. crash cymbal

C. splash cymbal

D. high-hat

E. tam-tam

Question #5

The relative speed of a performance’s steady “pulse rhythm” is commonly referred to as the piece’s

A. dynamics

B. tempo

C. harmony

D. rhythm

E. meter

Question #6

In jazz ensembles, bassists most often use _________ technique, plucking the strings with their fingers.

A. legato

B. arco

C. pizzacato

D. portamento

E. staccato

Question #7

Jazz concepts of form are derived from African music, where improvisation happens within:

B. only the rarest or ritual practices

C. a harmonic sequence

D. a carefully notated concert performance

E. a rhythmic cycle

F. a precisely measured amount of clock time

Question #8

Which best describes the form of a twelve-bar blues chorus?

A. two six-measure phrases

B. six two-measure phrases

C. an eight-measure phrase followed by a four-measure phrase

D. four phrases of three measures each

E. three phrases of four measures each

Question #9

What is the most common thirty-two-bar song form used by jazz musicians?

A. AAAA

B. ABAC

C. ABAB

D. AABA

E. ABCD

Question #10

Which rhythm section instrument plays the foundational role of sounding the root of each chord and keeping time with a continuous stream of notes?

A. bass

B. baritone saxophone

C. trumpet

D. clarinet

E. drums

Question #11

Harmonic improvisation requires a performer to _____________.

A. Improvise using only a single scale.

B. Embellish a composed melody.

C. Abandon familiar musical elements in order to create something new.

D. Create new melodies that fit over the tune’s chord progression.

E. Ignore the contributions and suggestions of the accompanists.

Question #12

In jazz, a repeating rhythmic and harmonic cycle is called a __________.

A. turn

B. chorus

C. verse

D. bridge

Question #13

_______ _________ is the generalized name for the harmonic sequence underlying George Gershwin’s composition “I Got Rhythm.”

A. Rhythm Chorus

B. Standard Blues

C. Rhythm Changes

D. Popular Song

E. Bird Blues

Question #14

W. C. Handy’s initial appreciation of the blues was based on its:

A. virtuosity

B. artistic merit

C. connection to African traditions

D. high-class status

E. commercial appeal

Question #15

In “polishing” the rural blues that he heard in Mississippi, W. C. Handy did which of the following?

A. All of the answers are true

B. He published sheet music.

C. He rehearsed it with his ensemble.

D. He composed his own lyrics.

E. He notated the music.

Question #16

The specific combinations of musical characteristics at the heart of jazz style—including polyrhythm, blue notes, timbre variation, and call and response—are the products of which cultural group?

A. English

B. Cuban

C. African American

D. South African

E. Nigerian

Question #17

Which best describes the poetic form of blues lyrics?

A. two-line couplet with second line repeated

B. four-line stanza

C. ten-line stanza

D. two-line stanza

E. two-line couplet with first line repeated

Question #18

Which instrument was most important in accompanying country blues?

A. piano

B. trumpet

C. guitar

D. drums

E. saxophone

Question #19

All of the following are true of “race records” EXCEPT:

A. Singers did not receive copyright royalty, just a modest performer’s fee.

B. Many of the original recordings have been preserved.

C. They did not sell many copies.

D. Singers were pressured by executives to record only the blues.

E. They were recordings of black music for black listeners.

Question #20

In her fourteen-year recording career, Bessie Smith recorded approximately how many songs?

A. 150

B. 250

C. 50

D. 100

E. 200

Question #21

On Bessie Smith’s “Reckless Blues,” which household item does Louis Armstrong use to modify the timbre of his trumpet?

A. plunger

B. bucket

C. dishrag

D. mop

E. sponge

Question #22

Which is NOT true of blackface minstrelsy?

A. Its music used African-derived instruments including the banjo.

B. In the mid-nineteenth century it was the most popular form of theater in the country.

C. It was only performed in the American South.

D. It generated negative racial stereotypes.

E. It was originally performed by white performers in heavy black makeup.

Question #23

When James Reese Europe’s Hellfighters performed in ballrooms for social dances, what type of instrumentation did they use?

A. string ensemble

B. piano with banjo accompaniment

C. symphonic orchestra

D. small jazz combo

E. large military-style band

Question #24

What does it mean to “rag” a piece of music?

A. to subject it to a process of rhythmic complication

B. to dance to it

C. to improvise a march

D. to perform it poorly

E. to extend a short piece by repeating sections

Question #25

How did Scott Joplin make most of the money to support his compositional career?

A. through record sales

B. through publishing royalties

C. by conducting a brass band

D. by licensing his music for use in films

E. by playing concerts

Question #26

Why is Wilbur Sweatman’s “Down Home Rag” significant?

A. It’s an early example of ragtime drumming.

B. It’s one of the fastest recorded performances of syncopated music.

C. All of the answers are true

D. It provides crucial evidence for the transition between ragtime and jazz.

E. It avoids blue notes and other blues inflections.

Question #27

New Orleans jazz primarily featured which of the following musical textures?

A. monophonic - solo plus accompaniment

C. polyphonic—collective improvisation

D. fully composed melodies and countermelodies

E. monophonic—solo playing

F. homophonic—solo plus accompaniment

Question #28

Who led the Onward Brass Band, a group that blended Creole sophistication with improvisational artistry?

A. Joe Oliver

B. Freddie Keppard

C. Buddy Bolden

D. Manuel Perez

E. Barney Bigard

Question #29

Which aspect of Buddy Bolden’s playing did contemporary observers note most often?

A. the fast passages in his playing

B. his variations on march themes

C. his ability to play two trumpets at once

D. the understatement of his playing

E. the loudness of his playing

Question #30

Which instruments are included in the front line of a New Orleans jazz band?

A. clarinet, flute, saxophone

B. trombone, tuba, banjo

C. piano, tuba, drums

D. trumpet, clarinet, trombone

Question #31

Which is the trumpet or cornet’s role in the New Orleans jazz band?

A. play a decorated bass line that includes glissandos

B. present the melody with improvised variations

C. present a steady stream of notes maintaining the dominant pulse of the tune

D. play a countermelody in a register higher than the trumpet or cornet’s line

E. arpeggiate the underlying harmony of the tune

Question #32

The most distinctive feature of New Orleans jazz is:

A. frequent syncopations

B. solo improvisation

C. use of blue notes

D. collective improvisation

E. harmonic improvisation

Question #33

All of the following factors were causes of the Great Migration EXCEPT:

A. fear generated by unequal protection under the law

B. an increasing reliance on agricultural labor

C. widespread segregation in the American south

D. a work shortage initiated by American entry into World War I

E. few opportunities for black Americans to own land

Question #34

Why are Jelly Roll Morton’s 1923 recording sessions with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings significant?

A. They took place in Los Angeles.

B. They took place in Chicago.

C. They are the first live recordings made in a jazz club.

D. They took place in New Orleans.

E. They are the first significant racially integrated jazz recording sessions.

Question #35

What was unusual about the front line of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band?

A. The clarinet lines were performed by the group’s pianist.

B. It featured two cornets.

C. It featured two clarinets.

D. It featured two trombones.

E. It included violin.

Question #36

Sidney Bechet is responsible for establishing this instrument as a jazz instrument:

A. bass

B. saxophone

C. piano

D. clarinet

E. banjo

Question #37

A. Manhattan

B. The Bronx

C. Staten Island

D. Brooklyn

E. Queens

Question #38

Which of the following parts of America’s entertainment infrastructure formed in late-nineteenth-century New York?

A. radio networks

B. All of the answers are true.

C. record labels

D. book publishers

E. grand theaters

Question #39

What effect did technological advances in radio and recording have on the jazz community?

A. It led audiences to stay home and obsessively listen to specific broadcasts and recordings.

B. It had no effect, since home audio systems were prohibitively expensive.

C. It forced performers to improve their technique.

D. It drew audiences away from jazz and to sophisticated classical performances.

E. It decentralized the jazz infrastructure across the country.

Question #40

How did Prohibition affect the jazz community?

A. It caused musicians to migrate away from larger cities.

B. All of the answers are true.

C. It caused many jazz musicians to become full-time composers.

D. It provided abundant (dangerous) work opportunities for jazz musicians in illegal speakeasies.

E. It encouraged musicians to avoid alcohol.

Question #41

What was Paul Whiteman’s goal with his “An Experiment in Modern Music” concert of 1924?

A. to argue that the blues was the soul of jazz

B. to reveal that jazz elements could form the foundation of highbrow art music

C. to demonstrate that only New Orleans jazz was the authentic jazz

D. to show that Louis Armstrong was the “King of Jazz”

E. to show that white musicians could perform raucous improvisations

Question #42

Which describes the racial dynamics of Fletcher Henderson’s engagement at the Roseland Ballroom:

A. integrated ensembles playing for integrated audiences

B. white ensembles playing for black audiences

C. integrated ensembles playing for white audiences

D. white ensembles playing for white audiences

E. black ensembles playing for white audiences

Question #43

Which Manhattan neighborhood was referred to as “the greatest Negro city in the world”?

A. Washington Heights

B. Times Square

C. Harlem

D. Upper West Side

E. Greenwich Village

Question #44

“Stride” refers to which aspect of a pianist’s performance?

A. two-handed block chords

B. regular left-hand alternation between bass notes and chords

C. fast right-hand arpeggios

D. slow-moving “walking” accompaniments

E. constant left-hand tremolo

Question #45

All of the following are aspects of Louis Armstrong’s legacy EXCEPT:

A. only major figure of Western music to influence the music of his era equally as an instrumentalist and as a vocalist

B. influenced popular and country performers with his phrasing and spontaneity

C. influenced symphonic trumpet players with his vibrato

D. transformed the social music of New Orleans into an art

E. became the most influential composer in the jazz community

Question #46

A. established the development of technique as an end in itself

B. carefully composed a large body of passages and played them the same every time

C. established collective improvisation as the main kind of jazz improvisation

D. established jazz as music that prizes individual expression through solo improvisation

E. wrote an influential series of guides to improvisation

Question #47

In 1922, Joe Oliver sent Louis Armstrong a message inviting him to join Oliver’s band in which northern city?

A. New Orleans

B. Detroit

C. New York

D. Chicago

Question #48

Which of the following describes Earl Hines’s approach to rhythm?

A. steady, on-the-beat background chords

B. using tremolo to give the sense of no rhythmic movement

C. an idiosyncratic style that played constant games with the rhythmic pulse

D. propulsive boogie-woogie patterns

E. slow-moving regular rhythms

Question #49

Which is NOT true of the Austin High Gang?

A. Their music was a rebellion against white middle class culture.

B. They were a group of white jazz musicians born mostly between 1904 and 1909 and active in Chicago.

C. They were named after a Chicago high school some of them attended.

D. They created the Chicago style, which featured aggressive rhythms, expansive solos, and polyphonic theme statements.

E. Their ranks included only horn players

Question #50

In whose big band did Coleman Hawkins play for eleven years?

A. Bix Beiderbecke

B. Paul Whiteman

C. Fletcher Henderson

D. Louis Armstrong

E. Duke Ellington

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