Sources of Popular Music Test
Questions with Correct Answers
Minstrel Show - Answer-a member of a type of performance troupe caricaturing Black
performers that originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century
Dance Music - Answer-composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can
be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement.
Brass Bands - Answer-a band consisting chiefly or solely of brass and percussion
instruments
Tin Pan Alley - Answer-a district that is a center for composers and publishers of
popular music
Ragtime - Answer-rhythm characterized by strong syncopation in the melody with a
regularly accented accompaniment in stride-piano style
Syncopation - Answer-a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music
caused typically by stressing the weak beat
Jazz Age - Answer-was a period in the 1920s and 1930s in which jazz music and dance
styles rapidly gained nationwide popularity in the United States
Swing Music - Answer-form of jazz that developed in the United States in the 1930s and
1940s. The name came from the emphasis on the off-beat, or weaker pulse.
Cuban habanera - Answer-form of syncopation, is used as the rhythmic pulse for some
Latin and jazz pieces
Acappella - Answer-without instrumental accompaniment
Black Spirituals - Answer-African American slaves forged alternative interpretations of
spirituals that bore double meanings of religious salvation and freedom from slavery.
hook - Answer-a thing designed to catch people's attention.
Ballads - Answer-a narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing
Chorus - Answer-a part of a song or hymn recurring at intervals
Melodies - Answer-a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds
Riffs - Answer-a rapid energetic often improvised verbal outpouring
Questions with Correct Answers
Minstrel Show - Answer-a member of a type of performance troupe caricaturing Black
performers that originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century
Dance Music - Answer-composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can
be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement.
Brass Bands - Answer-a band consisting chiefly or solely of brass and percussion
instruments
Tin Pan Alley - Answer-a district that is a center for composers and publishers of
popular music
Ragtime - Answer-rhythm characterized by strong syncopation in the melody with a
regularly accented accompaniment in stride-piano style
Syncopation - Answer-a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music
caused typically by stressing the weak beat
Jazz Age - Answer-was a period in the 1920s and 1930s in which jazz music and dance
styles rapidly gained nationwide popularity in the United States
Swing Music - Answer-form of jazz that developed in the United States in the 1930s and
1940s. The name came from the emphasis on the off-beat, or weaker pulse.
Cuban habanera - Answer-form of syncopation, is used as the rhythmic pulse for some
Latin and jazz pieces
Acappella - Answer-without instrumental accompaniment
Black Spirituals - Answer-African American slaves forged alternative interpretations of
spirituals that bore double meanings of religious salvation and freedom from slavery.
hook - Answer-a thing designed to catch people's attention.
Ballads - Answer-a narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing
Chorus - Answer-a part of a song or hymn recurring at intervals
Melodies - Answer-a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds
Riffs - Answer-a rapid energetic often improvised verbal outpouring
