music beginner 10 sample questions

Keyboard Instruments MCQ Practice Test

Pianos, organs, and synthesizers

Q1. Which keyboard instrument produces its bright, nasal tone by plucking its strings with plectra (quills), was popular in the Baroque era, and is associated with music by Johann Sebastian Bach?

Explanation: The harpsichord's strings are plucked by quills or plectra, producing its bright, nasal, twangy sound. The clavichord (the old key) strikes its strings with metal tangents and is much quieter; the organ pushes air through pipes, and the fortepiano strikes strings with hammers.

Q2. Which keyboard instrument produces its sound when felt-covered hammers strike the strings, allowing the player to control loudness through touch?

Explanation: In a piano, felt hammers strike the strings, so striking the keys harder plays louder — the innovation behind its name (pianoforte, 'soft-loud'). The harpsichord plucks its strings with quills, and no keyboard instrument combines hammers with a 'sympathetic string system' as the old stem claimed.

Q3. Which keyboard instrument produces its bell-like sound when hammers strike a row of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators?

Explanation: The celesta looks like a small upright piano, but its hammers strike steel plates over resonators rather than strings — the glockenspiel-like tone Tchaikovsky used in the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'. A carillon is played from a baton keyboard that swings clappers inside fixed bronze bells; the old stem's 'metal wires struck against rubber hammers' described no real instrument.

Q4. Which keyboard instrument produces sound when small brass blades called tangents strike the strings directly, allowing the player to keep varying the pitch through finger pressure after the strike?

Explanation: In the clavichord, brass tangents mounted on the keys strike and hold the strings, so pressure changes after the strike can bend the pitch (the Bebung effect) — unique among keyboard instruments. The old stem's 'étoupe mechanism' and all four of its options (Auberté, Bär Walter, Ruckers, Dallam instruments) were fabricated.

Q5. Which keyboard instrument is known for its use of sympathetic strings, which are not directly played but resonate with the sounding strings?

Explanation: In a harpsichord, strings that are not being plucked are undamped, so they vibrate in sympathy with the sounding strings and add resonance to the tone (a piano achieves a similar effect only when the dampers are lifted by the pedal). The quinton is a bowed string instrument of the violin family and the gusli is a Russian plucked zither — neither is a keyboard, and the clavichord damps its strings with cloth.

Q6. In which keyboard instrument does each key carry a small brass tangent that strikes the string directly and stays in contact with it while the note sounds?

Explanation: In the clavichord the tangent doubles as plectrum and bridge: driven by the key lever, it touches the string for as long as the key is held. No standard keyboard instrument uses unplayed sympathetic strings as the old stem claimed — the harpsichord plucks with a quill, and 'Cembali' (Italian for harpsichord) and 'Quinton' (a bowed string instrument) were wrong in kind.

Q7. Which keyboard instrument is known for its unique sound, produced by striking a metal blade with a hammer, and is often used in classical music?

Explanation: The celesta is a keyboard instrument that produces a bright, bell-like sound. It is often used in classical music to add a unique texture to a piece.

Q8. Which keyboard instrument, the standard continuo instrument of the Baroque, makes its strings sound when a quill (plectrum) plucks them as the keys are pressed?

Explanation: In the harpsichord each key lifts a jack carrying a quill that plucks the string — brilliant but touch-insensitive tone, hence the terraced dynamics of Baroque music. The clavichord strikes, the celesta's hammers hit metal plates, and no keyboard instrument uses 'sympathetic strings' as the old stem claimed.

Q9. Which keyboard instrument, heard in Tchaikovsky's 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' from The Nutcracker, produces its glockenspiel-like tone from struck metal plates?

Explanation: Tchaikovsky obtained the Sugar Plum Fairy's tinkling sound from the celesta, whose keyboard-operated hammers strike steel plates over wooden resonators. The old stem's 'hammer against a metal reed amplified through a pipe' described no real instrument.

Q10. Which keyboard instrument is known for its distinctive sound, produced by striking metal keys with hammers, and is often used in classical music to add a touch of drama or tension?

Explanation: The Celesta is a keyboard instrument known for its distinctive sound, which is produced by striking metal keys with hammers. It is often used in classical music to add a touch of drama or tension.

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Keyboard Instruments MCQ Practice Test | Mind Hustle