Chapter 45: A Good Beat: American Vernacular Music at the Close of an Era
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. America’s nineteenth-century vernacular music traditions included:
a. parlor ballads. c. music for brass bands.
b. spirituals. d. all of the answers shown here
2. What was the most famous eighteenth-century band?
a. U.S. Marine Band c. the Sousa Band
b. the Goldman Band d. Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers
3. Who reorganized the Union Army group into a concert and dance ensemble after the American
Civil War?
a. John Philip Sousa c. Scott Joplin
b. Patrick S. Gilmore d. Stephen Foster
4. Patrick S. Gilmore wrote the lyrics for ____________, a rousing tune to welcome back soldiers.
a. When Johnny Comes Marching Home c. Semper fidelis
b. God Bless America d. The Washington Post
5. Who gave the United States Marine Band its nickname, “The President’s Own”?
a. John Adams c. Patrick S. Gilmore
b. John Philip Sousa d. Thomas Jefferson
6. Who wrote the march Semper fidelis?
a. Patrick S. Gilmore c. Adolphe Sax
b. John Philip Sousa d. Scott Joplin
7. Which branch of the U.S. military adopted Semper fidelis as its official march?
a. the Navy c. the Marine Corps
b. the Army d. the Air Force
8. What music is Sousa credited with bringing to Europe during his first European tour in 1900?
a. ragtime c. blues
b. march d. classical
9. Who composed The Washington Post?
a. Patrick S. Gilmore c. Scott Joplin
b. John Philip Sousa d. Stephen Foster
10. Who commissioned The Washington Post march?
a. the U.S. Marine Band c. John Philip Sousa
b. Patrick S. Gilmore d. a newspaper
11. What is the meter for The Washington Post?
a. 2/4 c. 6/8
b. 4/4 d. 12/8
12. What new dance craze did The Washington Post spawn?
a. the Post step c. the two-step
b. the Sousa stomp d. the Lindy hop
13. Standard march structure includes regular sections called:
a. strains. c. bridges.
b. the trio. d. verses.
14. In standard march structure, the C strain is also called:
a. the trio. c. the bridge.
b. the fortissimo. d. the chorus.
15. The sharp chord that closes the trio is called:
a. the final cadence. c. the finale.
b. a stinger. d. a fortissimo.
TRUE/FALSE
1. The U.S. Marine Band was the most famous band during the seventeenth-century.
2. Patrick S. Gilmore reorganized the Union Army group after the Civil War into a concert and dance
ensemble.
3. John Philip Sousa wrote the lyrics for When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
4. The United States Marine Band was established in 1798 by an act of Congress.
5. The informal name of the United States Marine Band is “The best band in the land.”
6. Semper fidelis is the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps.
7. Sousa directed the U.S. Marine Band for twelve years.
8. Sousa’s Band rarely performed outside of the Washington, DC, area.
9. John Philip Sousa was one of America’s most famous musicians during the early twentieth
century.
10. Sousa is probably the first musician to introduce European audiences to ragtime music.
ESSAY
1. Discuss the close association between the Marine Band and the office of the U.S. president.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: pp. 248–250
TOP: Sousa and the Band Tradition MSC: Applied
2. Discuss how Sousa and his music grew to national and international fame.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 3 REF: Essentials: pp. 248–251
TOP: Sousa and the Band Tradition MSC: Applied