Chapter 8: Music and Words
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Syllables such as “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay” are considered:
a. mousikas. c. Latin.
b. nonlexical. d. secular.
2. ______ is a vocal improvisation common to jazz that uses wordless vocables.
a. Vernacular c. Scat-singing
b. Secular d. Mousikas
3. A wordless melody, such as singing on a neutral vowel like “ah,” is called:
a. nonlexical. c. Sprecthstimme.
b. timbre. d. vocalise.
4. ______ was the language of the Roman Empire, as well as the language of learning at medieval
and Renaissance universities.
a. Latin c. English
b. German d. Italian
5. In 1962, the Roman Catholic Church approved the use of the _____ for the Mass.
a. Latin c. scat-singing
b. vernacular d. secular
6. Which word means nonreligious?
a. vernacular c. vocalise
b. secular d. nonlexical
7. Like poems, songs are often written in rhymed:
a. stanzas or strophes. c. rhythms.
b. refrains. d. vocalise.
8. Words and music that recur after each stanza are called:
a. a strophe. c. the break.
b. a refrain or chorus d. the hook.
9. The text-setting style where each syllable gets one note is called:
a. melismatic. c. syllabic.
b. neumatic. d. vocalise.
10. The text-setting style in which a single syllable is elongated by many notes is called:
a. neumatic. c. melismatic.
b. syllabic. d. word-painting.
11. What is the text-setting style that not only emphasizes the word but also captures its joyful
meaning through music?
a. word-painting c. syllabic
b. vernacular d. mousikas
TRUE/FALSE
1. Vocables such as “Shoo–be–doo–be–doo–wop” are an example of scat-singing.
2. The opposite of vernacular is secular.
3. Italian was the official language of the Roman Empire.
4. Words and music that recur after stanza in a song are called a refrain or chorus.
5. Melismatic is the opposite of syllabic.
6. In both Gospel and popular musical styles, singers use melismas as part of their signature style.
7. Vocalise is a wordless melody.
8. The term vernacular refers to the language of the people.
9. In strophic form, the same music is repeated for each stanza.
10. Happy Birthday is an example of a syllabic text setting.
11. Word-painting not only emphasizes the word but also captures the joyful meaning through music.
12. When a single syllable is elongated by many notes, it is called melismatic.
ESSAY
1. Explain how the text-setting style influences the meaning of a song.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: p. 35
TOP: Music and Words MSC: Conceptual
2. Find a contemporary use of word-painting and discuss how the composer captures the meaning of
the word through music.
ANS:
Answers will vary.
PTS: 1 DIF: 2 REF: Essentials: p. 35
TOP: Music and Words MSC: Conceptual