`LaSalle University
MUS 150 Art of Listening
Midterm Exam
Name ______________________________
I. Listening Skill
Excerpt One: Artist: Carlos Santana / Dave Matthews - Title “Love of My Life”
1. Regarding the element of duration , which of the following DOES NOT apply to this excerpt? a. repeating rhythms b. stable harmony c. steady beat d. medium tempo
2. Which of the following describes the meter of this example? a. no meter b. two c. three d. four e. five
3. Which of the following refers to the PITCH of this example? a. the melody goes up and then down d. the meter is four b. the beat is steady e. there is no "ball"
4. Which of the following is absent from this example? a. pitch b. duration c. dynamics d. timbre c. the volume level is consistent e. none of the above
5. Which of the following is playing the beat in this example? a. bass guitar b. guitar c. keyboard d. singer e. no one
6. “Medium Loud” describes the: a. beat b. timbre c. duration
Excerpt Two: Composer: J.S. Bach - Title “Bourree” d. melody e. dynamics
7. Which of the following is true regarding the element of duration from “Bourree”? a. contains soft and loud sounds b. contains beat, rhythms and tempo c. contains phrases, cadences, melody and harmony d. contains a combination of different instrument types
8. Which of the following is playing the beat in this example? a. bass guitar b. guitar c. keyboard d. singer e. no one
9. Which rendition of “Bourree” would have the greatest dynamic and frequency range? a. a low-resolution mp3 recording b. streaming audio c. a standard CD d. a compressed file
10. Regarding the element of Pitch, which of the following DOES NOT occur in “Bourree”? a. notes b. a motive c. a rhythm pattern d. the melody is “The Ball” e. phrases
11. Which of the following is absent from “Bourree”? a. pitch b. duration c. dynamics d. timbre
15. How many measures or bars are in each section? a. eight b. twelve c. twenty d. eighteen e. none of the above
Excerpt Three: Artist: Antoine Dodson - Title “Bed Intruder Song”
12. Which of the following is absent from this example? a. pitch b. duration c. dynamics d. timbre e. none of the above
13. This excerpt features a software application that applies: a. rhythmic precision b. pitch correction c. tempo steady d. dynamic control
14. Which of the following properties are affected by using Auto Tune? a. rhythm b. beat c. dynamics d. melody e. volume e. more than twenty
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16. The “artist” of this song must include ________ as well as Dodson? a. the newscaster in the video b. the viewer c. the perpetrator d. the producers of the song

II. Matching
17. ________ Groove
18. ________ Loudness Wars
19. ________ mp3
20. ________ Passive listening
21. ________ Measure
22. ________ Herz
23. ________ Harmony
24. ________ Tempo
25. ________ Active listening
26. ________ 12-Bar Blues
27. ________ Vibrato
28. ________ Dissonant
29. ________ The “Ball”
30. ________ Turning Time Around
31. _______ Loop
32. ________ Thump and Sizzle
A. One grouping of beats (usually 4)
B. A harmony that is considered unstable
C. The area of interest in a musical work
D. Concentrating on what you hear
E. Subtle variations in pitch to enrich tone
F. A type of file compression for music
G. More than one pitch at a time
H. The energy present in a work of music
I. A measurement of cycles per second
J. One pitch at a time; the “tune” or the “Ball”
K. Speed of the beats, fast or slow
L. Modern music’s tendency to sound very dense
M. When the beat you feel doesn’t match the song’s
N. Hearing in the background
O. A recorded clip that is repeated and layered
P. Form that contains 3 sections of 4 measures each
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33. _______ Melody Q. Quality of a song that is lost in compression
III. Multiple Choice
34. An “INCOMPLETE” cadence will sound ______________ . a. finished b. begun c. unfinished d. faster e. structured
35. What is it called when increasing the volume to maximum level just before distortion? a. normalize b. mixing c. production d. reverberation e. interference
36. Which of the following is NOT associated with the Duration element of music? a. beat b. syncopation c. tempo d. meter e. voice
37. The words "loud" and "soft" refer to which of the following terms? a. pitch b. rhythm c. dynamics d. timbre e. tempo
38. The most common meter in music is: a. one b. two c. three d. four e. music has no meter
39. In every piece of music, the beat will always be played by the: a. drums b. bass c. cymbals d. violins e. it might not be played at all
40. The file size of a low-resolution mp3 version of a song is ________________ that of the original. a. the same as b. the same length as c. smaller than d. more muffled than e. softer than
41. The timbre of a low-resolution mp3 version of a song is ________________ that of the original. a. the same as b. the same length as c. smaller than d. more muffled than e. softer than
42. The duration of a low-resolution mp3 version of a song is ________________ that of the original. a. the same as b. longer than c. smaller than d. more muffled than e. softer than
43. Which of the following is not specifically an element or property of music? a. duration b. harmony c. pitch d. dynamics e. timbre
44. Which of the following terms is a series of pitches played one at a time to form a logical idea? a. melody b. sound quality/tone color c. tempo d. beat e. loud e. duration
45. Which of the following terms refers to more than one pitch played at the same time ? a. melody b. sound quality/tone color c. harmony d. beat
46. A phrase usually ends with a(n): a. interval b. cadence c. melody d. beat e. rhythm
47. A standard section in a popular song will most likely be ________ bars or measures. a. five b. seven c. eight d. nine e. more than 20

48. In the Twelve Bar Blues form, how many phrases are there? a. one b. two c. three d. four e. twelve
49. If a song uses Auto Tune on the voice, what will be removed from the original? a. duration b. dynamics c. vibrato d. rhythm e. tempo
50. In every piece of music, which timbre is always present? a. drums b. bass c. cymbals d. violin e. there is no requirement for a specific timbre
51. The term “measure” or “bar” means one complete number of _______ in a pattern: a. pitches b. rhythms c. beats d. songs e. instruments
52. The words "fast" and "slow" refer to which of the following terms? a. pitch b. motive c. dynamics d. timbre e. tempo
53. The steady underlying pulse that occurs in a piece of music is called the: a. beat b. pitch c. timbre d. dynamic e. conjunct interval
54. Which of the following is applied to reduce the dynamic range of a musical selection? a. compression b. mixing c. production d. reverberation e. interference
55. The words "long" and "short" refer to which of the following terms? a. pitch b. rhythm c. dynamics d. timbre e. motive
56 The range of human hearing generally extends from _______________ Herz. a. 10 to 100 b. 20 to 200 c. 50 to 5,000 d. 100 to 10,000 e. 20 to 20,000
57. When the beat is not evident in a musical work, it is said to be: a. nonmetric b. fast c. inconclusive d. cadence e. accented
58. Which of the following terms is “I’m lovin’ it” in the McDonald’s song in their commercials? a. meter b. timbre c. tempo d. motive e. beat
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59. Which of the following is NOT required to fit our definition of music? a. time b. organization c. singing d. sound
Please mark all answers on the accompanying answer sheet, which includes the final section True or
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False, as well as several Bonus Essay options.