BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Musicology 4

Question 1

The 'New Musicology' movement of the 1990s, associated with scholars like Susan McClary, emphasized which approach?

Accepted Answer

Cultural, feminist, and ideological critique of music

Answer

New Musicology brought gender studies, cultural criticism, and postmodern theory into music scholarship, challenging the field's traditional positivist methods.

Question 2

Which term describes the systematic classification of musical instruments by their sound-producing mechanism?

Accepted Answer

Organology

Answer

Organology is the scholarly study and classification of musical instruments, including the Hornbostel-Sachs system.

Question 3

The Hornbostel-Sachs classification system divides instruments into how many primary categories?

Accepted Answer

5

Answer

The system originally identified four categories (chordophones, aerophones, membranophones, idiophones), with electrophones added later as a fifth.

Question 4

Which branch of musicology focuses specifically on the physical properties of sound, including frequency and timbre?

Accepted Answer

Acoustics

Answer

Musical acoustics studies the physical nature of sound waves, resonance, and how instruments produce and modify sound.

Question 5

The term 'cantus firmus' refers to which compositional technique?

Accepted Answer

A pre-existing melody used as the basis for a polyphonic composition

Answer

A cantus firmus is an existing melody—often Gregorian chant—around which other voices weave new counterpoint.

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Practice Test

BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Musicology 4