Music History Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 64
Which bandleader had 'One O'Clock Jump' as his theme for over 40 years?
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count basie
Who is the 'Music Man' composer born in Mason City, which hosts the North Iowa Band Festival?
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meredith willson
Which 'noble' jazz musician was featured on a U.S. stamp issued on April 29, 1986?
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duke ellington
What woodwind instrument's English name is derived from a corrupted French term meaning 'high wood'?
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oboe
Which female singer visited U.S. military bases in Italy, Germany, and Bosnia in spring 1996 and performed her hit song 'All I Wanna Do'?
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sheryl crow
In 1954, who retired at the age of 87 as the conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra?
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arturo toscanini
Which newspaper commissioned a popular 1889 Sousa march for an awards ceremony?
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washington post
Which band recorded a live performance in Japan 20 years ago and remains popular there?
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cheap trick
Which composer visited the court of Frederick the Great in 1747, where his son was a harpsichordist?
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johann sebastian bach
Which keyboard instrument were the Ruckers of Antwerp most famous for making in the late 1500s?
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harpsichord
Which composer created the piece 'Fireworks' before composing 'The Firebird'?
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igor stravinsky
Which band's 1976 debut album, featuring the hit song 'More Than a Feeling,' became one of the best-selling albums in rock history?
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boston
Which British rock band had their first Top 40 hit with 'Go Now!' in 1965 and their last with 'I Know You're Out There Somewhere' in 1988?
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moody blues
Who recorded 'The Ballad of Jed Clampett' along with Flatt, instead of Flatt & Sharp?
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earl scruggs
What 'grubby' band, known for hits like 'Mr. Bojangles,' once included Jackson Browne as a member?
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nitty gritty dirt band
Who wrote his first opera, 'The Death of Pierrot', at age 11 and later composed an opera about Amahl?
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gian carlo menotti
What was the mode of transportation referred to in the Fifth Dimension's first Top 10 hit?
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balloon
What siblings made 'Cathy's Clown' a No. 1 hit in 1960, a feat duplicated by Reba McEntire in 1989?
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everly brothers
Which brothers recorded the song 'Cathy's Clown' that became a No. 1 hit in 1960, later covered by Reba McEntire in 1989?
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everly brothers
Which Austrian musician and child prodigy started composing minuets at the age of 5?
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wolfgang amadeus mozart
In 1855, which composer known for 'Orpheus in the Underworld' opened his own theater, the Bouffes Parisiens?
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jacques offenbach
Which 1966 No. 1 hit by The Beach Boys prominently featured the unusual musical instrument known as a theremin?
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good vibrations
Who co-founded the Honeydrippers with Jimmy Page after Led Zeppelin disbanded?
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robert plant
Which composer won a Pulitzer Prize in 1945 for 'Appalachian Spring'?
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aaron copland
Who is the Peruvian singer famous for her incredible vocal range and claims of Inca royal ancestry?
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yma sumac
What musical instrument, colloquially known as a "sweet potato", originated in its modern form in 19th century Italy?
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ocarina
Who released their debut solo album 'Tigerlily' in 1995 after being the lead singer for 10,000 Maniacs?
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natalie merchant
In which South American country did Heitor Villa-Lobos establish an academy of music in 1945?
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brazil
Who was the inventor of the Stratocaster electric guitar who passed away at the age of 81?
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leo fender
Who was the trumpeter and co-founder of the 'Bebop' movement who titled his 1979 autobiography 'To Be or Not to Bop'?
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dizzy gillespie
Which composer had both his Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) and the musical 'On the Town' debut in New York in the same year?
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leonard bernstein
Which artist released the No. 1 album 'Bella Donna'?
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stevie nicks
What name did the Alan Price Combo adopt after Eric Burdon joined the group?
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animals
Which famous composer, born in Prague in 1879, was a published composer by the age of 10?
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rudolf friml
Which record label was founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962 and was originally called Carnival Records?
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a&m records
Which Russian composer's 'Prince Igor' opera was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov after his death?
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alexander borodin
Which British group released the 1979 album 'The Wall' that featured the hit single 'Another Brick in the Wall'?
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pink floyd
Which Viennese emigre created a new method of atonal composition and later taught at UCLA and USC?
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arnold schoenberg
Which classical and jazz trumpeter received his first horn from Al Hirt at the age of 6?
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wynton marsalis
Which composers family adopted the name Bartholdy after inheriting property from a relative?
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felix mendelssohn
Who conducted the NBC Symphony for the performance of Don Gillis' 'Symphony No. 5 1/2' in 1947?
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arturo toscanini
Who is the songwriter that collaborated with Eddie and Brian Holland to produce some of Motown's biggest hits?
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lamont dozier
On which street in Memphis is it said that W.C. Handy developed blues music at Pee Wee's Saloon?
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beale street
What was the name of the vibraphonist who was part of Benny Goodman's original quartet, along with drummer Gene Krupa and pianist Teddy Wilson?
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lionel hampton
Which popular, rotund bandleader had both 'Rhapsody In Blue' and 'The Grand Canyon Suite' composed for him?
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paul whiteman
Which toy instrument did Paul McCartney play on Ringo Starr's 1974 hit song 'You're Sixteen'?
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kazoo
What 1987 album's success helped U2 earn a cover on Time magazine?
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joshua tree
Which duo recorded 'Hey Schoolgirl' in 1957 under the names Tom & Jerry?
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simon & garfunkel
Who was the orchestra leader for whom Tex Beneke sang the hit song 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'?
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glenn miller
Which composer, known for 'Billy the Kid,' won an Oscar for the score of 'The Heiress'?
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aaron copland
Who was the member of the Weavers who co-wrote 'If I Had A Hammer' with Lee Hays?
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pete seeger
Which composer created the tone poem 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun' based on a written poem?
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claude debussy
What famous classical piece did Maurice Ravel compose for dancer Ida Rubenstein in 1928?
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bolero
What is the last name of Annunzio, the maestro of strings who was the first to sell a million stereo records in the U.S.?
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mantovani
Which band, founded by John Lennon, was first introduced in 1969 on the single 'Give Peace a Chance'?
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plastic ono band
Before Neil Young and Stephen Stills joined forces with Crosby and Nash, they were members of which group?
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buffalo springfield
Which singer's album 'The Battle' addressed the end of his marriage to Tammy Wynette?
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george jones
What was the name of the Icelandic group that Bjork was the lead singer of before she recorded her first album at age 11?
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sugarcubes
Which group achieved their first No. 1 hit in 1978 with the song 'Three Times A Lady'?
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commodores
Who was the former Sex Pistols member facing murder charges when he died in February 1979?
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sid vicious
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