46 questions with answers · tap one to see its answer
Music Trivia Questions
These 46 music trivia questions range from bands and singers to classical composers, instruments, music theory and the places where genres began, from jazz and reggae to K-pop. They work for a music round at a quiz night or a road trip with the radio on. There are no lyrics to finish: every question asks about a fact, not a line.
Every answer was checked against two independent sources on November 9, 2026.
How many lines make up a standard musical staff?
Answer: Five
Notes too high or low for the staff go on short extra lines called ledger lines.
Checked against Wikipedia and courses.lumenlearning.com
What is the name for the interval from a note to the next note above it with the same letter name, such as C to C?
Answer: An octave
A note one octave higher vibrates at exactly twice the frequency of the lower one.
Checked against Wikipedia and milnepublishing.geneseo.edu
Which brass instrument changes pitch with a sliding tube instead of valves?
Answer: The trombone
Its name comes from the Italian for large trumpet.
Checked against Wikipedia and Dictionary.com
Which Norwegian band had a 1985 hit with Take On Me?
Answer: a-ha
Its music video mixed live action with animated pencil sketches.
Checked against Wikipedia and Rolling Stone
Which French electronic music duo was famous for performing in robot helmets?
Answer: Daft Punk
Their album Random Access Memories won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2014.
Checked against Wikipedia, billboard.com and grammy.com
Which member of the Beatles was the band's drummer from 1962 onward?
Answer: Ringo Starr
He replaced Pete Best, the group's previous drummer, in August 1962.
Checked against Wikipedia, The Guardian and time.com
Which British singer released the album 21 in 2011?
Answer: Adele
She named the album after her age while she was making it.
Checked against Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and The Guardian
Which reggae star led the band that released the album Exodus in 1977?
Answer: Bob Marley
Bob Marley and the Wailers recorded the album while based in London.
Checked against Wikipedia and Rolling Stone
Pop star Shakira, famous for hits such as Hips Don't Lie, comes from which country?
Answer: Colombia
She was born in the port city of Barranquilla.
Checked against Wikipedia and The Guardian
Which jazz trumpeter and singer was nicknamed Satchmo?
Answer: Louis Armstrong
He also helped make scat singing, using wordless syllables, popular in jazz.
Checked against Wikipedia, louisarmstronghouse.org and pbs.org
Berry Gordy founded the Motown record label in 1959 in which US city?
Answer: Detroit
The label's name blends motor and town, a nod to the city's car industry.
Checked against Wikipedia, time.com and Dictionary.com
Which singer named her 2014 album 1989 after the year she was born?
Answer: Taylor Swift
The album won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2016.
Checked against Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and grammy.com
How many beats are in each bar of a typical waltz?
Answer: Three
Waltzes are usually written in 3/4 time, with a strong accent on the first beat.
Checked against Wikipedia and ncstate.pressbooks.pub
How many different notes are in a chromatic scale within one octave?
Answer: 12
On a piano, that is every white and black key within the octave.
Checked against Wikipedia and iastate.pressbooks.pub
Which clef is also known as the G clef, because its curl circles the line for G?
Answer: The treble clef
In the same way, the bass clef is also called the F clef.
Checked against Wikipedia, courses.lumenlearning.com and viva.pressbooks.pub
In 4/4 time, which note value lasts a full four beats?
Answer: A whole note (semibreve)
A half note, called a minim in British English, lasts two beats.
Checked against Wikipedia, musictheory.pugetsound.edu and viva.pressbooks.pub
What is a large-scale piece for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra called?
Answer: A concerto
Classical concertos usually have three movements, often in a fast, slow, fast pattern.
Checked against Wikipedia and Classic FM
Which keyboard instrument did Bartolomeo Cristofori invent in Florence around 1700?
Answer: The piano
Its original Italian name meant a harpsichord that could play both soft and loud.
Checked against Wikipedia and metmuseum.org
Which composer wrote the 1816 comic opera The Barber of Seville?
Answer: Gioachino Rossini
He also wrote the opera William Tell (1829), with its famous galloping overture.
Checked against Wikipedia, World History Encyclopedia and Classic FM
Which French composer wrote the gentle piano piece Clair de lune?
Answer: Claude Debussy
It is the third movement of his Suite bergamasque.
Checked against Wikipedia and laphil.com
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, a 1787 serenade for strings, is the work of which composer?
Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Its German title means a little night music.
Checked against Wikipedia and laphil.com
The long-necked bouzouki is a traditional stringed instrument of which country?
Answer: Greece
Its sound became famous worldwide through the score of the 1964 film Zorba the Greek.
Checked against Wikipedia, irishtimes.com and variety.com
Which Icelandic singer released her solo album Debut in 1993?
Answer: Björk
She first became known abroad as a singer with the band the Sugarcubes.
Checked against Wikipedia, time.com and classicpopmag.com
What is the name of the Portuguese song style known for mournful songs of longing, sung with guitars?
Answer: Fado
UNESCO added fado to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
Checked against Wikipedia, UNESCO and lonelyplanet.com
Which English composer wrote the Pomp and Circumstance Marches and the Enigma Variations?
Answer: Edward Elgar
The trio tune of his first Pomp and Circumstance March is played at many graduation ceremonies.
Checked against Wikipedia, Classic FM, Classic FM and laphil.com
Which 1997 album of Cuban son music, produced by Ry Cooder, was named after an old members' club?
Answer: Buena Vista Social Club
It won the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Performance in 1998.
Checked against Wikipedia, pbs.org, grammy.com and The Guardian
Which American composer wrote Rhapsody in Blue in 1924?
Answer: George Gershwin
The piece opens with a famous rising clarinet glissando.
Checked against Wikipedia and indianapolissymphony.org
Which Nigerian singer won the 2021 Grammy for Best Global Music Album with Twice as Tall?
Answer: Burna Boy
Twice as Tall was released in August 2020.
Checked against Wikipedia, grammy.com and The Guardian
Which K-pop group's 2020 single Dynamite was its first single sung entirely in English?
Answer: BTS
Dynamite was also the group's first No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Checked against Wikipedia, The Guardian and edition.cnn.com
Which Indian composer won two Oscars for his work on the film Slumdog Millionaire?
Answer: A. R. Rahman
He won Best Original Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Academy Awards.
Checked against Wikipedia and thehindu.com
Which Indian playback singer, famous for decades of Bollywood songs, received the Bharat Ratna in 2001?
Answer: Lata Mangeshkar
Playback singers record the songs that film actors mime on screen.
Checked against Wikipedia, aljazeera.com and BBC
What is the name of the short-necked, fretless lute at the heart of Arabic classical music?
Answer: The oud
The European lute descends from it, and the word lute comes from its Arabic name, al-ud.
Checked against Wikipedia, metmuseum.org and Dictionary.com
The Aboriginal didgeridoo is traditionally made from a eucalyptus trunk hollowed out by which insects?
Answer: Termites
Skilled players use circular breathing to keep one unbroken drone going.
Checked against Wikipedia and phys.unsw.edu.au
Which New Zealand singer released her debut album Pure Heroine in 2013?
Answer: Lorde
Its single Royals won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
Checked against Wikipedia, grammy.com and billboard.com
Which Australian band had a 1983 US No. 1 hit with Down Under?
Answer: Men at Work
The band also won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1983.
Checked against Wikipedia, billboard.com and grammy.com
Which orchestral instrument has 47 strings and seven pedals in its concert form?
Answer: The harp
Each pedal changes the pitch of all strings of one note name at once, such as every C.
Checked against Wikipedia and philharmonia.co.uk
Which Austrian composer, often called the Father of the Symphony, wrote more than 100 of them?
Answer: Joseph Haydn
His Surprise Symphony, No. 94, has a sudden loud chord in its quiet slow movement.
Checked against Wikipedia, nac-cna.ca and laphil.com
What is the name of the Irish frame drum played with a small double-ended stick called a tipper?
Answer: The bodhrán
Players often press a hand against the inside of the skin to change its pitch.
Checked against Wikipedia, horniman.ac.uk and objectlessons.org
Which Argentine composer created nuevo tango, mixing tango with jazz and classical music?
Answer: Astor Piazzolla
His best-known pieces include Libertango, from 1974.
Checked against Wikipedia and Classic FM
Singer Cesária Évora, known as the Barefoot Diva, came from which island nation?
Answer: Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)
Morna, the song style she made famous, joined UNESCO's heritage list in 2019.
Checked against Wikipedia, aljazeera.com and UNESCO
What is the name of the long Japanese zither with 13 strings, played with finger picks?
Answer: The koto
Players tune each string by sliding a small movable bridge beneath it.
Checked against Wikipedia and kotobank.jp