This is a set of statements made by children in several written music exams:
Contralto is a low sort of music that only ladies sing
Probably the most marvelous fugue was the one between the Montagues and the Capulets
A harp is a nude piano
The main trouble with a French Horn is that it is too tangled up
An interval in music is the distance from one piano to the next
The correct way to find the key to a piece of music is to use a pitchfork
Agitato is a state of mind when one's finger slips in the middle of playing a piece
Refrain means don't do it. A refrain in music is the part you'd better not try to sing.
I know what a sextet is but I'd rather not say
Most authorities agree that music of antiquity was written long ago
My favorite composer was Opus
Agnus Dei was a woman composer famous for her church music
Henry Purcell was a well-known composer few people have ever heard of
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic.
The principal singer of nineteenth-century opera was called pre-Madonna
It is easy to teach anyone to play the maracas. Just grip the neck and shake him in rhythm.
Gregorian chant has no music, just singers singing the same lines.
Sherbet composed the Unfinished Symphony.
At one time singers had to use musicians to accompany them. Since synthesizers came along, singers can now play themselves.
All female parts were sung by castrati. We don't know exactly what they sounded like because there are no known descendants.
Some of the most famous music played by musicians are the Bronze Lullaby, Beethoven's Erotica, Tchaikovsky Cracknutter Suite and Gershwin's Rap City in Blue.
Music sung by two people at the same time is called a duel; if they sing without music it is called Acapulco.
A virtuoso is a musician with real high morals.
It is important to be able to reach the brakes on any piano.
Just about any animal skin can be stretched over a frame to make a pleasant sound once the animal is removed.
The most dangerous part about playing cymbals is near the nose.
When electric currents go through them, guitars start making sounds. So would anybody.
Caruso was an Italian. Then someone heard his voice and said he would go a long way. So that's why he came to America.
In the last scene of Pagliacci, Canio stabs Nedda who is the one he really loves. Pretty soon Silvio also gets stabbed, and they all live happily ever after.
These are stories and test questions accumulated by music teachers in the state of Missouri, circa 1989. Source: Missouri School Music Newsletter.
