Study Guide Answers
Printer–Friendly Version

Have you ever listened to Julie Andrews sing "Do-Re-Mi" in The Sound of Music and wonder where those syllables originated? Test your knowledge of the origin of musical notation with this quiz. All of the answers can be found in the feature The Origin of Musical Notation.

Questions | Answers

1. Sing-A-Long Sound of Music is based on the classic film that was nicknamed The Sound of Money due to its record-breaking run for 20th Century Fox.
2. True: Sing-A-Long Sound of Music has been a smash hit at the Prince Charles Cinema in London since last summer.
3. The Sound of Music originally was a stage play based on a German film, Die Trapp–Familie, that told the true-life story of the von Trapps.
4. The well-known scene in The Sound of Music, where Maria and the children sing "Do-Re-Mi" and dance around the statue of Pegasus, the winged horse, takes place in the Mirabell Gardens.
5. The lyrics to "Do-Re-Mi" have their roots in medieval choral music.
6. The Italian monk named Guido d'Arezzo (990-1050) created the System of Solmisation using the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la as names for the six tones C to A.
7. The seven syllables do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti sound remarkably similar to the Italian pronunciation of the same words.
8. The words to describe tempo are traditionally in the Italian language.
9. False: The practice of specifying a particular tempo evolved during the Renaissance.
10. Tempo markings are found above the score at the beginning of a composition, or above the score where a change is specified.
11. Italian remains the universal musical language for tempo and dynamics.
12. Adagio in Italian means faster than largo, but still slow and peaceful or thoughtful, sometimes sad.
13. Prestissimo in Italian means as fast as possible.
14. Guido d'Arezzo created a system of musical notation using a 4-line staff, which has evolved into the system used today.
15. The Italian monk was also author of a major theoretical work titled Micrologus.
16. Guido created a method to teach the musical syllables by pointing to sections of the hand.
17. Different pitches were assigned to the knuckles and curves in the hand and Guide pointed to the spot and had singers sing that note.
18. In illustrations of the Guidonian Hand each Latin symbol represents a different pitch.
19. Guido d'Arezzo gave a demonstration of his teaching techniques to Pope John XIX in 1028.
20. Doe, a deer, a female deer are the words in the first line of "Do-Re-Mi."