Q 01/05

How many keys does a piano have?

A) 22

B) 44

C) 88

D) 176

Answer · why

C) 88

88, made up of 52 white keys and 36 black ones. Pressing any of them flicks a felt-covered hammer against the strings inside, so a piano is really a b...

Q 02/05

How many strings does a normal guitar have?

A) Three

B) Six

C) Twelve

D) Twenty-four

Answer · why

B) Six

Six. For centuries guitars had only four or five pairs of strings; the sixth was added in the late 1700s, around the time the pairs gave way to single...

Q 03/05

Which is the smallest and highest-sounding instrument in the orchestra's string family?

A) The violin

B) The viola

C) The cello

D) The harp

Answer · why

A) The violin

The violin. Folk players call it a fiddle, yet it is usually the very same instrument: only the style of music changes the name.

Q 04/05

Which is the biggest and lowest-sounding string instrument in an orchestra?

A) The mandolin

B) The double bass

C) The viola

D) The cello

Answer · why

B) The double bass

The double bass. Orchestra players mostly stroke its thick strings with a bow, but in a jazz band it is almost always plucked with the fingers instead...

Q 05/05

Which drum in a drum kit does the drummer play with a foot pedal?

A) The snare drum

B) The bass drum

C) The tom-tom

D) The bongos

Answer · why

B) The bass drum

The bass drum. Stepping on the pedal swings a stick into the big drum on the floor, so the drummer's hands stay free to play everything else.