I85PREP
⌘ K
VCE Music Composition study materials
VCE Music Composition study resources

VCE Music Composition practice questions

One question at a time. Build your VCE Music Composition understanding.

First 50 of 200 questions. Each one lists the choices, the correct answer, and an explanation. The checker at the top of this page saves progress in this browser when it is available.

Continue in the practice tool above to load more questions, 50 at a time.

Question 1Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

In common-practice harmony, which chord symbol represents a first-inversion triad?

  1. First inversion Correct answer.
  2. Third inversion
  3. Root position
  4. Second inversion

Explanation

Inversion is determined by which chord member lies in the bass. A first-inversion triad places the third of the chord in the lowest voice and is labelled with the figure 6. Root position has the root in the bass and second inversion places the fifth in the bass.

Question 2Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which cadence moves from a dominant chord to a tonic chord with the tonic note in the highest voice of the final chord?

  1. Plagal cadence
  2. Imperfect authentic cadence
  3. Deceptive cadence
  4. Perfect authentic cadence Correct answer.

Explanation

A perfect authentic cadence requires V to I, both chords in root position, and the tonic melody note in the soprano of the final chord. If the soprano ends on the third or fifth, the cadence is imperfect authentic. Plagal and deceptive cadences involve different chord successions.

Question 3Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a melody using only the notes of a major scale but begins and ends phrases on the second degree. Which term best describes this melodic emphasis?

  1. Tonal centre on the supertonic Correct answer.
  2. Chromaticism
  3. Modal mixture
  4. Modulation

Explanation

When a melody stays within one scale but treats a degree other than the tonic as its point of rest, the tonal centre shifts to that degree. Here the second scale degree, the supertonic, becomes the resting pitch. This is not mixture or modulation because no new pitch collection or borrowed chords are introduced.

Question 4Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which time signature is a compound duple metre?

  1. 3/8
  2. 6/8 Correct answer.
  3. 2/4
  4. 5/4

Explanation

Compound metres divide each beat into three equal parts, and duple means two beats per bar. Six eighth notes grouped as two beats of three give compound duple. Simple metres divide each beat into two.

Question 5Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A section of music repeats a short rhythmic and melodic idea at successively higher pitch levels. Which compositional device is being used?

  1. Augmentation
  2. Retrograde
  3. Sequence Correct answer.
  4. Inversion

Explanation

A sequence restates a motive at a different pitch level, either higher or lower, while keeping its shape. Rising restatements of the same idea therefore form an ascending sequence. The other devices alter the interval direction, duration, or order of the motive rather than its pitch level.

Question 6Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which texture describes a single melodic line performed by several voices or instruments at the same pitch or octave?

  1. Monophony Correct answer.
  2. Homophony
  3. Polyphony
  4. Heterophony

Explanation

Monophony consists of one melodic line with no independent accompaniment, even if several performers double it in unison or octaves. Homophony adds chordal accompaniment, polyphony combines independent lines, and heterophony varies a single line simultaneously.

Question 7Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

In a minor key, which scale form raises the sixth and seventh degrees ascending and lowers them descending?

  1. Melodic minor Correct answer.
  2. Dorian mode
  3. Harmonic minor
  4. Natural minor

Explanation

The melodic minor scale alters degrees six and seven when ascending to create a smooth approach to the tonic, then reverts to the natural minor form when descending. The harmonic minor raises only the seventh in both directions.

Question 8Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which term describes the process of varying a musical idea through changes to its rhythm, intervals, or instrumentation while keeping it recognisable?

  1. Development Correct answer.
  2. Pedal point
  3. Ostinato
  4. Cadence

Explanation

Development takes a motif or theme and transforms it through fragmentation, reharmonisation, rhythmic change, or reorchestration while retaining its identity. A cadence closes a phrase, an ostinato repeats a fixed figure, and a pedal point sustains one note.

Question 9Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A passage alternates between a tonic chord and a chord built on the lowered seventh degree of the major scale. Which harmonic style does this most strongly suggest?

  1. Baroque counterpoint
  2. Second Viennese School atonality
  3. Blues-influenced harmony Correct answer.
  4. Renaissance modal polyphony

Explanation

The alternation of I and a major triad on the lowered seventh degree is a hallmark of blues and rock harmony, where the subtonic replaces the leading tone. This progression avoids functional dominant-to-tonic motion typical of common-practice tonal music.

Question 10Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer harmonises a melody note with a chord whose root is a third below that note, creating a bass line that moves in parallel tenths with the melody. Which technique is being used?

  1. Tenths harmonisation Correct answer.
  2. Descending-fifths sequence
  3. Suspension
  4. Pedal harmony

Explanation

Harmonising a melody with chords a third below produces parallel sixths or tenths between the outer voices, a common texture in keyboard and popular styles. The interval of a tenth spans an octave plus a third, giving a full sonority. Sequences and suspensions involve different procedures.

Question 11Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which rhythmic device delays an expected strong beat by shifting the accent to a weak beat?

  1. Anacrusis
  2. Hemiola
  3. Syncopation Correct answer.
  4. Rubato

Explanation

Syncopation places emphasis on a normally unaccented beat or between beats, disrupting the expected metric stress. Hemiola creates a temporary two-against-three feel, rubato is expressive tempo flexibility, and an anacrusis is an upbeat before the first full bar.

Question 12Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants a smooth modulation from C major to G major within four bars. Which pivot chord works diatonically in both keys?

  1. F sharp diminished triad
  2. G major triad
  3. A minor triad Correct answer.
  4. C major triad

Explanation

A pivot chord must belong to both the old and new key. A minor is vi in C major and ii in G major, so it can serve as a common chord before the new dominant confirms G major. The other chords are not diatonic to both keys.

Question 13Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which cadence is created by moving from the tonic chord to the subdominant chord at the end of a phrase in a hymn?

  1. Deceptive cadence
  2. Half cadence
  3. Plagal cadence Correct answer.
  4. Authentic cadence

Explanation

A plagal cadence moves from I to IV, often called the amen cadence because of its use at the end of hymns. An authentic cadence moves V to I, a half cadence pauses on V, and a deceptive cadence moves V to vi.

Question 14Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A string quartet passage gives the melody to the first violin while the lower three instruments play sustained chords. Which texture is present?

  1. Homophonic Correct answer.
  2. Heterophonic
  3. Contrapuntal
  4. Monophonic

Explanation

A melody supported by chordal accompaniment that moves largely together is homophonic. The lower instruments supply harmony rather than independent melodic lines. Contrapuntal texture would require each part to carry an independent melody.

Question 15Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which technique halves the note values of a theme so that it moves twice as fast?

  1. Extension
  2. Augmentation
  3. Diminution Correct answer.
  4. Fragmentation

Explanation

Diminution shortens the rhythmic values of a theme, so the melody proceeds more quickly. Augmentation is the opposite process, lengthening values. Fragmentation isolates short motives, and extension adds new material to lengthen a phrase.

Question 16Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a chord progression using the notes of the whole-tone scale. Which harmonic quality results?

  1. Absence of a leading tone and weakened tonality Correct answer.
  2. Increased use of the harmonic minor scale
  3. Strong dominant-to-tonic resolution
  4. Clear perfect cadences in every key

Explanation

The whole-tone scale divides the octave into equal whole steps, so it contains no semitone and therefore no leading tone. Without a leading tone, functional dominant resolution is weakened and the sense of key becomes ambiguous. This is why whole-tone harmony often sounds impressionistic.

Question 17Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

In a 12-bar blues progression, which chord typically appears in bars 9 and 10?

  1. Submediant
  2. Dominant Correct answer.
  3. Subdominant
  4. Tonic

Explanation

The standard 12-bar blues uses I in bars 1 to 4, IV in bars 5 and 6, I in bars 7 and 8, V in bars 9 and 10, then IV and I to finish. The dominant chord therefore occupies bars 9 and 10 before the progression returns to the tonic.

Question 18Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A melody built on the Dorian mode differs from the natural minor scale in which way?

  1. It has a lowered second degree
  2. It has a raised seventh degree
  3. It has a raised sixth degree Correct answer.
  4. It has a lowered fifth degree

Explanation

Dorian is the second mode of the major scale and resembles natural minor but with a raised sixth degree. This raised sixth gives Dorian its characteristic bright colour. The seventh degree remains lowered, as in natural minor.

Question 19Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer repeats a two-bar bass figure unchanged for thirty bars while the melody and harmony change above it. Which term best describes this bass figure?

  1. Anticipation
  2. Sequence
  3. Suspension
  4. Ostinato Correct answer.

Explanation

An ostinato is a short figure repeated persistently, often in the bass, while other elements change. It provides rhythmic and harmonic grounding. A sequence transposes a figure, a suspension holds a note over changing harmony, and an anticipation sounds a note before its chord.

Question 20Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which harmonic device involves moving to a key a minor third above the tonic while retaining the same tonic chord as a pivot?

  1. Direct modulation
  2. Phrase modulation
  3. Common-chord modulation
  4. Chromatic mediant relationship Correct answer.

Explanation

A chromatic mediant relationship connects two keys whose tonics are a third apart and whose triads share a common tone but differ in quality or key membership. Because the tonic triad of the old key is retained as a chord in the new key, the shift is smooth yet colourful. Common-chord modulation depends on a chord diatonic to both keys.

Question 21Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants to write a canon at the fifth. Which procedure must the second voice follow?

  1. Sustain the tonic throughout
  2. Play the first voice in retrograde
  3. Imitate the first voice a perfect fifth higher after a fixed time delay Correct answer.
  4. Imitate the first voice a major third lower at the same time

Explanation

A canon at the fifth requires the answering voice to imitate the leader at the interval of a perfect fifth, entering after a set duration. The interval and the time delay define the canon. Imitation at other intervals or with altered direction produces a different type of canon.

Question 22Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

In a passage, the bass holds a tonic pedal for eight bars while the upper voices move through chords including the subdominant and dominant sevenths. What is the harmonic effect?

  1. A shift to compound metre
  2. A modulation to the subdominant
  3. Increased tension and harmonic colour over a stable foundation Correct answer.
  4. A return to monophonic texture

Explanation

A pedal point sustains one note, usually the tonic or dominant, while the harmonies above change. The static bass anchors the passage while dissonances and chromatic chords create tension and colour that resolve when the pedal ends. It does not by itself change the key or metre.

Question 23Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer sets a poem using a through-composed song form. Which structural feature distinguishes it from strophic form?

  1. One melody repeats for every stanza
  2. Every stanza is set to new music without large-scale repetition Correct answer.
  3. The form is determined by a dance rhythm
  4. The music alternates a refrain with verses

Explanation

Through-composed form provides new music for each stanza, following the changing meaning of the text rather than repeating a fixed melody. Strophic form repeats one melody for every stanza, and refrain forms alternate a repeated chorus with verses.

Question 24Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a chord built on the second degree of the harmonic minor scale. Which triad quality results?

  1. Minor
  2. Diminished Correct answer.
  3. Augmented
  4. Major

Explanation

In harmonic minor the raised seventh creates a semitone between degrees six and seven and an augmented second between six and seven in the scale. The triad on the second degree consists of a minor third and a diminished fifth above its root, producing a diminished triad. This diminished ii chord is characteristic of harmonic minor harmony.

Question 25Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A passage alternates bars of 3/4 and 2/4 written without changing the time signature, producing irregular accents. Which term best describes this effect?

  1. Additive rhythm Correct answer.
  2. Polymetre
  3. Changing metre
  4. Cross-rhythm

Explanation

Additive rhythm builds bars from unequal groupings of beats, such as three plus two, often notated within a single changing bar rather than by switching time signatures. Polymetre layers different metres simultaneously, and changing metre alters the time signature between bars.

Question 26Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a melody that uses only the seven notes of a major scale but begins and ends on the second degree, treating that note as the home pitch. Which term best describes the resulting tonal organisation?

  1. A diatonic mode Correct answer.
  2. A whole-tone scale
  3. A pentatonic scale
  4. A chromatic scale

Explanation

A mode is created when the same set of diatonic pitches is organised around a different tonic, so starting and ending on the second degree of a major scale produces the Dorian mode. The pitch material stays diatonic while the perceived home note shifts.

Question 27Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants a chord progression that sounds static and floating, with no strong sense of a tonic. Which harmonic resource most directly produces this effect?

  1. Chords built from the major scale
  2. Chords built from the harmonic minor scale
  3. Chords built from the melodic minor scale
  4. Chords built from the whole-tone scale Correct answer.

Explanation

The whole-tone scale divides the octave into six equal whole steps, so every chord built from it has the same intervallic shape and no pitch can function as a clear tonic. This symmetry removes the strong dominant-to-tonic pull that tonal scales provide.

Question 28Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which term describes a melodic line that moves mostly by step with only occasional leaps, producing a smooth contour?

  1. Oblique motion
  2. Contrary motion
  3. Disjunct motion
  4. Conjunct motion Correct answer.

Explanation

Conjunct motion means successive notes move by step, usually a tone or semitone, which gives the line a smooth shape. Leaps belong to disjunct motion, and contrary and oblique describe relationships between two simultaneous voices rather than a single line.

Question 29Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants a chord that creates strong tension and expects to resolve to the tonic. Which chord quality built on the dominant degree of a major key serves this function?

  1. A major triad Correct answer.
  2. An augmented triad
  3. A diminished triad
  4. A minor triad

Explanation

In a major key the chord on the fifth degree is a major triad containing the leading tone, which pulls strongly upward to the tonic. This dominant function is what makes the major triad on the fifth degree the standard tension chord.

Question 30Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which term describes the speed of the underlying pulse in a piece of music?

  1. Dynamics
  2. Timbre
  3. Tempo Correct answer.
  4. Articulation

Explanation

Tempo is the rate of the beat and is usually shown by a metronome mark or an Italian term such as allegro or adagio. Dynamics concern loudness, articulation concerns how notes are attacked, and timbre concerns tone colour.

Question 31Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer sets a text so that each syllable is sung on a single note with little or no melodic decoration. Which term describes this text setting?

  1. Melismatic
  2. Neumatic
  3. Through-composed
  4. Syllabic Correct answer.

Explanation

Syllabic setting gives one note per syllable of text, keeping the words clear and easy to follow. Melismatic setting stretches a single syllable over many notes, and neumatic setting uses a small group of notes per syllable.

Question 32Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

Which instrument family traditionally forms the core of the orchestra's bass and harmonic foundation through bowed strings?

  1. The percussion
  2. The strings Correct answer.
  3. The brass
  4. The woodwinds

Explanation

The string section, including violins, violas, cellos and double basses, is the largest orchestral family and traditionally carries melody, harmony and bass. Its sustained tone and wide range make it the ensemble's foundation.

Question 33Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a melody in 4/4 that consistently accents the second and fourth beats while the bass accents the first and third. Which effect results?

  1. Syncopation Correct answer.
  2. Hemiola
  3. Augmentation
  4. Diminution

Explanation

Syncopation occurs when accents fall on weak beats or between beats, contradicting the expected metric stress. Here the melody's accents on beats two and four clash with the bass accents on one and three, producing syncopated tension.

Question 34Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a four-bar phrase that ends on the dominant chord and feels incomplete, inviting a continuation. Which term describes this phrase ending?

  1. A half cadence Correct answer.
  2. A perfect cadence
  3. A deceptive cadence
  4. A plagal cadence

Explanation

A half cadence ends on the dominant chord and leaves the phrase harmonically open, so it sounds unfinished and calls for a response. The other cadences named all end on the tonic chord in some form.

Question 35Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a theme whose intervals are inverted, so a rising fifth becomes a falling fifth. Which variation technique is being used?

  1. Fragmentation
  2. Augmentation
  3. Retrograde
  4. Melodic inversion Correct answer.

Explanation

Melodic inversion turns each interval upside down, so upward motion becomes downward motion of the same size. Retrograde reverses the order of notes rather than their direction, and augmentation and fragmentation alter rhythm.

Question 36Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer builds a chord progression in which each chord root falls by a fifth, producing the sequence C, F, B-flat, E-flat. Which harmonic principle does this progression illustrate?

  1. Circle-of-fifths root motion Correct answer.
  2. Chromatic mediant relationships
  3. Parallel motion
  4. Pedal point

Explanation

Roots moving down by a perfect fifth at each step trace the circle of fifths, a fundamental organising principle of tonal harmony. The sequence C to F to B-flat to E-flat follows this pattern exactly.

Question 37Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants to modulate from C major to A minor using a pivot chord that is diatonic in both keys. Which chord works?

  1. C major
  2. F minor
  3. A minor Correct answer.
  4. E major

Explanation

A minor is the submediant of C major and the tonic of A minor, so it belongs to both keys and can pivot smoothly. C major is the tonic of the first key but is the mediant of A minor, which is a weaker pivot, and E major and F minor are not diatonic in both keys.

Question 38Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a passage in which two independent melodies are played simultaneously, each with its own rhythm and contour. Which texture is present?

  1. Polyphony Correct answer.
  2. Heterophony
  3. Homophony
  4. Monophony

Explanation

Polyphony combines two or more independent melodic lines that are performed at the same time, each retaining its own identity. Homophony would give one melody with chordal accompaniment, and monophony would have only a single line.

Question 39Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer harmonises a melody using chords whose roots lie a third apart and whose qualities differ, such as moving from C major to E-flat major. Which harmonic device is being used?

  1. Augmented sixth
  2. Secondary dominant
  3. Chromatic mediant Correct answer.
  4. Neapolitan sixth

Explanation

A chromatic mediant is a chord whose root lies a third away from the previous chord and whose quality differs, creating a striking colour shift without functional preparation. Secondary dominants, Neapolitan sixths and augmented sixths all have specific functional roles that this progression lacks.

Question 40Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a melody in 6/8 that is later restated with each note value halved, so the melody moves twice as fast. Which technique is used in the restatement?

  1. Diminution Correct answer.
  2. Retrograde
  3. Inversion
  4. Augmentation

Explanation

Diminution reduces the rhythmic values of a theme, typically by half, so the melody unfolds more quickly while keeping its pitch content. Augmentation does the opposite, and retrograde and inversion change order or direction rather than duration.

Question 41Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a bass line that repeats a short two-bar figure throughout a section while the melody and chords above it change. Which term describes this bass pattern?

  1. Sequence
  2. Canon
  3. Ostinato Correct answer.
  4. Pedal point

Explanation

An ostinato is a short rhythmic or melodic figure repeated persistently while other elements change. A pedal point is a single sustained note rather than a moving repeated figure, and a sequence repeats a melodic pattern at different pitch levels.

Question 42Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a chord progression in a minor key using the chords i, iv and V, with the V chord containing a raised leading tone. Which scale supplies this harmonic material?

  1. Dorian mode
  2. Harmonic minor Correct answer.
  3. Natural minor
  4. Phrygian mode

Explanation

The harmonic minor scale raises the seventh degree, which creates the leading tone needed for a major dominant chord in minor keys. Natural minor, Dorian and Phrygian all have a lowered seventh and therefore produce a minor dominant.

Question 43Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a passage for choir in which all voices sing the same rhythm and text together, moving chord to chord. Which term best describes this texture?

  1. Homorhythmic homophony Correct answer.
  2. Imitative polyphony
  3. Monody
  4. Heterophony

Explanation

Homorhythmic homophony occurs when all voices move in the same rhythm, producing block chords that declaim the text together. Imitative polyphony would stagger the entries, monody is a solo line with accompaniment, and heterophony is simultaneous variation of one line.

Question 44Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants to write a passage in which the metre shifts between groups of three and groups of two beats while the bar length stays constant. Which time signature supports this?

  1. 4/4
  2. 6/8 Correct answer.
  3. 2/2
  4. 3/4

Explanation

6/8 contains six eighth notes that can be grouped as two groups of three or three groups of two, allowing the felt metre to shift while the bar remains the same length. The other signatures have fixed groupings that do not permit this ambiguity.

Question 45Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer needs a chord that resolves outward by semitone to the dominant, using the lowered sixth degree and the raised fourth degree of the key. Which chord type provides this?

  1. A diminished seventh chord
  2. A secondary dominant chord
  3. A Neapolitan sixth chord
  4. An augmented sixth chord Correct answer.

Explanation

An augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth between the lowered sixth degree and the raised fourth degree, and these two notes resolve outward by semitone to the dominant. Diminished sevenths, Neapolitan sixths and secondary dominants resolve by different voice-leading patterns.

Question 46Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a fugue subject and then presents it in a second voice starting a perfect fifth higher while the first voice continues with counterpoint. Which term describes this second entry?

  1. The countersubject
  2. The episode
  3. The exposition
  4. The answer Correct answer.

Explanation

In fugal writing the second entry, typically at the interval of a fifth above or a fourth below, is called the answer. The countersubject is the new material accompanying the subject, episodes are connective passages, and the exposition is the opening section containing all the entries.

Question 47Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a chord progression in which a dominant seventh chord resolves to a chord a tritone away from its expected tonic, producing a sudden harmonic shift. Which technique is being used?

  1. Tritone substitution Correct answer.
  2. Pedal harmony
  3. Planing
  4. Modal mixture

Explanation

Tritone substitution replaces an expected dominant chord with another dominant seventh chord whose root lies a tritone away, since both chords share the same tritone and therefore similar resolution tendencies. Modal mixture borrows chords from the parallel mode, and planing moves a chord shape in parallel.

Question 48Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a passage using a twelve-tone row in which the row is presented upside down and then backwards. Which transformation produces this form?

  1. Inversion
  2. Retrograde
  3. Prime form
  4. Retrograde inversion Correct answer.

Explanation

Retrograde inversion combines two operations, inverting the intervals of the row and then reversing their order. Retrograde alone reverses the order without inverting, and inversion alone turns the intervals upside down without reversing.

Question 49Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer writes a passage in which a melody is accompanied by chords that change on each beat while the bass sustains a single note for many bars. Which harmonic device is present in the bass?

  1. A pedal point Correct answer.
  2. A sequence
  3. A cadenza
  4. An ostinato

Explanation

A pedal point is a sustained note held through changing harmony, usually in the bass, creating tension and release as the upper chords move. An ostinato repeats a figure rather than sustaining one note, and a sequence restates a motif at different pitch levels.

Question 50Music Style and Composition (domain structure not stated in source; placeholder)

A composer wants a chord progression that avoids a clear tonal centre by using chords whose roots are related by major thirds, such as C major, E major and A-flat major. Which harmonic concept best describes this progression?

  1. Circle-of-fifths progression
  2. Hexatonic pole relationships Correct answer.
  3. Modal cadence
  4. Functional tonality

Explanation

Chords related by major thirds, such as C, E and A-flat, divide the octave symmetrically and are often described as hexatonic pole relationships because they belong to the same hexatonic collection. This symmetry weakens tonal centring, unlike functional tonality or circle-of-fifths motion.