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Sachsen-Anhalt Abitur Music study materials
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Sachsen-Anhalt Abitur Music practice questions

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Question 1Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

In the C major scale, what is the interval from C up to E?

  1. Major third (große Terz) Correct answer.
  2. Minor third (kleine Terz)
  3. Perfect fourth (reine Quarte)
  4. Major second (große Sekunde)

Explanation

C up to E spans four semitones (C–C#–D–D#–E) and three letter names (C, D, E). Four semitones across three letter names is by definition a major third.

Question 2Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

What is the interval from C up to G?

  1. Perfect fourth (reine Quarte)
  2. Perfect fifth (reine Quinte) Correct answer.
  3. Major sixth (große Sexte)
  4. Augmented fifth (übermäßige Quinte)

Explanation

C up to G covers five letter names (C, D, E, F, G) and seven semitones, which is a perfect fifth - the interval that also defines the circle of fifths and the frame of every triad.

Question 3Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

How many semitones does a perfect octave contain?

  1. Seven
  2. Eight
  3. Twelve Correct answer.
  4. Thirteen

Explanation

The Western chromatic system divides the octave into twelve equal semitones. This twelve-tone chromatic total is also the basis of the twelve-tone row in dodecaphony.

Question 4Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which three notes form a C major triad (C-Dur-Dreiklang) in root position?

  1. C – E flat – G
  2. C – E – G sharp
  3. C – F – A
  4. C – E – G Correct answer.

Explanation

A major triad is built from a major third plus a minor third above it: C to E is a major third, E to G is a minor third, and C to G is a perfect fifth.

Question 5Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

A minor triad is built from which intervals above its root?

  1. A minor third and a perfect fifth Correct answer.
  2. A major third and a perfect fifth
  3. A minor third and a diminished fifth
  4. A major third and an augmented fifth

Explanation

The minor triad keeps the perfect fifth of the major triad but lowers the third by a semitone, giving root + minor third + perfect fifth (e.g. A – C – E).

Question 6Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which major key has exactly one sharp (F sharp) in its key signature?

  1. D major
  2. F major
  3. G major Correct answer.
  4. C major

Explanation

Moving one step clockwise on the circle of fifths from C major gives G major, which requires F sharp so that the seventh degree stays a leading note a semitone below the tonic.

Question 7Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

A key signature of three flats (B flat, E flat, A flat) belongs to E flat major and to which relative minor key?

  1. A minor
  2. C minor Correct answer.
  3. G minor
  4. F minor

Explanation

The relative minor lies a minor third below the major tonic and shares its key signature. A minor third below E flat is C, so C minor carries the same three flats.

Question 8Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

In C major, which succession of chords realises the full classical cadence Tonika – Subdominante – Dominante – Tonika (T–S–D–T)?

  1. C – G – F – C
  2. C – A minor – D minor – C
  3. C – F – G – C Correct answer.
  4. C – D – G – C

Explanation

In C major the tonic is C, the subdominant is F (fourth degree) and the dominant is G (fifth degree). T–S–D–T therefore reads C – F – G – C, the standard cadence pattern used in Liedbegleitung.

Question 9Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which chord progression forms a plagal cadence (the 'Amen' cadence)?

  1. Subdominant to tonic (IV–I) Correct answer.
  2. Dominant to tonic (V–I)
  3. Dominant to submediant (V–vi)
  4. Supertonic to dominant (ii–V)

Explanation

The plagal cadence moves from the subdominant straight to the tonic (IV–I). It is nicknamed the 'Amen' cadence because of its long use at the end of hymns and chorales.

Question 10Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

In C major, a Trugschluss (deceptive cadence) occurs when the dominant G major resolves to which chord?

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

Explanation

In a Trugschluss the ear expects the tonic but the dominant resolves to the tonic parallel - in C major that is A minor (the sixth degree). Two of the three notes of C major (C and E) are still present, which is why the substitution sounds like a near miss rather than a wrong turn.

Question 11Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which four notes make up the dominant seventh chord G7?

  1. G – B – D – F sharp
  2. G – B – D – F Correct answer.
  3. G – B flat – D – F
  4. G – B – D sharp – F

Explanation

A dominant seventh chord is a major triad plus a minor seventh above the root. G major is G – B – D, and the minor seventh above G is F natural, giving G – B – D – F. Its tritone B–F is what pulls the chord towards C major.

Question 12Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

What distinguishes the harmonic minor scale from the natural minor scale?

  1. The sixth degree is raised by a semitone
  2. The third degree is raised by a semitone
  3. The second degree is lowered by a semitone
  4. The seventh degree is raised by a semitone Correct answer.

Explanation

Harmonic minor raises the seventh degree so that a genuine leading note appears a semitone below the tonic (in A minor: G sharp). This turns the dominant into a major triad and makes a strong V–i cadence possible; the by-product is the augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees.

Question 13Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

In 6/8 time, how many eighth notes fill one complete bar?

  1. Three
  2. Six Correct answer.
  3. Eight
  4. Twelve

Explanation

In a simple time signature the upper number gives the quantity of beat units and the lower number names the unit. 6/8 therefore means six eighth notes per bar, normally felt as two groups of three.

Question 14Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

How many quarter-note beats does a dotted half note last in 4/4 time?

  1. Two
  2. Two and a half
  3. Three Correct answer.
  4. Four

Explanation

A dot adds half of the note's own value. A half note is worth two quarter-note beats, half of that is one beat, so the dotted half note lasts three beats - three quarters of a 4/4 bar.

Question 15Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

A chord contains the notes C, E and G, but E is the lowest sounding note. What is this called?

  1. C major in root position (Grundstellung)
  2. C major in first inversion (Sextakkord) Correct answer.
  3. C major in second inversion (Quartsextakkord)
  4. An E minor chord

Explanation

When the third of a triad is in the bass the chord is in first inversion. Measured from the bass note E, the other notes lie a third (G) and a sixth (C) away, which is why the German term is Sextakkord.

Question 16Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which four notes does the chord symbol Am7 stand for?

  1. A – C sharp – E – G
  2. A – C – E – G sharp
  3. A – C – E – G Correct answer.
  4. A – C – E flat – G

Explanation

Am7 means an A minor triad (A – C – E) with a minor seventh added above the root. The minor seventh above A is G natural, giving A – C – E – G. This chord is the standard 'ii7' or 'vi7' sound of pop and jazz lead sheets.

Question 17Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

A power chord on the electric guitar consists of which notes?

  1. Root and perfect fifth, often with the octave added, but no third Correct answer.
  2. Root, major third and perfect fifth
  3. Root, minor third and perfect fifth
  4. Root, perfect fourth and minor seventh

Explanation

A power chord (notated e.g. E5) deliberately leaves out the third. Because the third decides between major and minor, omitting it makes the chord modally neutral and keeps it clean under heavy distortion, which is why it dominates rock and metal riffs.

Question 18Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which note is enharmonically equivalent to F sharp?

  1. G natural
  2. G flat Correct answer.
  3. F natural
  4. E sharp

Explanation

Enharmonic equivalents sound the same but are spelled differently. F sharp (F raised a semitone) and G flat (G lowered a semitone) are the same key on the piano; the choice of spelling depends on the harmonic context and key signature.

Question 19Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which sharps appear in the key signature of D major?

  1. F sharp only
  2. F sharp and G sharp
  3. F sharp and C sharp Correct answer.
  4. F sharp, C sharp and G sharp

Explanation

Sharps are added in the fixed circle-of-fifths order F, C, G, D, A, E, B. D major sits two steps clockwise from C major and therefore takes the first two sharps: F sharp and C sharp.

Question 20Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

When a major third is inverted, which interval results?

  1. A minor sixth Correct answer.
  2. A major sixth
  3. A minor third
  4. A perfect fifth

Explanation

Inversion moves the lower note up an octave. The interval numbers always add up to nine (3 + 6 = 9) and the quality flips: major becomes minor. A major third therefore inverts to a minor sixth - C up to E becomes E up to C.

Question 21Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Between which pair of notes does the only tritone of the C major scale occur?

  1. C and G
  2. E and B
  3. B and F sharp
  4. F and B Correct answer.

Explanation

F up to B spans six semitones (F–F#–G–G#–A–A#–B) across four letter names, an augmented fourth - the tritone once nicknamed 'diabolus in musica'. It is exactly this interval inside the dominant seventh G7 (B and F) that gives the dominant its urge to resolve.

Question 22Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Playing only the white keys of the piano from D up to the next D produces which church mode?

  1. Dorian Correct answer.
  2. Phrygian
  3. Lydian
  4. Mixolydian

Explanation

The white-key scale from D to D is the Dorian mode. Its distinguishing feature against natural minor is the raised sixth degree (B natural instead of B flat), which gives Dorian its characteristic bright-minor colour, widely reused in folk music, jazz and modal rock.

Question 23Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which composer was born in Halle an der Saale in 1685, later settled in London and wrote the oratorio Messiah?

  1. Johann Sebastian Bach
  2. Georg Friedrich Händel Correct answer.
  3. Georg Philipp Telemann
  4. Heinrich Schütz

Explanation

Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, today in Saxony-Anhalt, in 1685. After years in Italy he made his career in London, where he became the leading composer of Italian opera and later of the English oratorio, including Messiah.

Question 24Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Johann Sebastian Bach served as Kapellmeister at the court of Anhalt-Köthen, in today's Saxony-Anhalt, from 1717 to 1723. Which body of works is most closely associated with those years?

  1. The St Matthew Passion
  2. The Mass in B minor
  3. The Brandenburg Concertos Correct answer.
  4. The Art of Fugue

Explanation

Köthen was a Calvinist court with little demand for elaborate church music, so Bach concentrated on instrumental works. The set of six concertos dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721 - the Brandenburg Concertos - belongs to exactly this period.

Question 25Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which composer was born in Magdeburg in 1681 and became one of the most prolific composers of the German Baroque?

  1. Georg Philipp Telemann Correct answer.
  2. Georg Friedrich Händel
  3. Johann Sebastian Bach
  4. Samuel Scheidt

Explanation

Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg in 1681. Largely self-taught, he became music director of the five main churches of Hamburg and left an output so large that it is still not completely catalogued.

Question 26Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Samuel Scheidt (1587–1654), organist in Halle, published his Tabulatura nova in 1624. What made this collection significant?

  1. It was the first printed collection of Italian madrigals in Germany
  2. It contained keyboard music printed on staves instead of the older German organ tablature Correct answer.
  3. It was the first collection of solo violin sonatas with basso continuo
  4. It introduced lute songs with tablature accompaniment to central Germany

Explanation

The word 'nova' in the title refers to the notation: Scheidt printed his organ and keyboard music in open score on staves, in the Italian and English manner, rather than in the letter-based German organ tablature then customary. It is a landmark of the north and central German organ tradition.

Question 27Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which chronological order of European music-history periods is correct?

  1. Middle Ages – Baroque – Renaissance – Classical – Romantic
  2. Renaissance – Middle Ages – Classical – Baroque – Romantic
  3. Middle Ages – Renaissance – Baroque – Classical – Romantic Correct answer.
  4. Baroque – Middle Ages – Renaissance – Romantic – Classical

Explanation

The conventional sequence is Middle Ages (to around 1400), Renaissance (about 1400–1600), Baroque (about 1600–1750), Classical (about 1750–1820) and Romantic (the 19th century), followed by the Moderne of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Question 28Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The Baroque period in music is conventionally dated about 1600 to 1750. Which event is traditionally used to mark its end?

  1. The first performance of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1607
  2. The death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750 Correct answer.
  3. The death of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1827
  4. The first complete performance of Wagner's Ring in 1876

Explanation

Historiography commonly uses Bach's death in 1750 as the symbolic close of the Baroque, because his work is regarded as the culmination of Baroque counterpoint and because the galant and empfindsam styles were already displacing it.

Question 29Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The basso continuo - a bass line realised in chords by a keyboard or plucked instrument - is so characteristic of one era that German musicology calls it the 'Generalbasszeitalter'. Which era is meant?

  1. The Renaissance
  2. The Classical period
  3. The Baroque Correct answer.
  4. The Romantic period

Explanation

Figured bass emerged around 1600 together with monody and opera, and remained the standard accompaniment texture until about 1750. That is why the Baroque is also known as the age of the thoroughbass.

Question 30Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

In figured bass notation, a bass note marked with the single figure 6 calls for which chord?

  1. A root-position triad
  2. A triad in first inversion, with a sixth and a third above the bass Correct answer.
  3. A triad in second inversion
  4. A root-position seventh chord

Explanation

The figures count intervals above the bass note. A '6' is shorthand for 6/3: a sixth and a third above the bass, which is a triad with its third in the bass - the first inversion or Sextakkord.

Question 31Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which composer belongs to the Viennese Classical period (Wiener Klassik)?

  1. Claudio Monteverdi
  2. Guillaume de Machaut
  3. Joseph Haydn Correct answer.
  4. Claude Debussy

Explanation

Joseph Haydn, together with Mozart and Beethoven, forms the classic triad of the Wiener Klassik. Haydn's role in shaping the symphony and the string quartet earned him the nicknames 'father of the symphony' and 'father of the string quartet'.

Question 32Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The accompanied solo song (begleitetes Sololied / Kunstlied) for voice and piano was decisively shaped by which composer, with cycles such as Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise?

  1. Georg Friedrich Händel
  2. Franz Schubert Correct answer.
  3. Josquin des Prez
  4. Igor Stravinsky

Explanation

Franz Schubert raised the German Lied to an art form in which the piano is an equal partner illustrating and commenting on the poem. Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, both on poems by Wilhelm Müller, are the model song cycles of the Romantic era.

Question 33Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The 19th-century 'Nationale Schulen' drew on the folk idioms of their home countries. Which composer is the leading representative of the Czech national school and wrote the cycle Má vlast?

  1. Johannes Brahms
  2. Gioachino Rossini
  3. Edvard Grieg
  4. Bedřich Smetana Correct answer.

Explanation

Bedřich Smetana founded the Czech national style. Má vlast ('My Fatherland') is a cycle of six symphonic poems on Bohemian landscapes and legends, of which Vltava (The Moldau) is the best known.

Question 34Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which composer, born in Dessau in 1900, collaborated with Bertolt Brecht on Die Dreigroschenoper (1928) before emigrating to the United States?

  1. Paul Hindemith
  2. Hanns Eisler
  3. Kurt Weill Correct answer.
  4. Carl Orff

Explanation

Kurt Weill was born in Dessau, in today's Saxony-Anhalt, in 1900. His Dreigroschenoper with Brecht fused song, cabaret and jazz idioms with epic theatre; after 1933 he emigrated and became a Broadway composer.

Question 35Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Who developed the twelve-tone technique (Zwölftontechnik / Dodekaphonie) in the early 1920s, a central composition method of musical Moderne?

  1. Arnold Schoenberg Correct answer.
  2. Claude Debussy
  3. Igor Stravinsky
  4. John Cage

Explanation

Arnold Schoenberg developed dodecaphony as a way of ordering all twelve chromatic pitches into a fixed row (Reihe) so that no single note is favored as a tonal center, replacing the hierarchy of traditional tonal harmony.

Question 36Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

What is a 'Cluster' in modern composition?

  1. A dense group of adjacent pitches (often a semitone or whole-tone apart) sounded simultaneously Correct answer.
  2. A single sustained pitch played in unison by many instruments
  3. A short repeated rhythmic pattern underlying a melody
  4. A chord built from stacked fourths instead of thirds

Explanation

A tone cluster packs many neighbouring pitches together, for example played with the flat hand or forearm on the piano. Composers such as Henry Cowell and György Ligeti used clusters as a sound-mass technique typical of musical Moderne.

Question 37Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which scale, dividing the octave into six equal whole-tone steps, was favoured by Claude Debussy and is closely associated with musical Impressionism and the broader harmonic experiments of the Moderne?

  1. Pentatonic scale
  2. Whole-tone scale (Ganztonleiter) Correct answer.
  3. Harmonic minor scale
  4. Chromatic scale

Explanation

The whole-tone scale consists of six pitches each a whole step apart (e.g. C-D-E-F#-G#-A#), so it contains no perfect fifths or leading notes and sounds harmonically ambiguous - exactly the floating, non-directional quality Debussy exploited.

Question 38Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

'Aleatorik' (aleatoric or chance music), one of the Moderne composition techniques named in the Fachlehrplan, refers to music in which

  1. Certain elements are deliberately left to chance or to performer choice rather than being fully fixed by the composer Correct answer.
  2. Every pitch must belong to a fixed twelve-tone row
  3. The entire piece is generated automatically by a computer algorithm with no human input
  4. Passages quote literally from an earlier composer's work

Explanation

Aleatoric music, associated above all with John Cage, deliberately introduces indeterminacy - through dice, graphic prompts or open performer choice - so the same score can sound differently at each performance.

Question 39Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

'Musique concrète', pioneered in France from the late 1940s by Pierre Schaeffer and named in the Fachlehrplan among the new specific styles of the Moderne, is characterised by

  1. Composing directly with recorded and electronically manipulated real-world sounds rather than notated pitches for instruments Correct answer.
  2. Writing dense tone clusters exclusively for solo piano
  3. Improvising freely over a repeating jazz chord progression
  4. Setting sacred Latin texts to unaccompanied Gregorian melody

Explanation

Musique concrète builds compositions from recorded sounds - everyday noises, instruments or voices captured on tape and then cut, looped, reversed or filtered - rather than starting from conventional notation for live performers.

Question 40Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which pitch collection - built from five notes with no adjacent semitones, as heard on the black keys of a piano - is common to many folk and East Asian musical traditions and was absorbed into 20th-century Moderne alongside other Weltmusik influences named in the Fachlehrplan (together with Gamelan)?

  1. Pentatonic scale Correct answer.
  2. Octatonic scale
  3. Harmonic minor scale
  4. Lydian mode

Explanation

The pentatonic scale's five widely spaced pitches avoid semitone friction, giving it the open, stable sound heard across many folk musics worldwide; 20th-century composers absorbed it as one strand of non-European influence on the harmonic language of the Moderne.

Question 41Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The Fluxus movement of the 1960s, associated with figures such as Nam June Paik and, in some actions, John Cage, is best characterised in music by

  1. Interdisciplinary, often provocative performance-events and scores that blur the boundary between music, visual art and everyday action Correct answer.
  2. Strict twelve-tone rows applied identically to every musical parameter
  3. A deliberate revival of unaccompanied Renaissance vocal polyphony
  4. A cappella close-harmony arranging in the barbershop style

Explanation

Fluxus artists staged 'events' and 'happenings' using everyday actions, objects and minimal instructions, deliberately dissolving the boundary between concert music and visual/performance art - an extreme example of the openness the Fachlehrplan associates with the Moderne.

Question 42Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

'Serielle Technik' (integral serialism), as developed after Schoenberg's dodecaphony by composers such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen in the 1950s, extended the twelve-tone row principle by

  1. Applying a similarly ordered, row-based organisation not only to pitch but also to other parameters such as rhythm, dynamics and articulation Correct answer.
  2. Abandoning ordered pitch rows altogether in favour of traditional tonal harmony
  3. Restricting composition strictly to acoustic instruments recorded live in concert
  4. Using only pentatonic collections drawn from folk song

Explanation

Integral serialism took Schoenberg's idea of ordering pitches into a row and applied the same principle of pre-determined ordering to duration, dynamics and attack as well, so that virtually every musical parameter followed a systematic series.

Question 43Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Jazz originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries primarily in which US city, drawing on African American musical traditions such as blues, spirituals and ragtime?

  1. Chicago
  2. New Orleans Correct answer.
  3. New York
  4. Memphis

Explanation

New Orleans, with its mix of African, Caribbean, Creole and European musical traditions and its lively brass-band culture, is generally regarded as the birthplace of jazz around the turn of the 20th century.

Question 44Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

The standard 12-bar blues chord progression that underlies countless jazz tunes is typically built from which three chords?

  1. Tonic, subdominant and dominant (I–IV–V) Correct answer.
  2. Tonic, mediant and submediant (I–iii–vi)
  3. Subdominant, leading-tone chord and tonic (IV–vii°–I)
  4. Only dominant seventh, minor seventh and diminished seventh chords

Explanation

The classic 12-bar blues arranges the tonic, subdominant and dominant chords in a fixed pattern (commonly I-I-I-I / IV-IV-I-I / V-IV-I-I), the same three primary triads that underlie the functional cadence in Western tonal harmony.

Question 45Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

A 'Jazz-Standard,' a piece from the shared jazz repertoire that different musicians reinterpret again and again, is most often performed from

  1. A fully notated orchestral score that leaves no room for improvisation
  2. A lead sheet giving the melody and chord symbols, leaving voicing, accompaniment and improvisation to the performers Correct answer.
  3. Graphic notation with no fixed pitches or rhythms at all
  4. Guitar tablature only, unusable by other instruments

Explanation

A lead sheet gives just the tune and chord symbols, so performers of a jazz standard supply their own voicings, comping and improvised solos - which is exactly why the same standard can sound very different from one recording to the next.

Question 46Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which improvisational practice, in which several musicians simultaneously invent independent melodic lines over the same harmonic framework, is a defining feature of early New Orleans jazz ensembles?

  1. Kollektivimprovisation (collective improvisation) Correct answer.
  2. Twelve-tone serialism
  3. Strict canon
  4. Chant-like unison singing

Explanation

In early New Orleans jazz, the cornet, clarinet and trombone typically improvised simultaneously and independently around the same chord changes and melody, weaving together in a dense collective texture rather than taking turns with solos.

Question 47Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Bebop, which emerged in the 1940s through musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, is generally distinguished from earlier swing-era jazz by

  1. Fast tempos, complex chord substitutions and virtuosic melodic improvisation aimed at small combos and close listening rather than social dancing Correct answer.
  2. A return to strictly notated big-band arrangements with no improvisation at all
  3. The exclusive use of the pentatonic scale
  4. Its origin in European art music rather than in African American musical tradition

Explanation

Bebop musicians reacted against the commercial, dance-oriented big-band swing sound, developing fast tempos, intricate harmonic substitutions and highly virtuosic improvised solos intended for attentive listening in small clubs.

Question 48Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which instrumental grouping is most typical of a traditional swing-era big band?

  1. Saxophones, trumpets and trombones (brass and reed sections) plus a rhythm section Correct answer.
  2. A string quartet accompanied by a harpsichord continuo
  3. A solo classical guitarist accompanying a single singer
  4. A full symphony orchestra including a pipe organ

Explanation

The classic big band pairs a saxophone section with trumpet and trombone brass sections over a rhythm section of piano, double bass, guitar and drums - the standard instrumentation behind bandleaders such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

Question 49Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which trumpeter and bandleader, celebrated for recordings such as the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions of the 1920s, is widely regarded as one of the most influential early soloists in shaping jazz as a music built around individual improvisation?

  1. Louis Armstrong Correct answer.
  2. Miles Davis
  3. Duke Ellington
  4. John Coltrane

Explanation

Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings of the mid-1920s helped shift jazz's focus from collective New Orleans-style ensemble playing towards the virtuosic individual soloist, a change that shaped the music for decades.

Question 50Music theory, history, analysis and interpretation

Which instrument, amplified and often played with distortion, became the defining lead instrument of rock and pop music from the 1950s onward?

  1. Electric guitar (E-Gitarre) Correct answer.
  2. Harpsichord
  3. Pipe organ
  4. Recorder

Explanation

The electric guitar, with its amplification and effects such as distortion, became the sound-defining lead instrument of rock and much of pop music, and is named explicitly among the style-shaping instruments of Popularmusik in the Fachlehrplan.