Music Genres & Origins

43 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.In which country did reggae originate?
- A. Haiti
- B. Cuba
- C. Jamaica
- D. Trinidad and Tobago
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Jamaica
Did you know? Reggae grew out of the island's ska and rocksteady styles.
2.Which music genre relies on synthesizers, drum machines and computer production?
- A. hip-hop
- B. salsa
- C. klezmer
- D. electronic music
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electronic music
Did you know? The Moog synthesizer helped launch modern electronic music in the 1960s.
3.In which US city did jazz originate?
- A. Kansas City
- B. New York
- C. New Orleans
- D. Chicago
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New Orleans
Did you know? New Orleans' Congo Square hosted the genre's earliest communal drumming.
4.Which music genre dominated dance floors in the mid and late 1970s?
- A. electronic music
- B. disco
- C. mariachi
- D. bluegrass
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disco
Did you know? Disco's four-on-the-floor beat names the bass drum hitting every beat.
5.In which US city did house music originate?
- A. Detroit
- B. Chicago
- C. Los Angeles
- D. New York
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Chicago
Did you know? House music takes its name from Chicago's Warehouse club.
6.Which music genre rejects polished production in favor of short, fast three-chord songs?
- A. calypso
- B. punk rock
- C. rhythm and blues
- D. soul music
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punk rock
Did you know? Punk's twin birthplaces are usually traced to New York and London.
7.In which country did bossa nova originate?
- A. Uruguay
- B. Brazil
- C. Argentina
- D. Portugal
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Brazil
Did you know? Bossa nova's founding figures include João Gilberto and Tom Jobim.
8.Which music genre exploded onto American radio in the 1950s?
- A. funk
- B. bluegrass
- C. rock and roll
- D. jazz
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rock and roll
Did you know? Rock and roll fused blues, country and rhythm and blues.
9.Which music genre built its sound on distorted guitars and powerful drums?
- A. indie rock
- B. flamenco
- C. heavy metal
- D. rhythm and blues
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heavy metal
Did you know? Heavy metal's founding wave is usually credited to bands from Birmingham, England.
10.Which music genre spans eras from Baroque through Romantic to modern orchestral work?
- A. opera
- B. mariachi
- C. samba
- D. classical music
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classical music
Did you know? The standard orchestra's four families are strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion.
11.Which music genre passed down songs orally through generations?
- A. folk music
- B. tango
- C. salsa
- D. house music
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folk music
Did you know? Folk revivals brought the genre to the pop charts in the 1960s.
12.Which music genre grew from the Mississippi Delta work-song tradition?
- A. samba
- B. country
- C. punk rock
- D. blues
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blues
Did you know? The twelve-bar blues form underpins most blues songs.
13.Which music genre was born at block parties in the Bronx in the 1970s?
- A. grunge
- B. techno
- C. soul music
- D. hip-hop
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hip-hop
Did you know? Hip-hop culture grew around DJing, MCing, breakdancing and graffiti.
14.Which music genre grew from African American church traditions?
- A. gospel music
- B. grunge
- C. opera
- D. reggae
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gospel music
Did you know? Gospel's call-and-response shape shaped soul and rock vocals.
15.Which music genre emerged in early twentieth-century New Orleans?
- A. punk rock
- B. gospel music
- C. jazz
- D. rock and roll
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jazz
Did you know? Early jazz blended African rhythms with brass-band and blues traditions.
16.Which music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s?
- A. klezmer
- B. reggae
- C. bossa nova
- D. house music
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reggae
Did you know? Reggae's most famous global ambassador was Bob Marley.
17.Which music genre took shape in the rural American South and Appalachia?
- A. country
- B. bluegrass
- C. bossa nova
- D. jazz
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country
Did you know? Country music descends from the folk ballads of British settlers.
18.Which music genre put the rhythm section's groove at the center of the song?
- A. salsa
- B. punk rock
- C. mariachi
- D. funk
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funk
Did you know? James Brown is widely called the godfather of funk.
19.In which country did the tango originate?
- A. Spain
- B. Mexico
- C. Italy
- D. Argentina
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Argentina
Did you know? Tango grew in Buenos Aires and across the river in Montevideo.
20.Which music genre takes its name from independent record labels?
- A. disco
- B. klezmer
- C. indie rock
- D. opera
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indie rock
Did you know? Indie rock's DIY ethos shaped countless college-radio bands.
21.In which country did the flamenco tradition originate?
- A. Italy
- B. Morocco
- C. Spain
- D. Portugal
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Spain
Did you know? Flamenco is rooted in Andalusia's Romani and Moorish communities.
22.Which music genre pairs rapid banjo and fiddle with high close-harmony vocals?
- A. new wave
- B. opera
- C. bluegrass
- D. bossa nova
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bluegrass
Did you know? Bluegrass is named after Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys.
23.In which English city were the Beatles founded?
- A. London
- B. Liverpool
- C. Sheffield
- D. Manchester
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Liverpool
Did you know? John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a Liverpool church fête in 1957.
24.Which music genre crystallized in Detroit in the mid-1980s?
- A. calypso
- B. gospel music
- C. rhythm and blues
- D. techno
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techno
Did you know? Techno's name comes from the coined term techno revolution in Detroit press.
25.Which music genre emerged from Chicago's Warehouse club in the early 1980s?
- A. rhythm and blues
- B. indie rock
- C. country
- D. house music
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house music
Did you know? House music borrowed disco's beat and four-on-the-floor pulse.
26.Which music genre followed punk with sharper pop hooks and synthesizers?
- A. bluegrass
- B. new wave
- C. jazz
- D. electronic music
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new wave
Did you know? MTV's 1981 launch carried new wave videos to a mass audience.
27.Which music genre prioritizes atmosphere and tone over rhythm and melody?
- A. heavy metal
- B. blues
- C. reggae
- D. ambient music
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ambient music
Did you know? Brian Eno popularized the term with his 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports.
28.Which music genre evolved in African American communities in the 1940s?
- A. country
- B. rhythm and blues
- C. salsa
- D. opera
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rhythm and blues
Did you know? Rhythm and blues is the direct ancestor of rock and roll.
29.Which music genre preceded reggae in Jamaica with an upbeat offbeat guitar?
- A. ska
- B. new wave
- C. bossa nova
- D. soul music
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ska
Did you know? Ska later fueled the British two-tone movement of the late 1970s.
30.Which music genre combines sung drama with orchestral music and staged spectacle?
- A. hip-hop
- B. electronic music
- C. opera
- D. zydeco
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opera
Did you know? Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600.
31.Which music genre fused punk attitude with heavy metal's fuzz in 1980s Seattle?
- A. gospel music
- B. folk music
- C. punk rock
- D. grunge
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grunge
Did you know? Grunge's breakout year came in 1991 with albums by Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
32.Which music genre blended samba rhythm with cool jazz harmony in late-1950s Rio?
- A. hip-hop
- B. bossa nova
- C. rhythm and blues
- D. ambient music
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bossa nova
Did you know? Bossa nova reached the world through the 1964 hit The Girl from Ipanema.
33.Which music genre grew from Cuban dance music in New York's Latino community?
- A. punk rock
- B. klezmer
- C. jazz
- D. salsa
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salsa
Did you know? The salsa term was popularized by New York record labels in the 1970s.
34.Which music genre unites singing, guitar and dance in Andalusia?
- A. bossa nova
- B. flamenco
- C. new wave
- D. grunge
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flamenco
Did you know? Flamenco's palmas are the hand-clapped rhythms that accompany dancers.
35.Which music genre blended gospel feeling with rhythm and blues in the 1950s and 1960s?
- A. funk
- B. soul music
- C. zydeco
- D. merengue
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soul music
Did you know? Detroit's Motown label carried soul to worldwide audiences.
36.In which decade did punk rock first emerge?
- A. The 1950s
- B. The 1970s
- C. The 1960s
- D. The 1980s
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The 1970s
Did you know? New York and London scenes incubated punk almost simultaneously.
37.Which music genre is Mexico's emblematic ensemble music of violins and trumpets?
- A. rock and roll
- B. mariachi
- C. folk music
- D. reggae
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mariachi
Did you know? UNESCO inscribed mariachi music on its intangible heritage list in 2011.
38.Which music genre is Louisiana's Creole dance music built on the accordion and washboard?
- A. indie rock
- B. jazz
- C. ambient music
- D. zydeco
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zydeco
Did you know? Zydeco grew alongside Cajun music in southwest Louisiana.
39.Which music genre is Trinidad's satirical carnival song tradition?
- A. calypso
- B. soul music
- C. bossa nova
- D. jazz
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calypso
Did you know? Calypso lyrics traditionally carried social and political commentary.
40.Which music genre is the rhythmic heartbeat of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival?
- A. blues
- B. indie rock
- C. samba
- D. funk
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samba
Did you know? Samba schools parade with drum sections called baterias.
41.Which music genre is the celebratory instrumental music of Ashkenazi Jewish tradition?
- A. samba
- B. klezmer
- C. punk rock
- D. reggae
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klezmer
Did you know? Klezmer bands traditionally played at Eastern European Jewish weddings.
42.Which music genre was born in the dance halls of Buenos Aires?
- A. calypso
- B. tango
- C. reggae
- D. hip-hop
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tango
Did you know? Tango's golden age bands made Buenos Aires and Montevideo twin capitals of the style.
43.Which music genre is the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic?
- A. tango
- B. jazz
- C. samba
- D. merengue
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merengue
Did you know? Merengue's two main styles are merengue típico and orquesta.

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