CSET Music Test Practice Questions

1. Which of the following are three of the six stages of audiation?

A) Listening to music, writing music, singing music
B) Temporarily remembering music, remembering patterns, predicting patterns
C) Hearing, listening, repeating
D) Sounding out, reading, playing

2. A chromatic scale is made up of:

A) whole steps.
B) whole and half steps.
C) half steps.
D) all whole steps except for one half step.

3. How many notes are in a pentatonic scale?

A) 5
B) 6
C) 7
D) 8

4. Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart were composers during the musical era known as the:

A) Renaissance
B) Baroque
C) Classical
D) Romantic

5. Which professional title describes a person who writes the words to songs?

A) Copyist
B) Lyricist
C) Arranger
D) Publisher

CSET Music Test Answers

1. Answer: B

The six stages of audiation, which may occur in any order, are as follows:

Stage 1 - temporarily remembering
Stage 2 - commencing and audiating tonal and rhythmic patterns; knowing and distinguishing the tonal center and macro beats
Stage 3 - ascertaining objective or subjective tonality and meter
Stage 4 - remembering tonal and rhythmic patterns
Stage 5 - remembering patterns from other music
Stage 6 - forecasting patterns

2. Answer: C

A chromatic scale is made of only half steps. Sharps are played when ascending, and flats are played when descending.

3. Answer: A

There are five notes in a pentatonic scale. An example is to first play two black keys and then play three black keys. Answer choice D, 8, is the number of notes in a major scale.

4. Answer: C

These composers lived and worked during the Classical era which lasted from around the late 1700s to the 1820s. Answer choice A, Renaissance, lasted from about 1300 to 1600. Answer choice B, Baroque, occurred from approximately 1600 to 1700. Answer choice D, Romantic, occurred from about 1827 to 1900.

5. Answer: B

A lyricist writes the words to songs. Generally this person will work together with a composer to put the words to music. Answer choice A, copyist, is a person who transcribes music to a score. Answer choice C, arranger, is one who arranges music for different instruments or skill levels. Arrangers are often composers as well. Answer choice D, publisher, prints and distributes the music.