Music Theory Riddles

Five music theory riddles at a time for the lesson or the band room, each answer waiting under a cover.

Music Theory Riddles

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  1. I am a hollow oval with a stem and no flag. I last half as long as a whole note and twice as long as a quarter note. What note am I?
  2. I look like a small letter b. Put me in front of a note and it sounds a half step lower. What am I?
  3. I am the interval from one note to the next note with the same letter name: eight notes up the scale, at twice the frequency. What am I?
  4. I am written accel. for short. When you see me, speed up little by little. What word am I?
  5. Musicians nickname me the bird's eye. I sit above a note and tell you to hold it longer than its written length. What sign am I?

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How it works

Every answer in these music theory riddles is a term a music teacher teaches, from a quarter rest to an arpeggio. One line under the answer says what the term means.

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Five sets, in the order of the lessons

Notes and rests and The staff, clefs and ledger lines are first-year reading. Sharps, flats, scales and key signatures goes as far as the circle of fifths. Tempo, dynamics and touch asks for the Italian words, and Intervals and chords ends on the dominant seventh and inversions.

As a warm-up or a worksheet

Read one riddle out at the start of a lesson and let the class answer together. For theory homework, Print gives a sheet with a line to write on under each riddle and the answers on a page of their own.

  • Ask for the sign as well as the name: have a student draw the answer on the board.

Questions and answers

What is a good music theory riddle?

My key signature has exactly one sharp, and that sharp is F sharp. What major key am I? G major: its scale is G, A, B, C, D, E and F sharp.

What is an easy music theory riddle?

I am five lines with four spaces between them, and every note of the tune sits on me. What am I? The staff. Other Easy answers include the two common clefs, sharp, flat, piano and forte.

What is a semibreve in music?

The British name for a whole note. A minim is a half note, a crotchet a quarter note and a quaver an eighth note. Each answer here gives the American name first and the British name in brackets.

What is a hard music theory riddle?

I am three whole steps wide, and I cut the octave exactly in half. From C, I reach F sharp. What interval am I? A tritone: six of the twelve half steps in an octave.

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All 79 riddles

Notes and rests 12

  • I am a curved line that joins two notes of the same pitch. Play the first, keep holding through the second, and the two become one long note. What am I? Answer: A tie. A tie adds the lengths of the notes it joins.
  • I am a filled-in note with a stem and one flag. It takes two of me to last as long as a quarter note. What note am I? Answer: An eighth note (quaver). An eighth note has one flag and lasts half as long as a quarter note.
  • I am a filled-in note with a stem and two flags. I last half as long as an eighth note. What note am I? Answer: A sixteenth note (semiquaver). Two flags mark a sixteenth note, and four of them fit in one quarter note.
  • I am a filled-in oval with a plain stem. In 4/4 time I get one beat, and four of me fill a measure. What note am I? Answer: A quarter note (crotchet). A quarter note lasts a quarter as long as a whole note.
  • I am a half note with a small dot after my head. The dot adds half of my length again. How many quarter-note beats do I last? Answer: Three beats: a dotted half note. A half note is two beats, and the dot adds one more.
  • I am a hollow oval with a stem and no flag. I last half as long as a whole note and twice as long as a quarter note. What note am I? Answer: A half note (minim). Two half notes fill the time of one whole note.
  • I am a hollow oval with no stem. I last as long as four quarter notes, and in 4/4 time I fill a measure by myself. What note am I? Answer: A whole note (semibreve). A whole note equals four quarter notes, and its head is an open oval without a stem.
  • I am a small filled-in block that hangs under the second line from the top of the staff. I mean silence for as long as a whole note. What am I? Answer: A whole rest. A whole rest hangs below its line; a half rest sits on top of one.
  • I am a small filled-in block that sits on top of the middle line of the staff, like a hat on a shelf. I mean silence for as long as a half note. What am I? Answer: A half rest. A half rest sits on the middle line; a whole rest hangs under the line above.
  • I make no sound at all. I am the sign for one quiet beat, exactly as long as a quarter note. What am I? Answer: A quarter rest. Every note value has a rest of the same length.
  • Musicians nickname me the bird's eye. I sit above a note and tell you to hold it longer than its written length. What sign am I? Answer: A fermata. A fermata means hold: the note is stretched beyond its normal length, for as long as the player or conductor chooses.
  • We are three notes squeezed into the time that two of our kind would normally take, and we wear a small 3 over our heads. What are we? Answer: A triplet. A triplet divides a beat into three equal parts in place of two.

The staff, clefs and ledger lines 15

  • I am a C clef, and I mark where middle C sits. Viola players read me more than anyone else does. What clef am I? Answer: The alto clef. The alto clef is the everyday clef of the viola.
  • I am a short extra line drawn above or below the staff, just long enough to hold one note that is too high or too low to fit. What am I? Answer: A ledger line. Ledger lines carry the staff further up or down.
  • I am a thin line drawn straight down across the staff. I divide the music into measures. What am I? Answer: A bar line. The space between two bar lines is one measure, also called a bar.
  • I am a thin line with a thick line right after it, and I stand at the very end of the piece. What am I? Answer: A final bar line. A thin bar line followed by a thicker one marks the end of the music.
  • I am five lines with four spaces between them, and every note of the tune sits on me. What am I? Answer: The staff (stave). Each line and each space of the staff stands for a different pitch.
  • I am the curly sign at the start of the staff for higher notes. I am also called the G clef, because I fix the note G on the second line from the bottom. What am I? Answer: The treble clef. The treble clef places the G above middle C on the second line.
  • I am the note between the treble staff and the bass staff. In the treble clef I sit on one ledger line below the staff, and in the bass clef on one ledger line above it. What note am I? Answer: Middle C. Middle C lies between the two staves of piano music.
  • I am the short sign 8va written over a run of notes. I tell you to play them eight notes higher than they are written. What am I? Answer: An octave sign (ottava). 8va is short for the Italian all'ottava, "at the octave".
  • I am the sign at the start of the staff for lower notes. I am also called the F clef, because I fix the note F on the fourth line from the bottom. What am I? Answer: The bass clef. The bass clef places the F below middle C on the fourth line.
  • I am two numbers stacked at the start of the music. My top number says how many beats are in each measure, and my bottom number says which kind of note gets one beat. What am I? Answer: A time signature. In 3/4 time each measure holds three quarter-note beats.
  • I am two staves joined by a brace, usually with a treble clef on top and a bass clef below. Piano music is written on me. What am I? Answer: The grand staff (great stave). One player reads both staves at once: the upper for the right hand, the lower for the left.
  • I am written D.C. at the end of a section. My two Italian words mean "from the head", and I send you back to the beginning. What am I? Answer: Da capo. Da capo means "from the beginning".
  • We are the notes in the four spaces of the bass staff, read from the bottom up. Students remember us with the sentence "All Cows Eat Grass". What are we? Answer: A, C, E and G. The first letter of each word names a space.
  • We are the notes in the four spaces of the treble staff, read from the bottom up, and together we spell a part of your head. What are we? Answer: F, A, C and E. The spaces of the treble staff spell FACE.
  • We are the notes on the five lines of the treble staff, read from the bottom up. Students remember us with the sentence "Every Good Boy Does Fine". What are we? Answer: E, G, B, D and F. The first letter of each word names a line.

Sharps, flats, scales and key signatures 16

  • F sharp and G flat are two names for one and the same piano key. What word describes two notes that are written differently and sound the same? Answer: Enharmonic. Enharmonic notes are spelled differently and have the same pitch.
  • I am a diagram drawn like a clock face with C major at the top. Each step clockwise goes up a fifth and adds one sharp to the key signature. What am I? Answer: The circle of fifths. From C at the top, the next keys clockwise are G with one sharp and D with two.
  • I am a ladder of notes that climbs or comes down one step at a time. Singers warm up on me: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. What am I? Answer: A scale. A major scale has seven different notes, and the eighth is the first one again, an octave higher.
  • I am a scale with only five notes in each octave. Play nothing but the black keys of a piano and you are playing one of me. What kind of scale am I? Answer: A pentatonic scale. Penta means five, and the five black keys form a pentatonic scale.
  • I am a sharp, a flat or a natural written right beside a note in the middle of the music. I last until the end of the measure and no longer. What am I? Answer: An accidental. An accidental applies to its note for the rest of that measure.
  • I am the major key with no sharps and no flats. On a piano, my scale uses only the white keys. What key am I? Answer: C major. C, D, E, F, G, A and B are all white keys.
  • I am the minor key with no sharps and no flats. I share my key signature with C major, and I am called its relative minor. What key am I? Answer: A minor. A minor and C major use the same seven notes.
  • I am the scale that leaves nothing out. I have twelve notes in every octave, and each one is a half step from the next. What scale am I? Answer: The chromatic scale. On a piano, the chromatic scale plays every key in turn, white and black.
  • I am the set of sharps or flats written right after the clef. I tell you which notes to raise or lower all the way through the piece. What am I? Answer: A key signature. The key signature saves writing a sharp or flat beside every note it changes.
  • I am the sign that undoes a sharp or a flat. Put me in front of a note and it goes back to its plain pitch. What am I? Answer: A natural. A natural cancels a sharp or flat that came before.
  • I am the smallest step used in most Western music: the distance from one piano key to the very next one, black or white. What am I? Answer: A half step (semitone). Two half steps make a whole step.
  • I look like a small letter b. Put me in front of a note and it sounds a half step lower. What am I? Answer: A flat. A flat lowers a note by a half step (a semitone).
  • I look like a tilted number sign. Put me in front of a note and it sounds a half step higher. What am I? Answer: A sharp. A sharp raises a note by a half step (a semitone).
  • My key signature has exactly one flat, and that flat is B flat. What major key am I? Answer: F major. The F major scale is F, G, A, B flat, C, D and E.
  • My key signature has exactly one sharp, and that sharp is F sharp. What major key am I? Answer: G major. The G major scale is G, A, B, C, D, E and F sharp.
  • My steps always go in this order: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. What kind of scale am I? Answer: A major scale. Start on any note and follow that pattern of whole and half steps to build a major scale.

Tempo, dynamics and touch 18

  • I am a curved line over notes of different pitches. I tell you to play them smoothly, with no gap between one and the next. What am I? Answer: A slur. A slur asks for legato playing: smooth and connected. A tie looks alike and joins two notes of the same pitch.
  • I am a device that clicks at a steady speed. You set me to a number of beats per minute and practice along with me. What am I? Answer: A metronome. A metronome keeps an even beat at whatever speed you choose.
  • I am a dot placed above or below a note, never beside it. I tell you to play the note short and leave a gap before the next one. What am I? Answer: Staccato. Staccato is Italian for detached.
  • I am an Italian tempo word for music that is slow and played with great expression. What word am I? Answer: Adagio. Adagio is a slow tempo.
  • I am the Italian tempo word for music that is slow and broad. What word am I? Answer: Largo. Largo is among the slowest of the common tempo markings.
  • I am the Italian tempo word for very fast, faster than allegro. Magicians say me too, just before the rabbit appears. What word am I? Answer: Presto. Presto and allegro are both quick, and presto is the quicker.
  • I am the Italian tempo word that means "at a walking pace". What word am I? Answer: Andante. Andante is moderately slow, the speed of a walk.
  • I am the Italian word at the top of the page that tells you to play fast and bright. What word am I? Answer: Allegro. Allegro is one of the most common fast tempo markings.
  • I am the letter f written under the notes, and I mean play loudly. My Italian name also means strong. What word am I? Answer: Forte. Forte means loud or strong.
  • I am the letter p written under the notes, and I mean play softly. I am also the name of the instrument with black and white keys. What word am I? Answer: Piano. In music, piano means soft or quiet.
  • I am the speed of the music. I am often written in Italian at the top of the page, or counted in beats per minute. What am I? Answer: The tempo. Tempo is how fast or slow a piece goes.
  • I am the two letters mf, and I mean moderately loud. What two Italian words do I stand for? Answer: Mezzo forte. Mezzo forte sits between piano and forte, on the loud side.
  • I am two letter f's side by side, and I mean very loud. What word am I? Answer: Fortissimo. Fortissimo is louder than forte.
  • I am two letter p's side by side, and I mean very quiet. What word am I? Answer: Pianissimo. Pianissimo is quieter than piano.
  • I am two long lines that start at one point and open toward the right. Wherever I lie under the notes, the music grows louder little by little. What am I? Answer: A crescendo. Crescendo means growing: get gradually louder.
  • I am two long lines that start wide apart on the left and close to a point on the right. Wherever I lie under the notes, the music fades little by little. What am I? Answer: A decrescendo (diminuendo). Decrescendo and diminuendo both mean getting gradually quieter.
  • I am written accel. for short. When you see me, speed up little by little. What word am I? Answer: Accelerando. Accelerando means gradually getting faster.
  • I am written rit. for short. When you see me, slow down little by little. What word am I? Answer: Ritardando. Ritardando means gradually slowing down.

Intervals and chords 18

  • The chord C, E, G is played with E or G as its lowest note. The notes are the same; only the order from the bottom has changed. What is this called? Answer: An inversion. A chord is inverted when a note other than its root is in the bass.
  • I am a chord of exactly three notes, stacked in thirds: a root, a third and a fifth. What am I? Answer: A triad. Triads are the most common chords in Western music.
  • I am a chord of four notes: a major chord with one more note on top, a minor seventh above the root. On G, I am G, B, D and F. What chord am I? Answer: A dominant seventh chord. G, B, D and F make the chord G7.
  • I am a chord whose notes are played one after another, not all together. My name comes from the Italian for playing a harp. What am I? Answer: An arpeggio. An arpeggio is a broken chord.
  • I am one half step narrower than a major third: only three half steps wide. A minor chord begins with me, counting up from its root. What interval am I? Answer: A minor third. A minor third spans three half steps.
  • I am several notes sounded at the same moment, and the most common kind of me has three. A guitarist strums me. What am I? Answer: A chord. Notes heard together make a chord.
  • I am the distance in pitch between two notes. Musicians give me names such as a second, a third and a fifth. What am I? Answer: An interval. An interval measures how far apart two notes are.
  • I am the home note of a key: its scale begins and ends on me, and the music most often comes to rest on me at the end. What am I? Answer: The tonic. In the key of C major, the tonic is C.
  • I am the interval from C up to E. I am four half steps wide, and a major chord begins with me, counting up from its root. What interval am I? Answer: A major third. A major third spans four half steps, or two whole steps.
  • I am the interval from C up to F. I cover four letter names and five half steps. What interval am I? Answer: A perfect fourth. C, D, E, F: four note names, five semitones.
  • I am the interval from C up to G. I cover five letter names and seven half steps. What interval am I? Answer: A perfect fifth. C, D, E, F, G: five note names, seven semitones.
  • I am the interval from one note to the next note with the same letter name: eight notes up the scale, at twice the frequency. What am I? Answer: An octave. From one C to the next C is an octave; the name comes from the Latin for eighth.
  • I am the note that gives a chord its name. In the chord C, E, G, I am the C. What am I? Answer: The root. The root is the note a chord is named after.
  • I am the part of a song you hum on the way home: single notes, one after another, that you hear as one tune. What am I? Answer: The melody. A melody is a line of notes heard as a single whole.
  • I am three whole steps wide, and I cut the octave exactly in half. From C, I reach F sharp. What interval am I? Answer: A tritone. Tri means three: a tritone is three whole tones, or six of the twelve half steps in an octave.
  • My three notes are C, E and G: a root, a major third above it and a perfect fifth above it. What kind of chord am I? Answer: A major chord. A major chord is a major third and a perfect fifth above the root.
  • Take the chord C, E, G and lower the middle note by a half step, to E flat. What kind of chord have you made? Answer: A minor chord. A minor chord has a minor third and a perfect fifth above the root.
  • Two singers hold exactly the same pitch at the same time. What is the name for what they are singing in? Answer: Unison. In unison, the parts sound the same pitch.