Category Archives: quiz

August 2012 Quiz

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This quiz will test your understanding of chord progressions and keys. If you have trouble answering the questions, try using the following resources:

Once you learn how to figure out the answers to questions like these, you will be able to write songs and jam with other musicians a lot quicker and easier.

Explanations for each question will be provided at the end with your results.

Take the Quiz below

Which chord progression would work in the key of G Major?





If somebody wants to jam with you in the key of E, which chord progression could you use?





You just came up with this chord progression - Gm, Bb, Dm, F - what key is it in?





Sam came up with a chord progression - C Em D G - and thinks the key is C Major. Which chord doesn't fit in the key of C Major?





A friend of yours was trying to write a song in the key of A but feels that one of the chords doesn't sound right. The chord progression is F#m, A, Em, Bm. Which chord is causing the problem?







Guitar Quiz: March 2012

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This month’s quiz focuses on chord construction. Understanding which notes form which chords is a valuable skill to possess. Understanding the construction of chords will help your improvisation skills as well as help you come up with more interesting sounding progressions.

If you have trouble with some of the questions, it might pay to brush up on some theory by reading our lessons here or grab a pack of our flash cards so you can fully understand the chords you play.

There are 8 questions in this quiz. Good luck!

Please go to Guitar Quiz: March 2012 to view the quiz

Quick Guitar Quiz – June 2011

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This month’s Quick Quiz looks at how well you know Guitar TAB. Being able to read and write Guitar TAB is crucial for every guitarist. From learning how to play songs, finding exercises and lessons to writing your own songs, Guitar TAB is widely used. At the end of this post are lessons to help you understand the skills needed to read and write TAB.

 

Reading Guitar TAB

1. What chords are being played in the below TAB?

2. What are the two chords being played in the below TAB and how are they played?

3. How would you play the below TAB?

 

Writing Guitar TAB

4. Write the following left to right in Guitar TAB format:

  • An E powerchord starting on the low e string
  • A slide from the fifth fret on the fifth string to the seventh fret
  • A hammer-on from the seventh fret on the fourth string to the ninth fret
  • An Em barre chord formed on the seventh fret

5.Write the following chords in Guitar TAB format showing strumming direction:

  • Em strummed four times (one beat each)
  • Am strummed two times (half beat each)
  • D strummed once (two beats length)
  • C strummed once (one beat length)

 

Answers

Don’t cheat! Give the questions a proper try before checking the answers.

1. Am C D7 Em

2. Asus4 and E7 played as arpeggios

3. To play Barre chords (in this case Am) you flatten your first finger across the fifth fret then reach with your 2nd & 3rd (or 3rd and 4th) fingers to play the two seventh fret notes.

4.

5.

NOTE: You can choose whatever strumming direction you want, the pattern used in this answer is a very common way of strumming the chords.

 

Resources

If you found the reading questions difficult, check out this lesson here to read up on the basics on how to read Guitar TAB. Once you understand the basic format of Guitar TAB questions like these become very simple.

If you found the writing questions difficult, this lesson will explain the steps to take to get used to writing your own TAB. All it takes is a bit of practice and you will get the hang of what needs to be done.

Learn to read Guitar TAB lesson here

Learn to write Guitar TAB lesson here

If on the other hand you found the questions easy, well done! This skill is incredibly valuable and well worth the effort learning. These were meant to be fairly simple questions so don’t stop at this skill level – continue to develop your skills by trying to transcribe songs by ear and writing more complex TAB.

 

Quick Guitar Quiz – May 2011

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Read a few lessons and think you understand everything? Unless you test yourself you won’t know for sure what you really understand and what you need to work on. This little quiz will give you a quick snapshot on how well you know a certain topic on guitar. The topic this month is figuring out chords that fit into keys. Once you fully understand how to do this, your playing ability and understanding will move to a whole new level.

Write out your answers as you go through the questions then compare them to the answers below. There’s no point cheating – you will only set yourself back.

Working out chords in a key

What basic chords (major, minor, diminished) are part of the Key of:

  1. C
  2. E
  3. A
  4. D
  5. F#
  6. Bb

 

Take your time and write down your answers before you even think about checking them below. It’s okay if you need to pick up your guitar and work the answers out by checking if the chords work – it’s all about getting the answer in the end. Over time these answers will come to you in an instant.

 

Answers

  1. C Major D minor E minor F Major G Major A minor B diminished C Major
  2. E Major F# minor G# minor A Major B Major C# minor D# diminished C Major
  3. A Major B minor C# minor D Major E Major F# minor G# diminished A Major
  4. D Major E minor F# minor G Major A Major B minor C# diminished D Major
  5. F# Major G# minor A# minor B Major C# Major D# minor F diminished F# Major
  6. Bb Major C minor D minor Eb Major F Major G minor A diminished Bb Major

 

How did you go?

 

“That was easy!” Great! Many guitarists struggle to answer questions like these so if you got through them easy you should be happy with your understanding.

“I got most of the answers, it just took a while to work them out” Good work. You don’t need to be able to answer the questions instantly. If you understand the theory behind the questions then that’s great. Over time you will get faster at figuring out the answers until it becomes a piece of cake.

“I sort of knew what to do, but didn’t get many right” Don’t stress about it. With practice you will get the hang of it. Being able to answer questions like these is a skill like any other. It may be worth reading up on the theory again to make sure you understand what you need to do (see resources below).

“The questions may as well be written in Greek, I didn’t understand anything!” If you are only starting out guitar, questions like these may seem confusing and hard. But like anything else, you can learn the theory and learn to apply it. If you struggled with these questions, check out the lessons below as they contain all the explanations and exercises to help you out.

 

Resources (to help you get the right answers)

Check out these lessons to learn the theory behind these questions. After reading them, save this post in your bookmarks/favorites and come back to it in a couple weeks time to try out the quiz again.

Understanding guitar chord formulas and the major scale

Working out chords in a key

It’s worth mastering this skill so take your time reading through the lessons and come back to the quiz again to make sure you fully understand how to work out the chords.

Quick guitar quiz – April 2011

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It’s always a good idea to test yourself to get an idea of how well you know a topic. Guitarists can sometimes get a little close minded (been to a guitar forum lately?) and will assume they know everything they need to know. An expert guitarist on the other hand knows that they will never know everything and they constantly look to learn more. This little quiz will give you a quick snapshot on how well you know a couple topics on guitar. The topics this month are music theory and playing with a capo. Two very important areas that everybody should understand.

Write out your answers as you go through the questions then compare them to the answers below. There’s no point cheating – you will only set yourself back.

Music Theory

  1. What is the formula for the Major Scale?
  2. What is the formula for a Major chord?
  3. What is the formula for a minor chord?
  4. What notes are in the chord G Major?
  5. What notes are in the chord F Minor?
  6. What notes are in the scale A Major?
  7. What notes are in the scale D Major?

 

Playing with a capo

What chord will you be playing if you play:

  1. Em chord shape with the capo on the third fret?
  2. C chord shape with the capo on the fifth fret?
  3. Am chord shape with the capo on the second fret?
  4. Dm chord shape with the capo on the fourth fret?

 

What chord shape will you need to use to play a:

  1. Em chord with the capo on the seventh fret?
  2. G chord with the capo on the fifth fret?
  3. Fm chord with the capo on the third fret?

 

Take your time and write down your answers before you even think about checking them below. It’s okay if you need to pick up your guitar and work the answers out by placing a capo on the guitar – it’s all about getting the answer in the end. Over time these answers will come to you in an instant.

Answers

Music Theory

  1. W W H W W W H
  2. 1 3 5
  3. 1 b3 5
  4. G B D
  5. F Ab C
  6. A B C# D E F# G#
  7. D E F# G A B C#

 

Playing with a capo

What chord will you be playing if you play:

  1. Gm
  2. F
  3. Bm
  4. F#m

 

What chord shape will you need to use to play a:

  1. Am shape
  2. D shape
  3. Dm shape

 

How did you go?

“That was easy!” Great! Many guitarists struggle to answer questions like these so if you got through them easy you should be happy with your understanding.

“I got most of the answers, it just took a while to work them out” Good work. You don’t need to be able to answer the questions instantly. If you understand the theory behind the questions then that’s great. Over time you will get faster at figuring out the answers until it becomes a piece of cake.

“I sort of knew what to do, but didn’t get many right” Don’t stress about it. With practice you will get the hang of it. Being able to answer questions like these is a skill like any other. It may be worth reading up on the theory again to make sure you understand what you need to do (see resources below).

“The questions may as well be written in Greek, I didn’t understand anything!” If you are only starting out guitar, questions like these may seem confusing and hard. But like anything else, you can learn the theory and learn to apply it. If you struggled with these questions, check out the two lessons below as they contain all the explanations and exercises to help you out.

Resources (to help you get the right answers)

Check out these lessons to learn the theory behind these questions. After reading them, save this post in your bookmarks/favorites and come back to it in a weeks time to try out the quiz again.

Understanding guitar chord formulas and the major scale

Playing chords with a capo