Unofficial practice for MTEL Music (16): theory and analysis, history and culture, and music education, each answer sourced.
Pick an answer, then press Check answer.Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason.Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.
Print covers the next 40 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.
Exam mode: 40 questions, no time limit.
Your totals on this device
0answered
0right
none yetpercent right
none yetbest exam score
Seen 0 of 40 questions
More options
Which questions to ask
Missed and Flagged fill up as you go.
Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson. Bank checked October 12, 2026.
A Baroque keyboard dance has two related sections, and each is played twice: A A B B. What is this form called?Wikipedia, "Binary form", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0005
A fugue opens with its subject alone in the tonic key. A second voice then states the subject in another key, usually the dominant. What is that second statement called?Wikipedia, "Fugue", Exposition (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0010
A metronome mark sets the tempo at 60 beats per minute. How often does a beat fall?Wikipedia, "Tempo", on beats per minute (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0004
A recorded slip jig has three beats in each bar, and every beat divides into three equal parts. Which meter and time signature fit?Wikipedia, "Time signature", table of compound time signatures; and "Metre (music)", Compound metre (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0009
A recorded song has an opening section, a contrasting middle section, and then the opening section once more. Which form is heard?Wikipedia, "Ternary form", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0010
Show all 40 questions (35 more)
Subarea I: Music theory and analysis, continued
An alto saxophone in E♭ plays a written C. Which concert pitch sounds?Wikipedia, "Transposing instrument", on what the written C sounds as (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0001
The bass clef is an F-clef. Which pitch does it fix, and on which line of the staff?Wikipedia, "Clef", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0001
Drop two degrees from C major and you have C major pentatonic: C, D, E, G, A. Which two degrees are left out?Wikipedia, "Pentatonic scale", on building the major pentatonic scale (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0002
How many notes does a whole-tone scale have in each octave, and how far apart are they?Wikipedia, "Whole-tone scale", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0002
In a recording, a piece in G major moves smoothly into D major by way of a chord that belongs to both keys. What is this called?Wikipedia, "Modulation (music)", Common-chord modulation (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0008
In a recording, two singers perform the same melody at the same time, each varying it in her own way. Which texture is heard?Wikipedia, "Texture (music)", table of common types (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0010
In sonata form, what happens to the thematic material in the recapitulation?Wikipedia, "Sonata form", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0005
One or more short strokes are drawn through the stem of a half note in a violin part. What does this notation tell the player to do?Wikipedia, "Tremolo", Rapid reiteration or oscillation (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0001
The score marks sub. p at bar 9. In a recording the band fades little by little through bars 7 and 8. How does the performance depart from the marking?Wikipedia, "Dynamics (music)", on sudden changes (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0011
What makes an authentic cadence a perfect authentic cadence?Wikipedia, "Cadence", Perfect authentic cadence (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0003
Which intervals above the root make an augmented triad?Wikipedia, "Triad (music)", on the four types of triad (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0003
Which two notes does the key signature of D major raise?Wikipedia, "Key signature", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0001
Subarea II: Music history, literature and culture 16
A critic praises a symphony as music to be appreciated with no reference to the outside world: no story, no scene. Which term names such music?Wikipedia, "Program music", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0024
By UNESCO's account of the reggae music of Jamaica, through which two styles did the music pass on its way to reggae?UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, "Reggae music of Jamaica" (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0017
George Frideric Handel's Messiah (1741) is his most famous work in which genre?Wikipedia, "Oratorio", Georgian Britain (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0012
Gregorian melodies were traditionally written with signs from which the modern staff notation developed. What are the signs called?Wikipedia, "Gregorian chant", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0012
In the 19th century, what was a single-movement orchestral piece of program music often called?Wikipedia, "Program music", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0013
Jazz has many subgenres and is hard to define. Which practice is among the things that define it?Wikipedia, "Jazz", lead and Improvisation (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0016
Josef Matthias Hauer first devised a twelve-tone technique. Which composer worked out a better-known version of his own in 1923?Wikipedia, "Twelve-tone technique", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0014
The koto, a plucked zither whose most common type has 13 strings over movable bridges, is the national instrument of which country?Wikipedia, "Koto (instrument)", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0017
The leitmotif, a short recurring phrase tied to a person, place or idea, is notably associated with the operas of which composer?Wikipedia, "Leitmotif", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0013
Spirituals drew on plantation songs, work songs and the "sing songs" of enslaved African Americans. Into which later genres did these songs evolve?Wikipedia, "Spirituals", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0015
Steady drones, consonant harmony, repetitive patterns or pulses and the reiteration of short phrases are prominent features of which style?Wikipedia, "Minimal music", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0014
UNESCO calls gagaku the oldest traditional performing art of Japan. Where does UNESCO say it is performed?UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, "Gagaku" (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0017
What was organum, an early step on the way to Western polyphony?Wikipedia, "Gregorian chant", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0012
Which 1943 musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein is counted among the groundbreaking works of American musical theatre?Wikipedia, "Musical theatre", lead and The Golden Age (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0016
Which composer developed the string quartet into its present form, in works from the 1750s onward?Wikipedia, "String quartet", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0013
Which piece by Scott Joplin is among the best-known rags?Wikipedia, "Ragtime", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0015
Subarea III: Music education 7
Before a piece begins, a conductor raises both hands and waits. What does this signal to the ensemble?Wikipedia, "Conducting", Beat and tempo (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0026
Shinichi Suzuki compared learning music with the way a young child acquires a native language. What did he call his method for that reason?Wikipedia, "Suzuki method", on the "mother-tongue" method (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0029
Under 17 U.S.C. 110(1), which performance of a copyrighted work is not an infringement of copyright?17 U.S.C. 110(1), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0025
Voice classification typically divides women's voices into three groups. Which are they?Wikipedia, "Voice type", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0027
Which approach to music education was developed in Hungary in the mid-twentieth century and inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 as Intangible Cultural Heritage?Wikipedia, "Kodály method", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0029
Which four main sections of instruments make up an orchestra?Wikipedia, "Orchestra", lead (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0025
Which pair of woodwinds are single-reed instruments, with one reed attached to a mouthpiece?Wikipedia, "Woodwind instrument", Reed instruments (read 2026-10-12). Written to MTEL Music (16), objective 0027
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test objectives of MTEL Music, field 16, as the test information guide prints them on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure website (https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/Content/StudyGuide/MA_SG_OBJ_16.htm and https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/MA016_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-12): 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items in 4 hours; multiple-choice subareas I Music Theory and Analysis (40 to 42 questions, 33% of the score, objectives 0001 to 0011), II Music History, Literature, and Culture (40 to 42, 33%, objectives 0012 to 0024) and III Music Education (17 to 19, 14%, objectives 0025 to 0029), and the open-response subarea, 20%. This bank holds 17, 16 and 7. The real test plays recordings through a headset; here a recording is described in words. Every fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the public page named under its question: Wikipedia articles, two entries of the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and 17 U.S.C. 110 at the Legal Information Institute. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
These 40 MTEL Music practice test questions are our own, from reading a score to teaching approaches. They are unofficial and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
Subareas and weights
The test objectives give music theory and analysis 33% of the score, music history, literature and culture 33%, and music education 14%, with 40 to 42, 40 to 42 and 17 to 19 questions. This bank holds 17, 16 and 7.
Recordings, put into words
The real test plays recordings through a headset. Here each recording is described, and the question asks what the objectives ask of a listener: the meter, the form, the texture, the slip in a performance.
No clock in exam mode
The MTEL site gives 4 hours for the whole test and no separate time for its multiple-choice questions, so exam mode asks its 40 questions untimed.
Listen to real recordings as well: a description cannot train the ear to hear a cadence or a change of meter.
The two open-response items are written analyses, so they are not practiced here.
Questions and answers
Is there an MTEL Music (16) practice test?
The MTEL site lists a practice test among its preparation materials for Music, beside sample aural items and sample questions. This page is separate: 40 questions written for this site, each naming its objective and its source.
How many questions are on the MTEL Music test?
The MTEL site lists 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response assignments in 4 hours of testing time. It adds that tests may include questions that do not count toward the score.
What is the passing score for MTEL Music?
240, which the MTEL site calls the qualifying score. Multiple-choice questions bring 80% of the score and the two open-response items 20%, so the number right on this page carries no verdict.
What do MTEL Music practice test questions cover?
Twenty-nine multiple-choice objectives: the score, melody, harmony, rhythm and form, on paper and by ear; Western music from the Middle Ages to today; music of the United States and of world cultures; repertoire, conducting, technique and teaching approaches.