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20 multiple-choice questions and 25 flashcards on Music Theory: Scales, Intervals, Chords, about 13% of the HS Music bank. Every one carries a written rationale.
Music Theory: Scales, Intervals, Chords is one of 12 chapters in CoStudy's HS Music (General) bank, and it holds 20 of the bank's 150 multiple-choice questions — roughly 13% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.
Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.
5 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.
The chromatic scale consists of:
Answer: C — All twelve pitches within an octave, each a half step apart
C) The chromatic scale moves entirely by half steps, including all 12 pitches. A) Describes C major. B) Describes a diatonic scale. D) Different concept.
A first-inversion C major triad places which note in the bass?
Answer: D — E
D) First inversion puts the THIRD (E) in the bass; root position has C in the bass (A); second inversion has G in the bass (B). C) B is not in a C major triad.
Going UP from C to E, how many half steps do you travel, and what interval is this?
Answer: D — 4 half steps — a major third
D) C to E spans C–C♯–D–D♯–E = 4 half steps, a major third. A) Would be C to E♭. B) Is C to F. C) Is C to G.
Two notes of the same pitch joined by a curved line that adds their durations together is called a:
Answer: D — Tie
D) A tie connects two notes of the SAME pitch, summing durations. A) A slur connects notes of DIFFERENT pitches and indicates legato. B) Marks a phrase grouping. C) Holds a single note.
In 4/4 time, a half note receives:
Answer: D — Two beats
D) Half note = 2 beats. A) Eighth note. B) Quarter note. C) Dotted half.
4 cards from the 25 in this chapter.
Roman numeral analysis?
Indicates chord function in key. I (tonic), IV (subdominant), V (dominant), etc.
Common time signatures?
4/4 (common time), 3/4 (waltz), 2/4 (march), 6/8 (compound). Top: beats/measure. Bottom: note value.
Interval?
Distance between two notes. Named by counting + quality.
Triad?
3-note chord. Root, third, fifth.
These are a sample. The full Music Theory: Scales, Intervals, Chords chapter runs 45 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.