Sounds of the Americas - Quiz
How much do you really know about the music that moves the Americas? Test yourself on the genres, instruments, and rhythms born across the hemisphere.
Take the quiz - Sounds of the Americas
One Hemisphere · One Future
How well do you know the sounds of the Americas?
Fifteen questions about the music and culture that move across our hemisphere. No politics, no trick questions. Just the rhythms we share, coast to coast.
Your score stays on your device, and nothing is saved.
Which Brazilian musical style and dance grew out of Afro-Brazilian communities and is central to Carnival?
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Samba grew out of Afro-Brazilian communities in Bahia, took its urban form in Rio de Janeiro, and drives the samba school parades of Carnival.
Tango was born in the Río de la Plata region, shared by which two neighboring countries?
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Tango began in the working-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo along the Río de la Plata, and UNESCO listed it in 2009 on a joint request from Argentina and Uruguay.
Reggae, which spread worldwide as a message of unity, originated on which Caribbean island?
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Reggae grew out of Jamaican ska and rocksteady in the late 1960s, centered in Kingston.
The accordion-driven style vallenato comes from the Caribbean coast of which country?
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Vallenato comes from Colombia's Caribbean region around Valledupar and is built on the accordion, the caja drum and the guacharaca.
Mariachi music, recognized by UNESCO, is a tradition from which country?
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Mariachi comes from western Mexico, especially Jalisco, and UNESCO added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2011.
The steel pan, an instrument built from oil drums, was invented on which twin-island nation?
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The steelpan was invented in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s and is the country's national instrument.
Cumbia, which spread across the whole hemisphere, has its roots on the Caribbean coast of which country?
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Cumbia grew on Colombia's Caribbean coast from Indigenous, African and Spanish traditions, then spread across Latin America from the 1940s and 1950s.
Jazz, one of the Americas' great cultural exports, is widely considered to have been born in which U.S. city?
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Jazz took shape in New Orleans in the early 1900s, blending African rhythms, ragtime, blues and brass band music.
The charango, a small stringed instrument, is most closely associated with the Andes of which two countries?
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The charango, a small Andean lute, is most closely tied to Bolivia and Peru, which both claim its origin. It is also played in Ecuador, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina.
Son cubano, a foundational style blending Spanish and African elements, comes from which island?
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Son cubano took shape in eastern Cuba in the late 1800s, mixing Spanish guitar and tres with African rhythms and call and response.
Merengue is the national music and dance of which Caribbean country?
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Merengue grew up in the Dominican Republic in the 1800s, and UNESCO added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016.
The quena, an ancient flute, is part of the musical heritage of which mountain range running down the Americas?
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The quena is the traditional flute of the Andes, played for centuries by Quechua and Aymara communities in Peru, Bolivia and beyond.
Bossa nova, a softer offshoot of samba that charmed the world, came from which country?
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Bossa nova grew out of samba in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, shaped by João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.
Country music's traditions trace strongly to the folk music of which U.S. mountain region?
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Appalachian ballads and string music shaped early country, and the 1927 Bristol Sessions on the Tennessee-Virginia border are often called its big bang.
Which Central American country's Congress declared the marimba its national instrument in 1978?
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Guatemala's Congress declared the marimba its national instrument in 1978 and a national symbol in 1999. Costa Rica followed in 1996.
One Hemisphere · One Future
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Curious Listener
You're just tuning in, and that's a great place to start. The music of the Americas is vast, and nobody's born knowing every rhythm. Take a lap through the sounds and come back. Your next score will surprise you.
Good Ear
You know your way around the hemisphere's sound. You've got the big styles, the major regions, the feel of the place. A little more and you'll know the music of the Americas better than most. Run it again.
Rhythm Insider
Impressive. You hear the Americas the way a lifelong music lover does: the styles, the instruments, the roots that cross every border. Just a few more and you've got the whole songbook.
Hemisphere Maestro
You know these sounds like home, because they are. From samba to son, from jazz to the marimba, you've got the music of the Americas down. Now pass it on: tell a neighbor.
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