New Orleans Jazz History: Blues, Ragtime & Armstrong Quiz

Ten Smithsonian-backed questions on the people, recordings, improvisation, and roots of New Orleans jazz.

Choose one answer per question. There’s no timer. You can skip a question; unanswered questions count as incorrect.

QUESTION 01Which U.S. city is especially associated with the early development of jazz?

New OrleansNashvilleSeattlePhoenix

QUESTION 02Which two earlier African American styles helped shape early jazz?

Disco and technoBlues and ragtimePunk and new waveBaroque opera and minimalism

QUESTION 03Which New Orleans pianist and composer also claimed to have invented jazz?

Scott JoplinDuke EllingtonJelly Roll MortonCount Basie

QUESTION 04Which instrument made Louis Armstrong especially famous as a jazz soloist?

HarpBassoonCelloTrumpet

QUESTION 05Which musician was an important early mentor to Louis Armstrong?

Joe “King” OliverBenny GoodmanJohn Philip SousaGlenn Miller

QUESTION 06To which city did Armstrong travel in 1922 to join King Oliver’s band?

DenverChicagoMiamiSan Francisco

QUESTION 07What is scat singing?

Singing only in LatinReading poetry without rhythmImprovised vocal syllables rather than conventional lyricsPlaying percussion without a singer

QUESTION 08Which 1926 Armstrong recording helped popularize scat singing?

Take FiveRhapsody in BlueSing, Sing, SingHeebie Jeebies

QUESTION 09Which groups are associated with Armstrong’s influential 1920s recording sessions?

Hot Five and Hot SevenThe Beatles and the StonesThe Ink Spots and the PlattersThe Temptations and the Supremes

QUESTION 10Which feature of early New Orleans jazz describes players reshaping music together?

Strictly silent performanceCollective improvisationExclusive use of one-note melodiesComplete removal of rhythm

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