Chicago House Music Quiz: Drum Machines and Frankie Knuckles

This Chicago house music quiz heads onto the dance floor where house was born in the late 1970s and 1980s. Play 10 interactive questions on Frankie Knuckles and the Warehouse, how house got its name, the four-on-the-floor beat, Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, the TB-303 behind acid house, Jesse Saunders, Marshall Jefferson and radio mixes.

Start Chicago House Music Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
Which city is the birthplace of house music?
Club
Which club gave house music its name?
DJ
Which DJ is called the Godfather of House?
Beat
What is house music's typical beat?
909
Which Roland drum machine is central to house?
Acid
Which Roland bass machine created acid house squelches?
Early
Which artist released the early house record On and On?
Anthem
Who released the anthem Move Your Body?
Radio
How did many fans first hear house mixes?
Roots
Which earlier dance music did house grow from?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which city is the birthplace of house music?
Answer: Chicago
It grew in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Q2: Which club gave house music its name?
Answer: The Warehouse
It was a Chicago nightclub.
Q3: Which DJ is called the Godfather of House?
Answer: Frankie Knuckles
He played at the Warehouse.
Q4: What is house music's typical beat?
Answer: Four-on-the-floor kick drums
The kick hits every beat.
Q5: Which Roland drum machine is central to house?
Answer: TR-909
The TR-808 was also used.
Q6: Which Roland bass machine created acid house squelches?
Answer: TB-303
Phuture's Acid Tracks used it.
Q7: Which artist released the early house record On and On?
Answer: Jesse Saunders
It came out in 1984.
Q8: Who released the anthem Move Your Body?
Answer: Marshall Jefferson
Its piano line is famous.
Q9: How did many fans first hear house mixes?
Answer: On radio mix shows
Chicago DJs mixed live on air.
Q10: Which earlier dance music did house grow from?
Answer: Disco
DJs extended disco tracks.

Born in a Chicago Warehouse

House music grew in Chicago in the late 1970s and 1980s. Frankie Knuckles, later called the Godfather of House, was the resident DJ at the Warehouse, a nightclub where he extended and remixed disco records. Fans began calling the music house after the club.

Producers used affordable drum machines such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 to create the four-on-the-floor beat, with a kick drum on every beat. The Roland TB-303 bass machine produced squelching sounds that created acid house, heard on Phuture's Acid Tracks.

Jesse Saunders' On and On in 1984 was one of the first house records, and Marshall Jefferson's Move Your Body became an anthem with its piano line. Chicago radio mix shows spread the sound, which soon took over clubs in Britain and Europe.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dance music fans will enjoy these questions.

Where house began
Who the pioneers were
Which machines were used
What the beat sounds like
How it spread

Did You Know?

Chicago named a street after Frankie Knuckles.
Vocal house uses gospel singers.
Vinyl records were key to DJs.
Deep house is a slower style.
The UK had acid house raves in 1988.