Theremin Trivia Questions

False. The right hand controls pitch, the left controls volume—both must move independently for proper playing; stillness is not required.

True. The theremin uses two antennas to sense hand position, controlling pitch and volume with no physical contact—making it famously touchless.

True. Rockmore was a child violin prodigy with perfect pitch, which she applied to master the theremin’s notoriously difficult pitch control.

True. The wobbly sound on 'Good Vibrations' came from an Electro-Theremin, a box-like device with a slide control, not a traditional antenna theremin.

False. Léon Theremin deliberately created it in 1920 as a novel electronic instrument, not as a byproduct of a weapons project.

False. Theremin’s inventor was briefly detained by the KGB, but the instrument wasn’t banned for its sound—he was forced to work on espionage tech.

False. Léon Theremin demonstrated it as a musical instrument from the start, though he later worked on a similar system for burglar alarms.

True. It generates pitch by mixing two high-frequency oscillators; the difference between them creates the audible tone you hear.