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What Might it Mean? An Uncommon Glossary of Musical Terms and Concepts for the Stuck, Bored, and Curious   by Nancy Garniez (1999)
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Raves for What Might It Mean?
“What Might It Mean?” is a glossary of musical terms. Though it requires a knowledge of music for full understanding and appreciation, it is still–even to me, and I know very little–a remarkably interesting book. I’ve never seen anything like it. What the book does is describe the significance of such musical phenomena as resonance, overtones, and consonance for somebody who hears them….
Poets would find this book valuable, especially if they know music, and so would critics. The book provides an extremely refined vocabulary for meanings and effects that apply to verbal as well as musical experience, rewarding study by elevating your capacity to discern the play of feeling and sense not only in music, but also in the lines of a poem or the sentences of a paragraph. It gives exquisite attention to the fundamental expressive powers of the human voice.
I would be surprised if this book didn’t become well known and indispensable for many people.      —  Leonard Michaels         
 © Topica, Inc. published on Tip World <tips@tipworld.com> April 6, 2000. Novelist and short story writer Leonard Michaels was co-editor together with Christopher Ricks of The State of the Language, published by U of C Press in 1990. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley.
A new book that is sure to find its way onto the bookshelves of music lovers across America….It is sure to be a special hit among beginners and amateur musicians, although the trained professional will find much in it to broaden their own perspective and maybe unseat some long-held prejudices at the same time….
One of the most helpful features of this work is its use of cross-referenced key words….One very enjoyable way to read this book is to follow the cross-references around. In this way the reader develops a sense of the interrelatedness of musical syntax as well as the organic whole of the book itself….Some of the definitions are more technical while others are more philosophical and/or entertaining….
What you will find here is strong opinion and insight from a woman who has devoted her life to music: as a performer, teacher and scholar. She characterizes her approach as “a matter of practice over theory – not a small matter.” Some of Garniez’s insights are quite profound…Others are just downright funny….I predict that What Might It Mean? will be a big hit….more than anything else, it is a fun read.                                                         — Joe Metzler
© Music For the Love of It, Berkeley, CA, Vol. 13, No. 2, February, 2000. Joe Metzler is former Production and Development Director of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and was the founder and past President of Music Next Millennium. His compositions have been played throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe.