The following terms in boldface (as well as a few concepts not specifically listed, but indicated in these review questions) will form your basic vocabulary for discussing and describing music. You should know all of these terms, including their (1) spelling, (2) pronunciation, and (3) definition, and be able to use them correctly in speaking and writing about music.

Dictionary definitions may be found in various online resources, including Cengage's MindTap, and you may also use reference works such as The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (UCF Library REF ML 100 .N8 1988), The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (REF ML 100 .N485 1986), the Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music (REF ML 100 .H36 1999), or other similar brief dictionaries of music found in that area of the library. For an extended explanation of any term or other general topic in music, look at The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians II (REF ML 100 .N48 2001), which is also available as an online database (look for "Oxford Music Online" on the UCF Library list of "Databases Titles" to find an online version of the Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians).

1. Know the definition of music, and know the four parameters of sound (duration/rhythm, pitch/frequency, volume/dynamics and timbre/tone color) and how changes in them are described.
2. In dealing with rhythm, what is the beat (or pulse) in a piece of music, and how does the concept of tempo relate to it?
3. What is an accent, and how do accents mark off measures? What is a meter, and what does it mean when a meter is either duple or triple?
4. What are syncopation and polymeters, and why do these sometimes make it difficult to hear the meter?
5. What are the four human voice ranges? (HINT: SATB) What is their order from highest to lowest, and which gender sings in each of them?
6. What are the four Western families of musical instruments? In general, how does each family make sound? Can you name 1-2 examples of each family?
7. What are the four basic groups in the Hornbostel-Sachs Classification System for musical instruments, and how does this arrangement differ from the four Western groups? How do instruments in each of the H-S familes make sounds? Be able to give at least 2-3 examples of each (H-S) family. NB. You may use the same instruments as in the "Western" system, but know the differences in these two classification systems.
8. When two different pitches are sounded, why might one sound higher (or lower) than the other, i.e., what is the scientific/acoustical basis for this difference?
9. What is an interval, and what is special about the interval of an octave and the way we hear it and use it in singing?
10. What is a scale, and how does it differ from a key? How might one note of a scale sound like a home or tonic pitch? What is this concept called?
11. What is a melody (three small parts to the definition) or a tune? What is a phrase, and what is a cadence?
12. What is harmony, especially in its broadest meaning? What is a chord, and what is a triad? What do the concepts of consonance and dissonance mean, and how are they used to describe individual intervals, chords, or even harmony?
13. What words are used to describe dynamics? Know the (Italian) musical terms for "loud," "soft," "becoming louder" and "becoming softer"?
14. In music, what is texture and how might it be described? What are the differences between a monophonic texture (monophony or unison) and a polyphonic texture (polyphony)?
15. What are counterpoint and homophony, and how are they special kinds of polyphony? What is an accompaniment, and what kind of texture does it create?
16. What are imitation and canons (or rounds)?