English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 21: Music

Word List
  • 60s music
  • album
  • bass
  • bass guitarist
  • be into
  • canned music
  • classical
  • drummer
  • drums
  • folk
  • good ear
  • guitar
  • hip-hop
  • host
  • jazz
  • keyboard
  • lead guitar
  • lead singer
  • make music
  • MP3
  • musician
  • napkin
  • pick out
  • play by ear
  • playlist
  • R&B
  • rap
  • read music
  • singer
  • soundtrack
  • stream
  • sync
  • synchronise
  • talented
  • taste
  • track
  • trained
  • tune
Exercises

21.1 ‣ Fill the gaps in the conversation.

HENRY: I've been listening to some songs from the new by the Hoods. It's great. I downloaded them to my _____ player and my phone, so I've got them in both places. I just got six _____, not the whole thing.

ANNA: Oh, right. I download music files but then forget to _____ them with my phone, so I don't have them when I travel! But I can _____ them from the computer in my study to the audio system in the living room, so I do get to listen to them. I've made some good _____ with my favourite tracks.

21.2 ‣ In a typical rock band ...

  1. ... who usually sings the songs?
  2. ... who keeps the rhythm using two sticks? _____
  3. ... who plays the lowest musical notes? _____
  4. ... who plays an electric piano or organ? _____
  5. ... who plays the highest notes on the guitar? _____

21.3 ‣ Read the comments and then answer the questions.

Ross: 'I must be the only person who actually likes the music in supermarkets.'

Emma: 'I love the old original tracks by groups like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.'

James: 'I love the film and I'm going to buy the music from it. I often buy film music.'

Lauren: 'I listen to the traditional songs of my country and try to learn them.'

Natalie: 'I just love the way they can speak the words so fast - it's so clever.'

Liam: 'I've always loved the blues and I like music with a strong rhythm.'

  1. Who likes soundtracks?
  2. Who likes hip-hop? _____
  3. Who likes 60s music? _____
  4. Who is a folk music fan? _____
  5. Who likes R&B? _____
  6. Who likes canned music? _____

21.4 ‣ Complete the missing words in this advertisement. You are sometimes given the first letter(s).

Do you have a good for music? Do you play a musical instrument _____ ear? Can you _____ out a tune on an instrument you’ve never played before? We are looking for volunteers to take part in an experiment to investigate people’s natural musical abilities. You don’t need to be a _____ musician and you don’t need to be able to _____ music. If you just _____ music at home or with friends for fun, whatever kinds of _____ you are _____, whether it’s _____ music, _____, pop, we want to hear from you. We believe there are many _____ musicians out there and we want to learn more about how you do it.

CALL 01255 7561447

21.5 ‣

Over to you

Write answers that are true for you.

  1. Can you remember the name of the first album you ever bought? Who was it by?
    _____
  2. How often do you download tracks or whole albums? Which do you prefer to do?
    _____
  3. Which kinds of music mentioned on the opposite page do you particularly like/dislike?
    _____
  4. Can you play any musical instruments and how well do you play them?
    _____
  5. What instrument and what kind of music would you like to be able to play well and why?
    _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Downloading and managing your music

Downloading music as MP31 files is easy.

  1. You can download a whole album or individual tracks2.
  2. You can save your favourite albums and tracks in playlists so you can find them easily on your music player.
  3. You can sync3 (or, more formal, synchronise) the music files on your computer with your phone or MP3 player.
  4. You can also stream4 music from the Internet or from your computer to other rooms in your home if you have the right equipment.

1 a popular type of audio file - you can listen to the files on an MP3 player
2 one song or piece of music from an album
3 have exactly the same files and data on more than one device
4 play music in real time from one source to another

B ‣ A typical rock band

She's lead singer in a rock band. One of her brothers plays lead guitar and her other brother is a keyboard player, so it's a real family band.

What would you rather play in a band, drums or bass? I could never be a drummer but I think I could become a fairly good bass guitarist.

C ‣ Types of music

My family all have different tastes in music. My sister Nicky loves classical music, my uncle Jed's a folk fan and my father loves jazz. I like R&B1 and hip-hop2. I even compose a bit of rap3 myself! My older brother is into4 The Beatles and other 60s music5. My mother loves film soundtracks6 but I just find them uninteresting. One type of music I can't stand is the canned music7 you get in supermarkets and airports - it drives me crazy!

1 Rhythm and Blues, originally a black American form of blues music with a strong rhythm
2 a style of popular music where the words are spoken rather than sung
3 the words spoken in hip-hop music (can also be a verb)
4 interested in and enthusiastic about
5 music from the 1960s
6 music from a film or TV show
7 artificial or recorded music played in the background

D ‣ Collocations for musical activities

She plays the guitar but she doesn't read music. She plays by ear. She's got a good ear*. She can pick out* a tune on almost any instrument. She's a very talented musician.

You can make music in lots of ways. You don't need to be a trained musician to enjoy music to the full.

* informal

Common mistakes

We say: classical music. (NOT classic) She loves classical music. (NOT classic music)

Music is uncountable. They played fantastic music for an hour. (NOT fantastic musics)

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