noun
1 arrangement of sounds for singing/playing
ADJECTIVE
▪ beautiful , fine , good , great , wonderful
▪ loud
▪ quiet , soft , sweet
▪
The soft background ~ made her feel sleepy.
▪ ambient
▪ heavy
▪
Heavy ~ thundered from the basement.
▪ light
▪ serious
▪ cool , funky
▪ dramatic , lively , upbeat
▪ tonal
▪ atonal , twelve-tone
▪ contrapuntal , polyphonic
▪ live
▪ recorded
▪ background
▪ canned , elevator ( esp. AmE ), piped ( BrE )
▪ band , choral , instrumental , orchestral , symphonic
▪ guitar , keyboard , organ , piano , vocal , etc.
▪ chamber
▪ church , liturgical , religious , sacred
▪ secular
▪ mood
▪ film , movie ( esp. AmE )
▪ ballet , incidental , theme
▪
the incidental ~ for a radio play
▪ acoustic , computer , digital , electronic , online
▪ African , Indian , Irish , Western , etc.
▪ mainstream , traditional
▪ alternative , underground
▪ urban
▪ period
▪
The movie uses appropriate period ~.
▪ experimental
▪ avant-garde , Baroque , classical , contemporary , early , medieval , modern
▪ popular
▪ black , country , dance , disco , folk , gospel , heavy metal , hip-hop , house , indie , jazz , pop , rap , reggae , rock , soul , techno , world , etc.
… OF MUSIC
▪ piece
▪ bar , line
VERB + MUSIC
▪ listen to
▪
Listening to ~ is a great way to relax.
▪ hear
▪
She could hear loud ~ from the party upstairs.
▪ make , perform , play , sing
▪
We love to make ~ as a family.
▪ play , put on
▪
Put some ~ on, would you? (= play a CD, etc.)
▪ blare , blare out , blast , blast out , pump out
▪
bars and nightclubs blaring ~ late into the night
▪ download
▪ turn down , turn up
▪
Could you turn that ~ down?
▪ compose , write
▪ arrange , score
▪ put sth to , set sth to
▪
Schubert set several poems by Goethe to ~.
▪ create , produce
▪
The city has produced a lot of good ~.
▪ provide
▪
a beach party with ~ provided by a local band
▪ release
▪ distribute
▪ broadcast
▪ record
▪ burn
▪
I use my laptop to burn ~ to a CD.
▪ rip
▪
software that rips ~ from CDs
▪ be into ( informal ), enjoy , like , love
▪
She's really into indie ~.
▪ appreciate
▪
The ability to appreciate ~ is largely learnt.
▪ pirate , steal
MUSIC + VERB
▪ sound
▪
The ~ sounded vibrant and loud.
▪ play
▪
Calypso ~ played faintly in the distance.
▪ blare , blast , boom , pound , pump
▪
disco ~ blaring out of the open windows of a car
▪ come , drift , emanate , flow , waft
▪
The ~ was coming from next door.
▪ fill sth
▪
Music filled the air.
▪ drown sb/sth out
▪ fade , fade away , fade out
▪ accompany sth
▪
the ~ which accompanied the dance
▪ emerge from sth
▪
the ~ emerging from the cities of America
▪ evoke sth , inspire sth
▪ reflect sth
MUSIC + NOUN
▪ biz ( informal ), business , industry
▪ scene
▪
Rio's live ~ scene
▪ world
▪
She is a rising star in the ~ world.
▪ genre
▪ press
▪
The album has been praised in the ~ press.
▪ magazine
▪ charts
▪
The band are number one in the ~ charts.
▪ award
▪ concert , event , festival
▪ collection
▪ appreciation
▪ aficionado , buff , enthusiast , fan , lover
▪ composer , critic , director , journalist , mogul , producer , promoter , teacher
▪
the choir's ~ director
▪ group
▪ legend , star
▪
~ legend, Elvis Presley
▪ label
▪ CD
▪ video
▪ download , file
▪ album , track
▪ channel , station
▪ retailer , shop ( esp. BrE ), store ( esp. AmE )
▪ room , studio
▪ venue
▪ library
▪ piracy
▪ education
▪ academy , college , school
▪ class , lesson , workshop
▪ therapy
PREPOSITION
▪ to (the) ~
▪
to dance to the ~
PHRASES
▪ in time to (the) ~
▪
They did their exercises in time to the ~.
▪ ~ and song
▪
an evening of Scottish ~ and song
▪ the sound of ~
▪
The sound of pop ~ drifted through the open window.
▪ a style of ~
▪ taste in ~
▪
Her taste in ~ was eclectic.
▪ words and ~
▪
He made up the words and ~ for the song.
2 written signs that represent musical sounds
ADJECTIVE
▪ printed , sheet
… OF MUSIC
▪ bar , line , sheet
VERB + MUSIC
▪ read
▪
Can you read ~?
MUSIC + NOUN
▪ score
▪ stand
▪
I pulled the lyrics out and laid them on the ~ stand.
▪ publisher , publishing
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ for
▪
~ for piano, cello and voice
▪ with ~ , without ~
▪
He played the piece without ~.