Music Master

Elementary (A1-A2) 30 minutes
ESL Music Worksheet, elementary A1-A2, matching, categorising, gap-fill, questions

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Identifying, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Freer Practice - Pair Work

In this productive music vocabulary worksheet, students learn and practice a variety of words related to music. First, students underline the...

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Identifying, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this productive music vocabulary worksheet, students learn and practice a variety of words related to music. First, students underline the correct words to complete music-related personal statements and then mark them as true or false. Next, students match each music-related word to its definition. Students then write each music word under its correct heading. After that, students identify the odd word out in each set and write why the music word doesn't belong. Students then complete sentences with music words from a box. Following that, students write down two answers for each music-related item and then compare their answers with a partner. Finally, students ask and answer music conversation questions in pairs.
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Musical Opinions

Elementary (A1-A2) 30 minutes
ESL Music Activity and Game, elementary A1-A2, discussion, gap-fill, guessing game, group work

ESL Music Activity and Game - Speaking: Discussion, Asking and Answering Questions - Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Guessing - Group Work

In this interesting music discussion activity and game, students talk about music and practice topic-related vocabulary. First, students read music questions...

ESL Music Activity and Game - Speaking: Guided Discussion, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Guessing - Group Work In this interesting music discussion activity and game, students talk about music and practice topic-related vocabulary. First, students read music questions and write an answer for each one. Next, in groups of four, students discuss each music question in turn and explain their answers to each other. Afterwards, review the students' answers together as a class. Next, students play a guessing game using the music words in bold from the worksheet. In competing teams of two, students take turns picking a card and reading the sentence aloud, saying 'BLANK' instead of the music word written in bold. Their team member then has ten seconds to guess the word. If they are successful, the team keeps the card. If not, the other team has one chance to guess the word. It's then a member of the other team's turn to pick up a card and read a sentence. The team with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
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Musical Dominoes

Pre-intermediate (A2) 20 minutes
ESL Music Game, pre-intermediate A2, matching, dominoes, group work

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary: Matching - Group Work

In this useful music vocabulary game, students practice forming sentences containing music-related words. First, students turn over the top domino from the pile and place it face-up on the table. The first player then puts a domino...

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary: Matching - Group Work In this useful music vocabulary game, students practice forming sentences containing music-related words. First, students turn over the top domino from the pile and place it face-up on the table. The first player then puts a domino down before or after the domino on the table, making sure that the two parts of the sentence match to form a suitable sentence containing a music-related word. The other players then take turns matching their dominoes in the same way by putting them down at either end of the domino chain. If a player cannot put down one of their dominoes, they take a domino from the top of the pile and put it down if they can. If there are no dominoes left in the pile, play passes to the next student. The first player to get rid of all their dominoes wins the game.
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Musical Mash-Up

Pre-intermediate (A2) 25 minutes
ESL Music Board Game, pre-intermediate A2, impromptu speech, multiple-choice, group work

ESL Music Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Impromptu Speech, Multiple-Choice Questions, Communicative Practice - Pair Work

This free music vocabulary board game helps students practice talking about music and using related vocabulary. Players take turns rolling the dice and...

ESL Music Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Impromptu Speech, Multiple-Choice Questions, Communicative Practice - Pair Work This free music vocabulary board game helps students practice talking about music and using related vocabulary. Players take turns rolling the dice and moving their counters along the board. If a player lands on a 'Talk about' square, they talk about the music topic on the square for 20 seconds without stopping. If a player can't think of anything to say or stops talking before the 20 seconds are up, they go back two squares. If a player lands on a 'Trivia Question' square, another student picks up a card and reads out the music question along with three possible multiple-choice answers. The player then chooses an answer. If it's correct, the player stays on the square. If not, they move their counter back two squares. The first player to reach the finish wins the game.
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Tune Up Your Vocabulary

Pre-intermediate (A2) 30 minutes
ESL Music Worksheet, pre-intermediate A2, matching, gap-fill, music genres, pair work

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Multiple and Binary Choice, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work

This comprehensive music vocabulary worksheet helps students practice various words related to music. First, students match sentence halves to form...

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Multiple and Binary Choice, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work This comprehensive music vocabulary worksheet helps students practice various words related to music. First, students match sentence halves to form statements about music. Students then match each music word in bold from Exercise A to its definition. Next, students complete each music-related sentence with the correct verb. After that, students match the names of popular musical styles to their descriptions. Students then move on to underline the correct word in each sentence to complete a text about the Beatles. Finally, students complete conversation questions with music-related words from a box and then ask and answer the questions with a partner.
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Music Mania

Intermediate (B1) 25 minutes
ESL Music Quiz Game, intermediate B1, vocabulary, identifying, group work

ESL Music Quiz Game - Vocabulary: Providing Vocabulary, Identifying - Pair and Group Work

Here is an engaging music quiz game to help students practice vocabulary related to music. Teams take turns picking up a card and reading the question to the other team. If a team hears a question...

ESL Music Quiz Game - Vocabulary: Providing Vocabulary, Identifying - Pair and Group Work Here is an engaging music quiz game to help students practice vocabulary related to music. Teams take turns picking up a card and reading the question to the other team. If a team hears a question beginning with 'Name...', they provide vocabulary or names related to the music-based question. If a team hears a question beginning with 'Which word...', they decide which music-related word does not belong in a sequence of four. If a team answers correctly, they keep the card. If not, the card is removed from the game. The team with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
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Music Trivia Challenge

Intermediate (B1) 25 minutes
ESL Music Game, intermediate B1, gap-fill, multiple-choice quiz, group work

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Multiple-Choice Quiz, Guessing - Group and Pair Work

In this free music quiz game, students complete trivia questions about music and then take part in a quiz using the questions. In two groups, students begin by completing music trivia questions...

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Multiple-Choice Quiz, Guessing - Group and Pair Work In this free music quiz game, students complete trivia questions about music and then take part in a quiz using the questions. In two groups, students begin by completing music trivia questions using the words provided. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students then take turns reading each music question along with three multiple-choice options to their partner, who has to try to guess the correct answer. For each correct answer, students score one point. The student with the most points at the end of the quiz wins.
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Words That Rock!

Intermediate (B1) 30 minutes
ESL Music Worksheet, intermediate B1, matching, categorising, gap-fill, pair work

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work

Here is an informative music vocabulary worksheet to help students learn and practice words related to music. To begin, students complete collocations...

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Binary Choice, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work Here is an informative music vocabulary worksheet to help students learn and practice words related to music. To begin, students complete collocations related to music by matching verbs with suitable endings. Next, students write 'P' next to the music collocations that performers or creators of music would do, and 'L' next to the things that listeners of music would do. Students then put words related to music in the correct categories. After that, students underline the correct music-related words in a set of sentences. Students then complete sentences with music vocabulary from a box. Following that, students underline the correct words in music conversation questions. Lastly, students ask and answer the questions with a partner.
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Let's Talk about Music

Upper-intermediate (B2) 35 minutes
ESL Music Activity, upper-intermediate B2, word search, gap-fill, questions, pair work

ESL Music Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Word Search, Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work

In this enjoyable music vocabulary activity, students find words related to music in a word search and then use them to complete and ask music conversation questions to a partner. Working alone, students...

ESL Music Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Word Search, Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this enjoyable music vocabulary activity, students find words related to music in a word search and then use them to complete and ask music conversation questions to a partner. Working alone, students begin by finding 12 words related to music in a word search. Next, students complete music conversation questions with the words from the word search, adding two more music-related questions of their own at the end. Lastly, students take turns asking their partner the questions.
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Musical Lingo

Upper-intermediate (B2) 25 minutes
ESL Music Worksheet, upper-intermediate B2, matching, multiple-choice, gap-fill, pair work

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work

This insightful music vocabulary worksheet helps students practice various words related to music. Students begin by matching music words from a box to...

ESL Music Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Multiple-choice, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Pair Work This insightful music vocabulary worksheet helps students practice various words related to music. Students begin by matching music words from a box to their definitions. Students then match music genres with their descriptions. Next, students complete sentences with the correct multiple-choice answers. After that, students complete music conversation questions with words from a box. Lastly, students discuss the conversation questions with a partner.
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Music Taboo

Upper-intermediate (B2) 35 minutes
ESL Music Game, upper-intermediate B2, word association, describing, guessing, group work

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Word Association, Describing, Guessing, Freer Practice - Group Work

In this fun music vocabulary game, students describe and guess nouns related to music. First, in two teams, students look at each card and discuss how they would describe the music noun on the card...

ESL Music Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Word Association, Describing, Guessing, Freer Practice - Group Work In this fun music vocabulary game, students describe and guess nouns related to music. First, in two teams, students look at each card and discuss how they would describe the music noun on the card. Students then think of and write down three keywords associated with the music noun on each card. Team A and B then swap cards. A student from Team A begins by picking up a card and describing the music noun in bold to the other students on their team without saying the noun or using the other words on the card. The student is also not allowed to use variations of the words on the card. Each round lasts for 30 seconds. If the team guesses the music noun before the time is up, the card is removed from the game, and the student picks up another card to describe. This continues until time runs out. If the student makes a mistake or their teammates fail to guess the music noun before the 30 seconds are up, play passes to the other team. Teams take turns playing until one team runs out of cards. The first team to successfully describe and guess all the music nouns wins.
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Using Music Vocabulary

Music vocabulary helps students name musical styles, describe performers and talk about listening habits. Using these words with suitable verbs lets them explain preferences and discuss musical experiences clearly.

This page contains 11 resources from elementary (A1-A2) to upper-intermediate (B2), including two free downloads. The materials cover music words, genres, collocations, opinions and conversation practice.

Use these examples to connect vocabulary with things students can say about music.

PurposeUseful languageExample
Name musical styles jazz, rock, classical music 'She enjoys jazz and classical music.'
Describe performers singer, guitarist, band 'The band's guitarist also sings.'
Discuss listening habits listen to music, make a playlist 'I listen to music on my way to work.'
Talk about making music play the piano, write a song 'He plays the piano and writes songs.'
Describe musical experiences go to a concert, perform live 'We saw the band perform live.'
Explain preferences prefer, enjoy, because 'I prefer this song because I like the lyrics.'

How to Use Music Vocabulary

Separate styles, people and actions: Ask students to sort words into categories before using them in sentences. This helps distinguish a genre such as 'rock' from a performer such as 'guitarist' and an action such as 'perform'.

Build phrases around familiar music: Let students choose a song or artist they know and describe it using a few target phrases. Accept different musical tastes and focus feedback on whether the language communicates their meaning.

Develop opinions with reasons: Move beyond asking whether students like a song. Model a reason about the voice, lyrics or instruments, then encourage students to explain their own choices and ask a partner a follow-up question.

3-Step Framework for Teaching Music Vocabulary

For intermediate students, move from understanding collocations to recalling vocabulary and exchanging questions. The following sequence uses the page's intermediate resources.

1. Connect words with musical roles: Students match verbs with endings to form music collocations, then identify which actions belong to performers or creators and which belong to listeners. Categorising further music words gives them a set of meanings and phrases to draw on in the next stage.

2. Recall and distinguish vocabulary: Teams answer cards that ask them to name music-related words or identify the word that does not belong in a set. Correct answers earn cards. This moves students from recognising supplied combinations to retrieving vocabulary and distinguishing meanings.

3. Use vocabulary in question exchanges: Groups complete music trivia questions with supplied words before students pair up with someone from the other group. Partners read the questions and answer options aloud, taking turns answering and scoring points. Completing and exchanging the questions gives the vocabulary a practical role in a spoken task.

Common Mistakes with Music Vocabulary

Leaving out 'to' after 'listen': Use 'listen to' before the thing a person listens to. Incorrect: 'I listen music every evening.' Correct: 'I listen to music every evening.'

Using 'music' as a countable noun: Use 'song', 'track' or 'piece of music' when counting individual items, depending on what you mean. Incorrect: 'There are ten musics on my playlist.' Correct: 'There are ten tracks on my playlist.'

Common Questions About Teaching Music Vocabulary

How can students practice giving opinions about music?

The activity Musical Opinions gives students time to prepare answers before discussing music questions and explaining their views in groups. They then reuse vocabulary from the discussion in a team guessing game. A ten-second limit encourages quick recall, while the other team can answer if the first team cannot.

What worksheet helps with teaching music vocabulary?

The worksheet Tune Up Your Vocabulary connects music words with meanings, verbs and musical styles. Students match sentence halves and definitions, choose suitable verbs, and complete a text about the Beatles. They finish by completing and discussing music questions, putting the vocabulary into use after the written exercises.

What free game can students play to practice music vocabulary?

The free board game Musical Mash-Up combines music discussion with trivia. Students move around the board, speaking about music topics for 20 seconds or answering multiple-choice questions. Unsuccessful attempts send them back two squares, so progressing towards the finish involves both sustained speaking and answering music questions correctly.

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