musicmusic /ˈmyuzɪk/ ●●● S1 W1 noun [uncountable] 1
eng. lang. arts the arrangement of sounds made by instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant, interesting, or exciting: Let’s listen to some music on the radio. What kind of music does your band play? Chuck wrote the music for the song. A new piece of music was specially written for the occasion.THESAURUStune – a series of musical notes that are nice to listen to: He whistled a pretty little tune as he worked.melody – a tune, especially one that is part of a larger piece of music: There is a beautiful melody at the beginning of the symphony that comes back in the last movement.piece of music (also piece) – a written, musical work: This is a piece I’m learning for my piano recital.song – a short piece of music with words: She and her friends were listening to songs on the radio and dancing.arrangement – a piece of music that has been written or changed so that it can be played by a particular instrument: The composer wrote an arrangement of a popular Christmas carol for flute and guitar.composition formal – a piece of music. Used especially to talk about who wrote it, or when you are not giving a specific name for the music: Mozart wrote his first composition at the age of five.number – a piece of popular music, a song, a dance, etc. that forms part of a larger performance: She sang several numbers from her most recent album.track – one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD: The first track is my favorite.score – a long piece of music written to go with a movie: The score for the movie won an Oscar.2eng. lang. arts the art of writing or playing music: My daughter teaches music. Lincoln High has a good music program. It’s hard to get noticed in the music industry without knowing someone who works in it.3eng. lang. arts a set of written marks representing music, or paper with the written marks on it: He arranged his music on the stand. McCartney never learned to read music. → see also sheet music4be music to somebody’s ears if someone’s words are music to your ears, they make you very happy or pleased: His offer was music to our ears. [Origin: 1200–1300 Old French musique, from Latin, from Greek mousike art of the Muses] → see also face the music at face2 (7)COLLOCATIONSverbslisten to music Ella was listening to music on her iPod.play/perform music A small band was playing jazz music.write/compose music He composed the music for the “Lord of the Rings” films.make music (=play or compose music) We began making music together about five years ago.record music The singer has been recording music since the 1990s.download music (=get music from the Internet) Many people are downloading music without paying for it.music blares (=it is loud and unpleasant) Music blared from the bar downstairs.adjectives/nouns + musicloud music They were kept awake by loud music from next door.soft/quiet music James took her for a romantic dinner with candles and soft music.pop/rock/classical etc. music Johnny Cash was one of country music’s greatest stars.live music (=played by musicians on stage) Most of the bars have live music.background music (=that you hear, but do not listen to) There was some soft background music playing in the restaurant.choral music (=sung by large groups of people) We perform a wide variety of choral music.instrumental music (=with no singing) Most of the songs were instrumental music.chamber music (=classical music played by a small group of musicians) The group gave a performance of Schumann’s chamber music.orchestral music (=classical music played by a large group of musicians) He has a large CD collection, mostly orchestral music.piano/organ music I love listening to piano music.music + nounsmusic lover Her recordings delighted music lovers.
eng. lang. arts the arrangement of sounds made by instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant, interesting, or exciting: Let’s listen to some music on the radio. What kind of music does your band play? Chuck wrote the music for the song. A new piece of music was specially written for the occasion.THESAURUStune – a series of musical notes that are nice to listen to: He whistled a pretty little tune as he worked.melody – a tune, especially one that is part of a larger piece of music: There is a beautiful melody at the beginning of the symphony that comes back in the last movement.piece of music (also piece) – a written, musical work: This is a piece I’m learning for my piano recital.song – a short piece of music with words: She and her friends were listening to songs on the radio and dancing.arrangement – a piece of music that has been written or changed so that it can be played by a particular instrument: The composer wrote an arrangement of a popular Christmas carol for flute and guitar.composition formal – a piece of music. Used especially to talk about who wrote it, or when you are not giving a specific name for the music: Mozart wrote his first composition at the age of five.number – a piece of popular music, a song, a dance, etc. that forms part of a larger performance: She sang several numbers from her most recent album.track – one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD: The first track is my favorite.score – a long piece of music written to go with a movie: The score for the movie won an Oscar.2eng. lang. arts the art of writing or playing music: My daughter teaches music. Lincoln High has a good music program. It’s hard to get noticed in the music industry without knowing someone who works in it.3eng. lang. arts a set of written marks representing music, or paper with the written marks on it: He arranged his music on the stand. McCartney never learned to read music. → see also sheet music4be music to somebody’s ears if someone’s words are music to your ears, they make you very happy or pleased: His offer was music to our ears. [Origin: 1200–1300 Old French musique, from Latin, from Greek mousike art of the Muses] → see also face the music at face2 (7)COLLOCATIONSverbslisten to music Ella was listening to music on her iPod.play/perform music A small band was playing jazz music.write/compose music He composed the music for the “Lord of the Rings” films.make music (=play or compose music) We began making music together about five years ago.record music The singer has been recording music since the 1990s.download music (=get music from the Internet) Many people are downloading music without paying for it.music blares (=it is loud and unpleasant) Music blared from the bar downstairs.adjectives/nouns + musicloud music They were kept awake by loud music from next door.soft/quiet music James took her for a romantic dinner with candles and soft music.pop/rock/classical etc. music Johnny Cash was one of country music’s greatest stars.live music (=played by musicians on stage) Most of the bars have live music.background music (=that you hear, but do not listen to) There was some soft background music playing in the restaurant.choral music (=sung by large groups of people) We perform a wide variety of choral music.instrumental music (=with no singing) Most of the songs were instrumental music.chamber music (=classical music played by a small group of musicians) The group gave a performance of Schumann’s chamber music.orchestral music (=classical music played by a large group of musicians) He has a large CD collection, mostly orchestral music.piano/organ music I love listening to piano music.music + nounsmusic lover Her recordings delighted music lovers.