📕 Part 1: Music

This episode's vocabulary

Niche (adjective) – relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population. → *Collecting English course books from the early 1900s is a very niche interest.*

Heart-pounding (adjective) – causing the heart to beat very fast; very exciting or frightening. → *There was a particularly heart-pounding moment in the movie when the hero was about to be caught.*

To wallow in something (phrasal verb) – to allow yourself to enjoy something or to indulge in an emotion without restraint. → *Sometimes you just want to wallow in self-pity, so sad music can be good for that.*

The fine details escape me (idiom) – I can't remember the specifics of something. → *I remember we had music lessons, though the fine details escape me just now.*

Ancient history (idiom) – something that happened so long ago that it is not important or well-remembered. → *I can't remember the songs we sang in school; that's all ancient history now.*

In a pinch (idiom) – in a difficult situation; if necessary. → *I can usually hum the tunes or describe them to friends in a pinch.*

Tone-deaf (adjective) – unable to hear the difference between different musical notes. → *I'm pretty much tone-deaf, so learning to sing is very difficult for me.*

Can't hold a tune (idiom) – to be unable to sing a simple melody correctly. → *I can't hold a tune to save my life, so I never sing in public.*

Therapeutic (adjective) – having a good effect on your body or mind; making you feel healthier or happier. → *Listening to happy music is therapeutic for me.*

Aria (noun) – a long song for a single voice, especially in an opera or oratorio. → *I sometimes listen to niche things, like the aria in The Magic Flute.*

Percussion instruments (noun phrase) – musical instruments that you play by hitting or shaking them, such as drums. → *The teacher had some percussion instruments, like drums, for the students to use.*

To play by ear (idiom) – to play a piece of music after hearing it, without looking at written music. → *She learned to play the song by ear after listening to it a few times on the radio.*

Music to my ears (idiom) – something that you are very pleased to hear. → *His compliments were music to my ears.*

Questions and Answers

Maria: What kind of music do you listen to?

Rory: All kinds, but it's usually pop or soft rock stuff that was popular in the 2000s and 2010s. Sometimes though, I do listen to stuff like opera, but it's normally very niche things that no one has heard of, like the aria in The Magic Flute.

Maria: Does happy music make you feel more excited?

Rory: I've never really thought about it to be honest. Though I suppose it could do, if I'm watching a movie and there's a particularly heart-pounding moment, then it must have had some impact, or it must have some impact if there is racing background music.

Maria: Do you prefer sad or happy music?

Rory: I think that depends on the mood I'm in. Sometimes you really want to wallow in self-pity or being blue. So sad music can be good for that. And other times, I'm in a great mood and something more energetic and dancy will go quite nicely with that.

Maria: Did you have music lessons at school?

Rory: Oh, yeah, though the fine details escape me just now. I just remember the teachers almost always had a piano and some percussion instruments, like drums to share out with the students so we could join in with the song that was the focus. No idea what those songs were for the most part, though. That's all ancient history now.

Maria: Is it easy for you to learn music?

Rory: Well, I guess that depends on what you mean by learn, doesn't it? I can usually hum the tunes or describe them to friends in a pinch, but if you mean learn to sing them properly like a professional or perform a piece on an instrument, then I'm absolutely useless, since I'm pretty much tone deaf and I can't hold a tune to save my life.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listener, music, music genres, different kinds of music. Rory prefers pop, soft rock.

Rory: I don't know if I prefer it or if it's just what the algorithm is deciding that I like and is playing for me.

Maria: Yeah, Rory lets AI decide what he likes. There you go.

Rory: It's not even an AI, it's an algorithm. It's not even remotely intelligent.

Maria: Even worse, alright, okay.

Rory: Right. Just go with the flow.

Maria: You can say that I enjoy the music from late eighties or music from the nineties, like 1990s. We say the nineties, the eighties. How do you say 2000s?

Rory: 2000s. Early 2000s. Although if you're a young person, you might prefer the music from well, later on. So the early 2010s.

Maria: 2010s.

Rory: Oh, 2010. It's hard to believe that was 16 years ago.

Maria: Let's not dwell on that. We listen to music. Dear listener, listen music, no, no, no, listen to music, listen to opera, listen to rock. To, to, listen to always, all right? And you can say I do listen to different kind of music. So you intensify the meaning. I do listen to different kinds of music. You can name music bands, groups that you like, or genres like pop, soft rock, heavy metal.

Rory: But if you like things which are very specialist that no one's really heard of before, you would say they are niche.

Maria: Niche, something that is suitable for a small group of people. Niche. Like a niche sport.

Rory: Or a niche interest. What would be a good example of that? Collecting English course books from the early 1900s. That's a very niche interest.

Maria: Oh, that's true. Happy music makes me feel more excited or just happy music makes me feel more relaxed, excited, or just it's therapeutic for me, so it relaxes me. It it's kind of like therapy, listening to happy music is therapeutic for me. You can start off with, oh, I've never really thought about it. Yeah, I haven't thought about it, oh, that's a strange question.

Rory: Do you reflect on how music makes you feel very often? Usually people just do what they like, don't they?

Maria: If you listen to classical music, dear listener, you might notice your feelings, your emotions, so what is going on inside you when you listen to Tchaikovsky or Bach.

Rory: Talking about classical music, you missed out one of the things I said before. The aria in The Magic Flute. That's a special kind of vocal singing when you're, it's very high and if you Google the aria from The Magic Flute, then you will know exactly what I mean when you listen to it.

Maria: No, we don't understand what you're saying, it's too complicated.

Rory: It's not too complicated, it's just a very high pitched opera singing.

Maria: No, you see, it's very specific, like an example of an opera, The Magic Flute, and an area, area.

Rory: Aria.

Maria: Aria. A piece of music in an opera sung by one person. There you go, dear listener. So, I've never really thought about it to be honest. So, to be honest, to tell you the truth, I've never really thought about it, to be honest with you. I could do.

Rory: It could do, meaning it's possible.

Maria: Yeah, like I could do with happy music, I can listen to happy music.

Rory: Oh, I could do with would mean I prefer, but it could do means it's possible.

Maria: Background music. Very often in films, we have background music. And in some happy moments, we have happy music in the background as background music.

Rory: What if there's drama and action?

Maria: Yeah, there's dramatic music.

Rory: Yes, heart-pounding music. Heart-pounding music.

Maria: Or heart-pounding moment. In horror films, there are like.

Rory: Very dramatic parts where people are almost about to die.

Maria: We can also have sad music for some reason. Hmm, maybe some classical pieces could be sad. And you can say that it depends on the mood I'm in. It depends on my mood, depends on. So two important prepositions, we listen to something, to, always. And it depends on my mood. Always depends on. So you remember it as a chunk, as a phrase, depends on, depends on, listen to, listen to, listen to me. And we say listen to, to, not to, but to. Listen to me, depends on. It depends on the mood I'm in. And sometimes I really want to wallow.

Rory: And just be depressed.

Maria: Yeah, like when we are depressed, we want to cry, so we switch on some sad music to make you even more depressed. So we wallow. We just lie in this sadness.

Rory: So if you wallow in something, it could be wallow in sadness. Sometimes it's wallow in self-pity. That's a good collocation as well. But that just means drawing out the feeling of being miserable.

Maria: British people are experts in this. Well, yeah, Russians are pretty good too, especially in cold, dark winters when there's no sun for two weeks. At least you have the sun, once a week.

Rory: One time is enough, that's all we need. Now back to the misery.

Maria: So in winters, we tend to wallow in being blue. Be blue, feel blue, feel sad. Yeah, feel depressed, feel upset, feel miserable, feel sad. If I'm in a great mood, I prefer something more energetic, so energetic music or dancy music, you dance to it. Dancy music, heh heh. Yeah, to get you going. When you used to go to school, you had music lessons or you didn't. Maybe you go to school now. Do you have any music lessons or singing lessons perhaps? So music, singing lessons, if you don't remember, you can say, fine details escape me now.

Rory: Yeah, I have no idea.

Maria: I don't remember. Fine details, little details escape me now. So they escape me, they move away from me. You can say I don't remember, or you can say the fine details escape me now. I just remember some teachers who taught me how to play, play the piano. You can say dear listener, at school I played the drums, I played the piano, I played the guitar. Even if you didn't, just use the phrase.

Rory: Just lie about it.

Maria: I never had the chance to.

Rory: Or, or you could say you didn't have the chance to. I never had the chance to learn the guitar or play the guitar. Very sad.

Maria: I never had the chance to play the guitar or I never had the chance to play drums. And drums are percussion instruments. Everything you can bang.

Rory: Everything you can bang.

Maria: Drums, yeah, everything you can bang, all this sounds like drums. Maybe you sang in a choir. Choir, dear listener. C H O I R. Choir is a group of people who sing together. Usually a church, a church choir. But very often at schools, they have this, children sing together at schools possibly during classes. Right, schools, a school choir.

Rory: And if you don't remember what you did or the specific songs from your choir, you could just say, no idea what they were for the most part. But the most part means mostly, I don't remember mostly.

Maria: It's fine to say that you don't remember, that's absolutely okay, okay. We are using natural language, natural phrases that native speakers usually use in real life. So, no idea what those songs were. No idea what we did during the classes. The fine details escaped me now. Sorry.

Rory: We don't need a detailed account of your childhood.

Maria: Music childhood. Yeah, or I didn't have any music at school at all. The fine details escape me now. Maybe I had a singing class, maybe there was a choir, I don't remember. We learn music. And in some schools you learn music theory. You learn notes and you kind of you train your ears to recognize different rhythms, perhaps. We hum the tune. So, hum is like.

Rory: Make those noises with your mouth. You don't actually sing them.

Maria: We are the champions.

Rory: Is that what you were humming?

Maria: Yeah.

Rory: Oh wow, okay.

Maria: Humming may need some work. Don't stop me now. Right, so, hum a tune or hum tunes, perform a piece. So when you perform a piece, you sing a song or you play an instrument. So you perform a piece. So you can say, oh, I can hum a tune, but I can't perform any pieces. I can't play any instruments. Or I can play the guitar, I can play the piano. Or I used to be able to play the piano, but now I can't do this. I'm absolutely useless. Okay? Yeah, I just, I don't know anything about music. I'm absolutely useless. No information.

Rory: Where you do something to save yourself. Yeah, what did you say?

Maria: I said, I couldn't hold a tune to save myself. But that just means I'm useless when it comes to holding a tune.

Rory: I can't hold a tune. So I just can't sing. And if you are not good at music, if you don't catch different tunes, you can say I'm tone deaf. So if someone is tone deaf, they are not able to recognize different notes or sing tunes accurately.

Rory: I should point out I am not actually tone deaf. That's a real medical condition, but I don't think I'm a very good singer. So most of the time we say this when we think we are not good at something.

Maria: Yeah, I can't hold the tune. I'm tone deaf. Learning about music is not for me. Rory, and would you like to be a singer?

Rory: No, I think that would be awful for everybody involved, including me. Especially me.

Maria: Right. Now we are ready for a joke. So, Rory, could you please tell us, what do you call a person who plays the piano?

Rory: A pianist.

Maria: Mhm. And if I hit my head on something, what's another word?

Rory: Bang your head?

Maria: Yeah, bang my head against a wall, for example. Yeah, I just hit my head against the wall. Yeah, my head bang. Right listener, so the joke. Why did the pianist keep banging his head against the piano? He was playing by ear. Right. So when you play by ear, what do you do, Rory?

Rory: Well, if you play by ear, it's like you play without any notes or musical notation. So it's for you do it from your memory. But of course, if you hit your head on a piano, you will probably hit your ear and then you would play the piano with your ear, playing by your ear. Oh my God.

Maria: And, dear listener. Dear listener, play something by ear is C2 band nine. So when you play something by ear, you play a piece of music by remembering the notes. So I could play this song by ear. I don't need any paper, just I just can play it and if you play literally by ear, you use your ear to play the piano. You just bang your ear against the piano. Right. Thank you very much for listening.

Rory: Thank you for tolerating us.

Maria: Hopefully it was music to your ears.

Rory: Yes, that's right. I said the joke twice and I'll keep saying it until someone pays attention to me.

Maria: Music to my ears, that's an idiom. If, for example, if somebody gives you a compliment, if you say, oh, Rory, you're amazing. You look so good. Look at you. And look at you and your hair. Let me look at your hair first.

Rory: Maybe not right now, but another time.

Maria: Yeah. And Rory goes, oh, oh, wow, wow, thank you. Thank you so much. It's music to my ears. So I'm very pleased to hear that. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode.

Rory: Bye.