📘 Part 3: Music

This episode's vocabulary

Subversive (adjective) – intended to challenge or undermine authority or tradition. → Punk music was once considered highly subversive.

Mainstay (noun) – the most important or central part of something. → Pop music is still the mainstay of the charts.

Charts (noun) – official lists showing the most popular songs or albums. → Her single reached the top of the charts last week.

Pop music (noun) – a genre of popular music with catchy melodies and simple lyrics. → Pop music is especially loved by teenagers.

Hip-hop (noun) – a style of popular music with rhythmic speech and beats. → Hip-hop originated in the Bronx in the 1970s.

R&B (noun) – rhythm and blues, a style combining soul, pop, and hip-hop influences. → Modern R&B often mixes electronic sounds with smooth vocals.

Have bigger fish to fry (idiom) – to have more important things to do. → I can’t worry about that now — I have bigger fish to fry.

Cultural institution (noun) – an organization that promotes culture, such as museums or orchestras. → Supporting cultural institutions helps preserve national heritage.

Infrastructure (noun) – basic systems and structures a country needs to function. → The city’s infrastructure needs serious improvement.

Manual dexterity (noun) – skill in using your hands. → Playing the piano improves children’s manual dexterity.

Read music (phrase) – to understand written musical notation. → Learning to read music makes it easier to play different instruments.

Alternative income stream (noun phrase) – another source of money besides one’s main job. → Teaching guitar lessons became his alternative income stream.

Of the era (phrase) – typical or characteristic of a certain time period. → The fashion in that photo is very of the era.

Resonate with (phrasal verb) – to create a feeling of connection or understanding. → Her songs resonate with people who have faced similar struggles.

Death metal (noun) – a heavy and aggressive subgenre of rock music. → Death metal features growling vocals and fast drumming.

Melody (noun) – a sequence of musical notes that are pleasing to hear. → The melody of that song is so catchy.

Genre (noun) – a category of art, music, or literature. → Jazz is my favorite musical genre.

Beat (noun) – the regular rhythm of a piece of music. → The DJ dropped a strong beat that got everyone dancing.

Lyrics (noun) – the words of a song. → The lyrics of that ballad are very emotional.

Encore (noun) – an additional performance at the end of a concert. → The audience clapped for an encore after the final song.

Questions and Answers

Maria: What kind of music do young people like?

Rory: Oh God, I've no idea these days. Based on my experience, I think it's probably something loud, fast, and probably subversive, since those are things that young people seem to like in general. Of course, they could like other things, but I suspect that those things are the mainstay.

Maria: What kind of music is popular in your country?

Rory: I don't really check the charts, to be honest, but I suppose the same things that are popular in other Western countries, so pop music, variations of rock and hip-hop or R&B. That's what I tend to hear being played all the time, at least.

Maria: Do you think the government should invest more money in concerts?

Rory: I think that the government has bigger fish to fry, to be honest. It's, of course, important to support cultural institutions, but it's hard to see a concert if the infrastructure of the country is falling apart, which is very much the case here. So they would be better off focusing on those things instead of concerts.

Maria: What are the benefits of children learning a musical instrument?

Rory: Well, it's probably good for their manual dexterity, as well as giving them the ability to read music and follow a conductor or a beat, at least. I suppose it could also give them an alternative income stream in the long run.

Maria: What are the differences between young people's and old people's preferences in music?

Rory: I imagine they'll be very “of the era” when they were young. By that, I mean old people will probably prefer the music they grew up with, since it's what they're used to and what resonates with them and their lives. The same will likely be true for young people. I certainly hope that's true, because it means there will be old people listening to things like death metal when they are older, which sounds extremely entertaining to me.