📙 Part 2: Describe a person who thinks music is important and enjoys music 

You should say: who this person is, how you knew him/her, what music he/she likes, why he/she thinks music is important, and explain how you feel about him/her.

This episode's vocabulary

• Keen on something - liking, interested in, or wanting (to do) something very much.
• To blare (verb) - to make an unpleasantly loud noise.
• Fitting (adj.) - suitable or right for a particular situation or occasion.
• Diva (noun) - a very successful and famous female singer or actor.
• Repetitive (adj.) - involving doing or saying the same thing several times, especially in a way that is boring.
• Hit (noun) - a thing or person that is very popular or successful.
• Playlist (noun) - a list of pieces of music chosen by someone to listen to on their computer, phone, etc.
• To channel (verb) - to direct something into a particular place or situation.
• Lyrics (plural noun) - the words of a song.
• Exposure (noun) - the fact of experiencing something or being affected by it because of being in a particular situation or place.
• Pop icon (noun) - a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era...

Questions and Answers

R: I mean, I feel like music plays a key role in everyone's lives, really, unless they're like a psychopath or something. But one friend of mine who is very keen on music is my best friend Rob. We met each other through mutual friends, and got on like a house on fire. Actually, now I think about it, the first time we met in real life was outside this club with music blaring inside of it. So this question is actually quite fitting for talking about that. He likes all sorts of music, but his favourite artists and bands in particular all have their roots in pop music, which isn't to say it's all the modern music that everyone is into now. No, no. His taste spread back through the 80s and the 90s, even into the 60s and 70s, when it comes to some of the artists and themes. And every time we go around to his place, the music is really well chosen and matches the mood well. Though pop divas like Kylie and Cher have central roles all the time. You'd think that might get repetitive, but since these singers still bring out hits, it's always changing, and of course, they've had long careers, so there's always a lot to choose from for the playlist. When it comes to why music is so important to him, to be honest, I haven't really asked. Though, I suppose it's the same reason it's important to all of us. Music lets us express and channel feelings and emotions in different ways. It's there for difficult moments and compliments things like celebrations, and we can learn a lot about ourselves and each other through music. It can even inspire us to make up our own songs or change the lyrics, which he and I do quite frequently, actually, but it's just for fun so while I'm not really certain exactly why he likes it so much. I'm sure that if I hadn't met him, then life would be very different, and I wouldn't have had so much exposure to different pop icons from across the decades. And I'm very grateful for that.

M: And is music important for you?

R: Oh, definitely. It's important for everybody, I think.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your story!

Discussion

M: So dear listener, an interesting task, a person who thinks music is important or enjoys music. Do you have this person in your life? If you don't, you can steal Rory's story.

R: What a weird question! Everybody has this person in their life.

M: Okay. No, but maybe our listener doesn't, so maybe you have a friend who is a musician or a friend of a friend. Or you can just lie dear listener, you can just imagine.

R: Can you talk about yourself?

M: Um, yeah, yeah. Why not? You know, like, I don't have friends who are into music, but I am into music. And you can talk about yourself. Why not? But it is better to describe a person you know, okay?

R: What kind of person is not into music?

M: Well, I'm not into music so much.

R: Wait. You don't listen to or like music.

M: No, no, but I like music. I listen to music. But I can't say like I... No, I enjoy music. Yeah. Okay,

R: Yeah. I feel like everybody enjoys music. And if you don't enjoy music, then you need to get yourself to a therapist. Seriously.

M: Yeah. Have you ever met a person who just dislikes music? Yeah, that's strange.

R: I've talked about this before. I'm sure I said that if you meet someone and they tell you that they hate music, it's like, either they're not explaining themselves clearly, or they're a psychopath.

M: Yeah, dear listener, so here you don't talk about a professional musician or a person who is, I don't know, who plays an instrument or listens to music like, like crazy. Like a person who enjoys music, yeah? Music is important for everyone. So Rory started off with I feel like music plays a key role in everyone's lives, okay? And one friend of mine, like my friend, a friend of mine, is very keen on music. To be keen on music, to enjoy music, to like music. So my friend Rob is very keen on music. He likes music a lot. We met each other through mutual friends. Mutual friends. We had the same or have the same friends. We share friends. Yeah?

R: Yeah, there are friends we have in common.

M: And then an idiom, dear listener. We got on like house on fire. To get on like a house on fire, which means that we kind of, got along well. We met each other, and we started being friends right away. We liked each other, and we started having a very good relationship from the get-go. So, like, you meet this person. And like, yeah, I like you. So we got on like a house on fire. It's very good. He likes all sorts of music. So Rob likes all sorts of music or all kinds of music. His favourite artists and bands. So music bands and artists. Like singers and singers. Artists.

R: Yes. Or groups.

M: Or groups. Yeah, yeah. Groups, bands. So his favourite artists, his favourite singers, have their roots in pop music. Root. You know, a tree has roots in the ground. And here we are using this word to mean that he likes pop music. So his favourite bands have their roots in pop music. He likes modern music, he's into modern music. Also, we say his tastes in music spread back to the 80s, and the 90s. So make sure you use an article. The 90s, the 80s, the music of the 80s.

R: But that's just to talk about how far back it goes. It's a very broad taste in music. At least I think so.

M: Yeah. So if your friend enjoys all sorts of music, you can say he has a very broad taste in music. So he likes everything. When Rory visits Rob's place? When Rory is round at his place. To be round at somebody else's place. So you go and visit your friend in their home. You say, when I am round at his place, music is well chosen. Okay? So well chosen music and the music matches the mood well. Okay? So if I feel blue, if I feel sad, maybe jazz or blues, you know? So the music matches the mood well. And you can say that he usually plays popular hits. Hits? Like famous songs, and hits. And he has a long playlist. So a playlist is what you have in your phone or in your laptop. When you turn to another topic, you can say when it comes to why music is so important to him... So when it comes to blah, he likes blah. And Rory said that, well, to be honest, I haven't really asked. Well, you don't know why it's important.

R: Yeah, I don't know. Do you ever talk to your friends? Why do you like music?

M: Exactly, like why is it important? Go ask him.

R: I'll call him.

M: You need it for IELTS, yes, text him now, you know?

R: Well, it's like you should say this, but it's just you should say, and I was unable to say, so I'm going to, I'm going to guess.

M: So you can say, like, I haven't really asked, or, to be honest, I don't really know. And then, though, I suppose it's the same reason why it's important to all of us. So music is important to me, I suppose, I think, and then Rory gives some good reasons, like, music lets us express our feelings. So we express our feelings through music. Music lets us channel our feelings and emotions in different ways. So channel? Like we... What do we do? We...

R: Manipulate or guide our emotions.

M: Yeah, with the help of music. And music is there for us in difficult moments, and also music complements, things like celebrations and parties. Complements. So the music goes well with a nice party. So music should match our mood, and music complements a birthday party or a wedding, for example. And we can learn a lot about ourselves through music. If you play music, if you play a musical instrument, if you listen to music and dance to music, you can kind of express all feelings and emotions. We can make up our own songs. Make up a song? Like, create a song. A phrasal verb. And we say that we can make up our own songs, and we can write lyrics. Lyrics? The words of a song.

R: Here's a fun one. What do you call a person who writes lyrics?

M: Ooh, a songwriter?

R: A lyricist.

M: No way. Really? A lyricist? Ooh, wow. So okay, if I make music and you write lyrics to my song, you are a lyricist?

R: Well, I mean, it's usually associated with popular songs, but still, yeah. What a fun word to say and learn. A lyricist.

M: Lyricist. Wow.

R: I'm definitely not a lyricist, but...

M: I'm a lyricist, dear listener. I've made up a song about Rory. Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory.

R: Is it a popular song?

M: It's a hit. It's like, hit for all time. You can kind of like, everybody knows the song. Rory, Rory, Rory. Like Rory gets up in the morning and sings it.

R: I definitely do not. I wake up in the morning and I groan and think, why am I waking up at six o'clock in the morning again?

M: Oh, my God. Dear listener, can you imagine? Our Rory wakes up at 6 am in the morning in Scotland, and just the first thing that he does when he opens his eyes, he goes Rory, Rory, Rory. So funny. You can also say like pop icons, he listens to many pop icons, like Madonna, for example, Cher.

R: But they're not just icons. They're divas.

M: Divas. Oh, yeah, divas. But a pop icon is a very good collocation, like topic-specific vocabulary. Like pop icons.

R: But diva is also a very good piece of vocabulary. A famous female singer of popular music. It fits so well.

M: So dear listener, there you go. Okay? Music. Now you can describe Rob.

R: You could describe anyone like this. That's the most milquetoast answer you could possibly give to describe anybody who likes music. Because everybody likes music.

M: Yeah, and if you're nervous before the exam, you know which song you should sing. Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory. Why is our soundtrack about Rory? I should make up a Maria song.

R: You're the one that wrote it. Why are you asking me?

M: Yeah, I know, I know. But like, it's unfair. Dear listener, do you think it's unfair? We do need like, we have our Rory song, but like we need our Maria song. So if you have any ideas...

R: Oh, on that navel-gazing note, we'll see you in part three, where we're going to talk about music in general.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

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