Many people have a real passion for music and love to talk about the latest songs they have heard or music they already know and love. And for most of us, music is the motivator or the companion when we are in search of human companions. In short, they just strike the soul with tranquillity and peace. But have you thought of jargons underneath the hobby of listening to music?

There are many informal ways to talk about music that is commonly used. So if you’re looking for music adjectives or words to describe a beautiful song look no further for maybe this is what you knowingly or unknowingly can’t stop yourself to use.

Banger

Banger is a word used mostly to describe electronic dance and hip hop music. You can use banger to refer to the latest club or disco tunes. “Hey did you hear the new banger by Dua? It will just blow your mind”.

Maybe it’s to nerdy right? To go into the words? Let’s try phrases

What a sick tune!

Have you ever heard someone say “What a sick tune!” and wondered what they actually meant? Well, they didn’t mean the band had thrown up all over the vomit and somehow that got recorded onto the final cut of the record. Actually, sick also simply means great, cool or amazing. So, next time you hear a song you like on the radio, on YouTube or in the hostel club you can tell your friends, “Wow I just heard a sick tune”. You might also hear people say, “That was the sickest (a.ka.a greatest) thing I have ever heard”.

Last night, the band we saw had some real killer tunes

For every DJ or band when they go to play a gig they must have some killer tunes to play to their audience. But, what are exactly the killer tunes? A simple definition to this is that these are the DJ’s or bands best songs. But this doesn’t mean that any mass murder going to take place! No, it is a metaphor meaning these songs are so good that they cannot be compared to any other songs (maybe at that moment as we often make new as our choices often). They would metaphorically kill off any competition. (Now you know, how to shout and say a song is good)

Turn it off, it’s too cheesy wheezy!

If the music is very simple, without subtlety, and/or the lyrics obvious and what you call sub-standard of what tracks you prefer, (“I will always love you”, “You are my one and only,” etc.) you can say “This music is cheesy”, and accompany this phrase with a pretend sick (real bad) noise “Urgh” for added effect. Just joking, you don’t need to do this last bit!! 😛

So, when I look back at the music of some Bollywood songs listening on the radio, a lot of times I think, “That music is so cheesy, I can’t believe I will ever like to enjoy with it!”

It’s not really my thing

If someone asks you, “Do you want to listen to the new Gajendra Verma‘s album?” you may instinctively want to reply, “No, I would rather eat a bowl full of glass and tomato.” But, you don’t want to annoy the person asking, so instead, you can use the phrase, “It’s not really my thing”. It has a soft and indirect meaning but still means no. By saying “not really my thing”, you are being vague as to the reason why you don’t want to listen to the song, therefore avoiding any clash with the other person. In addition, save yourself from the singers whom you wanna say, ‘please do better, I know you can’.

Now let’s switch to the dance loving music.

That groove is amazing!

Whatever dictionaries say, in everyday usage, if you listen to a song and the rhythm makes you want to dance, it’s likely that the song has a good groove (and maybe you got good moves hidden). So, when your head starts to move in time with the music, or you start to tap your feet you would be, feeling the groove, meaning you are getting yourself into the rhythm of the music. So let’s rock and roll…

Who feels like throwing some shapes?

So, imagine you are having a good time with friends while listening to music. Your friend asks you, “Do you want to throw some shapes?” You don’t know what she/he means. Throwing shapes? Surely she doesn’t mean get a triangle, a square and a circle out of pocket and throw them at you, is it?

Well, actually no, what she/he is asking you is, “Do you wanna dance?” So when someone next asks, “Do you to throw some shapes?” You can reply, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do!!” and then goes in the Jackson you!

Next Saturday, there’s a wicked rave happening!

So, we have looked at wicked already and it’s just a superlative. The word that makes the thing that follows sound good or special. But, how about the following word, rave? Confusing ain’t it?

Well, a rave in today’s language is a large dance music party. When you go to a rave you might hear house, techno, dubstep, drum and bass, or one of the other many new hits of Boxoffice.

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, raves might have been in fields in the summertime, but now they are more likely to be in modern clubs or your common rooms with your local superstar DJ’s. You know what I mean.

A person that goes to a rave is called a raver, and rave can be used as a verb as well, you can say, “I love raving!”, mean you love dancing at it. So, next time you go to an all-night party with electronic dance music and DJ’s and you end up dancing all night, yes, you are now a raver, a real raver! Just try it without things that lead you to worse result, the hangovers.

Summary

Now you’ve read some tips on how to speak about music as natives of listeners do. You have the additional vocabulary that you can use instead of plainsong all the time. You can talk about the music you enjoy, and I have introduced a few words related to music and dancing.

Hopefully, next time you have a music conversation with someone, you can participate in the conversation more and also understand a little better what people are saying. Good luck!

Bye!