🎶 French Music Vocabulary

Learn the French music vocabulary: musical instruments, types of music and how to use the verb “jouer” and “faire” with instruments. Practice your new French music vocabulary with Suzanne’s easy bilingual story about the national French music day: la fête de la musique.

Let’s start with some basic French vocabulary about music.

1 – French Music Vocabulary

1. la voix – a voice
2. le chant – singing
3. un chanteur, une chanteuse – a singer
4. une chanson – a song
5. un choeur (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a choir
6. une chorale (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a choir
7. un, une choriste (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a chorist
8. une bande sonore – a soundtrack
9. un casque – headphones
10. enregistrer – to record
11. un groupe – a band
12. un orchestre – an orchestra
13. un musicien, une musicienne – a musician
14. télécharger – to download
15. pirater – to pirate
16. un tube – a hit
17. le hit-parade – charts
18. un lecteur de CD, de MP3… – a CD, MP3… player
19. écouter – to listen to

2 – How To Say To Play an Instrument in French

We use two main constructions to say ‘to play an instrument’ in French.

The most common one is “jouer DE (du, des)” – watch out that the definite article will contract with the “de”.

1. De quel instrument jouez-vous ? What instrument do you play (more formal)
2. Tu joues de quoi ? What do you play (informal)
3. Je joue de la guitare acoustique et du clavier – I play the acoustic guitar and keyboards

We also use the verb “faire de” which is very common to talk about French sports and hobbies.

• Il fait du piano – he plays / studies the piano

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3 – French Music Types

When it come to music styles, French uses pretty much the same vocabulary as in English: watch out for the article though since the gender may change.

Note that in France, we listen to a lot of world famous bands and singer in English, but also to world music and of course our own French music hits.

If you’d like to know what is hot right now in music in France, I invite you to visit French Today’s board on Pinterest: Les VIPs du PAF

1. la musique classique – classical music
2. l’opéra (m) – opera music
3. la musique country – country music
4. la musique folklorique, la musique traditionnelle – folk music
5. le jazz – jazz
6. le funk – funk
7. le hip-hop – hip-hop
8. la musique pop – pop music
9. la dance – danse music
10. la techno – techno music
11. la house – house music
12. le rap – rap music
13. le reggae – reggae music
14. le rock – rock
15. le rock alternatif – rock fusion
16. le metal – heavy metal
17. la musique du monde – world music
18. la Salsa – Salsa music
19. le Raï – Raï music (Algerian Fusion)
20. le Zouk – Zouk music (Caribbean)
21. la variété française – French pop songs

4 – French Music Vocabulary – Instruments

1. la guitare acoustique – an acoustic guitar
2. la guitare éléctrique – an electric guitar
3. la basse – an electric bass
4. l’amplificateur, l’ampli – an amplifier
5. le banjo – a banjo
6. la mandoline – a mandolin
7. l’accordéon – an accordion
8. le violoncelle – a cello
9. le violon – a violin
10. la contrebasse – a double bass, upright bass
11. la clarinette – a clarinet
12. la flûte – a flute
13. le saxophone – a saxophone
14. la trompette – a trumpet
15. le cor d’harmonie – a French horn
16. la batterie – drums
17. le tambour – a drum
18. le synthétiseur (le synthé) – a synth/keyboard
19. le piano – a piano
20. l’orgue (m) – an organ