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
- la voix – a voice
- le chant – singing
- un chanteur, une chanteuse – a singer
- une chanson – a song
- un choeur (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a choir
- une chorale (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a choir
- un, une choriste (pronounce the “ch” like “k”) – a chorist
- une bande sonore – a soundtrack
- un casque – headphones
- enregistrer – to record
- un groupe – a band
- un orchestre – an orchestra
- un musicien, une musicienne – a musician
- télécharger – to download
- pirater – to pirate
- un tube – a hit
- le hit-parade – charts
- un lecteur de CD, de MP3… – a CD, MP3… player
- 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”.
- De quel instrument jouez-vous ? What instrument do you play (more formal)
- Tu joues de quoi ? What do you play (informal)
- 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

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
- la musique classique – classical music
- l’opéra (m) – opera music
- la musique country – country music
- la musique folklorique, la musique traditionnelle – folk music
- le jazz – jazz
- le funk – funk
- le hip-hop – hip-hop
- la musique pop – pop music
- la dance – danse music
- la techno – techno music
- la house – house music
- le rap – rap music
- le reggae – reggae music
- le rock – rock
- le rock alternatif – rock fusion
- le metal – heavy metal
- la musique du monde – world music
- la Salsa – Salsa music
- le Raï – Raï music (Algerian Fusion)
- le Zouk – Zouk music (Caribbean)
- la variété française – French pop songs
4 – French Music Vocabulary – Instruments
- la guitare acoustique – an acoustic guitar
- la guitare éléctrique – an electric guitar
- la basse – an electric bass
- l’amplificateur, l’ampli – an amplifier
- le banjo – a banjo
- la mandoline – a mandolin
- l’accordéon – an accordion
- le violoncelle – a cello
- le violon – a violin
- la contrebasse – a double bass, upright bass
- la clarinette – a clarinet
- la flûte – a flute
- le saxophone – a saxophone
- la trompette – a trumpet
- le cor d’harmonie – a French horn
- la batterie – drums
- le tambour – a drum
- le synthétiseur (le synthé) – a synth/keyboard
- le piano – a piano
- l’orgue (m) – an organ
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